Job Creation and Destruction in South Africa

Analysts of the South African labour market have mainly used household surveys to analyse the labour market. It has been more difficult to explore the labour demand of firms, as a result of limited data availability. We use the Quarterly Employment Statistics survey, an enterprise survey conducted by Statistics South Africa, to explore how South African firms create and destroy jobs, thereby shedding light on many of the policy questions that are relevant in a high unemployment society like South Africa. We find that job creation and destruction rates are similar to those found in Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries. There is little evidence that labour legislation creates rigidities that prevent firms from hiring or firing workers. We also find that larger firms are better net creators of jobs than small firms and that net job creation rates are negative in manufacturing. Our research has important policy implications – particularly for the South African National Planning Commission's 2030 plan, in which new jobs are envisaged to come mainly from small‐ and medium‐sized firms. Our research suggests that this scenario is not likely without changes to policy or legislation.     

How Chinese firms learn technology from transnational corporations: A comparison of the telecommunication and automobile industries

China has been utilizing foreign direct investment (FDI) based on the strategy of “trading market access for technology” since 1978. However, there are differences in opinion regarding the performance of China's strategy. This paper examines the growth of technological capability of Chinese indigenous firms under a revised model of technological learning and catch-up based on research by Kim (1997) and Lee and Lim (2001). The paper investigates the process of industrial growth in China by developing the two cases of the telecommunication equipment industry and the automobile industry, and analyzes the aforementioned strategy from the viewpoint of technological learning and industrial catch-up. This study finds that knowledge was gained by leveraging China's huge market to “trade market access for technology”, and that indigenous firms must enhance the intensity of their efforts to assimilate acquired technologies so as to improve their technological capabilities. Through comparison of the two industries, we find that industrial policy regulating private firms’ market access directly affects the performance of the industrial catch-up.     

SOUTH AFRICA AND THE NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT: ECONOMIC SPIN-OFFS AND LINKAGES

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a concerted effort by Africa's political leaders to develop a comprehensive and integrated strategic policy framework to raise current levels of socio‐economic development and reduce high levels of poverty across the African continent. The NEPAD framework recognises the need for African countries to pool their resources together in order to enhance regional development and economic integration. To this end, NEPAD emphasises capacity building and also seeks to solicit and disburse funds towards infrastructural development programmes and poverty alleviation projects, among others. South Africa's involvement with the rest of Africa has increased significantly since 1994. Trade exports, foreign direct investment (both market and resource‐seeking in nature) and public‐private partnerships have mushroomed in many parts of the continent. Many South African firms are providing the financial impetus for the infrastructural development and rehabilitation of African economies. This paper discusses salient economic linkages between South Africa and the rest of Africa within the framework of NEPAD. South Africa is the economic hub of sub‐Saharan Africa (and indeed of the African continent), with significant agricultural, manufacturing and services capacity. South African firms have invested in the development of a number of sectors in the rest of Africa, taking advantage of the new investment incentives offered by the NEPAD framework. The target sectors range from mining, the hospitality industry, engineering and construction, finance to telecommunications. These investments and economic involvements are crucial to the development of African countries and the relevant sectors that are important for the realisation of some of the objectives of NEPAD.     

Connecting capabilities in highly unequal developing countries: The case of the Square Kilometre Array telescope in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Innovation and skills development require interactive capabilities to function effectively. Interactive capabilities mediate between skills supply and skills demand actors in an innovation system, and in the knowledge economy more broadly. This article investigates such interactive capabilities, and the manner in which they facilitate labour market alignment. Within a case-study focus on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa, we investigate how organisational capabilities, structures, and mechanisms facilitate or constrain interaction between the SKA and its network partners, including universities, firms, intermediaries, and a technical college. This illustrates how pockets of excellence within an unequal South African skills and innovation landscape were effectively connected in order to build a critical mass of skills and technologies that were highly competitive on the international stage. This shows how, in highly unequal developing countries, interactive capabilities form a lever for access to the global science and technology frontier.     

Socio-economic reasons for the low adoption of water conservation technologies by smallholder farmers in southern Africa: a review of the literature

Natural resource degradation and water scarcity, which threaten the sustainability of smallholder farmers' livelihoods in semi-arid developing areas, are a global concern. Although researchers have developed water-conservation technologies (WCTs), adoption rates by smallholder farmers have been low. This article compares the perspectives of researchers and smallholder farmers, highlights the discrepancies which explain the farmers' low uptake of technologies and addresses the socio-economic factors affecting adoption. It argues that WCTs are diverse and applicable to different time and spatial scales and hence dependent upon context. These traits influence the dissemination and adoption of WCTs, and should not be ignored, from the early stage of technology development. It explains that adoption depends not only on individual farmers' willingness but also on property rights to resources and collective community action. The article discusses the demand for WCTs, the role of the public sector and research and related biases, and makes recommendations for achieving more sustainable rural livelihoods. Recent experiences in South Africa show that encouraging farmers to participate in technology development, taking account of local indigenous knowledge and making sound institutional arrangements are some ways to foster better integration of technology and innovation.     

Allocative Efficiency of Agrifood Traders: Shrimp Traders in Indonesia

Shrimp is one of Indonesia's most important agricultural export commodities, with an annual export value exceeding $1 billion. If this high-value sector is to remain competitive and continue to grow, rural traders must be able to efficiently allocate scarce labour and factor inputs to trade shrimp. This study tests for factors leading to allocative inefficiency in the shrimp trade, by estimating a stochastic cost frontier on the basis of data from a survey of 200 shrimp traders in Central Java and South Sulawesi. Our results show that larger firms have a distinct cost advantage in trade and, owing in part to greater access to factor markets, are more efficient in allocating factors. Small firms can improve their allocative efficiency and become more competitive by specialising in trading one shrimp variety and by using output contracts to mitigate risk in the output market.     

Flexible versus Dedicated Technology Adoption in the Presence of a Public Firm

We study firms' adoption of flexible technologies in the context of a mixed versus a private duopoly with product differentiation. As opposed to a dedicated technology, a flexible technology allows a firm to become multiproduct or multimarket without bearing additional costs. We find that a configuration where both firms adopt flexible technologies is more likely to arise in equilibrium in the private duopoly. A similar result occurs when both firms use a dedicated technology in the case of almost independent or close substitute products. Privatization of the public firm is socially beneficial in limited circumstances.     

An empirical analysis of contracting by Chinese firms

Why do firms use formal contracts or relational contracts with their business partners? The paper uses survey data based on a large number of Chinese firms to uncover some important factors for why and when formal contracts or relational contracts are used. This study identifies geographical location as an important factor in affecting Chinese firms' contracting decisions. We find that a firm is more likely to use formal contracts with its clients and suppliers if they are located in a city different from the firm's main business location. We also find that larger (smaller) firms tend to adopt formal (relational) contracts. However, while the number of clients has a negative impact on a firm's adoption of formal contracts with its clients, the number of suppliers has a positive impact on its adoption of formal contracts with the suppliers.     

North–South models of intellectual property rights: an empirical critique

Do Southern intellectual property rights (IPRs) affect Northern innovation? There is much theoretical debate on the impact of IPRs in the South on the incentives of Northern firms to innovate and transfer technologies to the South. While empirical research exists on the effects of Southern IPRs on Northern technology transfers, empirical evidence on the effects of Southern IPRs on Northern innovation is absent. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Using a comprehensive micro-database of US multinational firms and their foreign affiliates in developed countries, this study finds that patent protection in the South has statistically insignificant effects on the research and development of these firms. Rather, the patent regimes of developed countries matter significantly to the R&;D of these firms. Developing countries constitute a relatively small share of the world market so that variations in the patent rights of developing economies have contributed marginally to Northern incentives for R&;D.     

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON SMALL,MEDIUM AND LARGE ENTERPRISES1

Based on the Bureau of Economic Research (BER's) 2005 HIV/AIDS survey, this paper provides a snapshot view of the nature and the extent of the impact of HIV/AIDS on companies of different sizes in South Africa, as well as their response to the epidemic. Whereas the focus of most of the previous workplace surveys has been on “evaluating workplace responses”, the present study also considers the economic impact of HIV/AIDS. This study provides evidence of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the largest sample of small, medium and large companies in South Africa to date. The survey results suggest that employer responses are strongly linked to company size, with the majority of medium and large companies indicating that they have an HIV/AIDS policy in place and small companies having done little in the way of action against the epidemic.     

Wages,Productivity and Labour's Declining Income Share in Post‐Apartheid South Africa

The Marikana incident in 2012, as well as the protracted strikes by platinum miners, metal and postal workers in 2014 suggest that not all is well in the South African labour market. Even though those in employment are better off than the unemployed poor, macroeconomic data indicate that labour's share in gross value added has declined significantly during the first two decades following the first democratic election in 1994. A falling share of labour in income also means, by definition, that average labour productivity growth outstrips real wages growth. Data for South Africa suggest that productivity has indeed increased faster than wages in South Africa. This article argues that financialisation and more aggressive returns‐oriented investment strategies applied by for instance large investment institutions translated into higher required rates of return on capital, which in turn caused an increased implementation of capital‐augmenting labour‐saving technology that reduces labour's share in income.     

Domestic tourist spending and economic development: The case of the North West Province

Globally, tourism is the largest and fastest growing industry, outpacing all other industries. In South Africa, tourism is widely regarded as a growth catalyst, able to generate much-needed income and employment opportunities. The market potential of domestic tourism has, however, been downplayed in favour of international tourism. This research argues that tourism – especially domestic tourism – can contribute significantly to regional growth and development in South Africa. A survey was carried out among domestic tourists in the North West Province, one of the poorest provinces in South Africa. This survey was used to draw up a demographic and spending profile of the average domestic tourist in the province, and to determine the possible implications of this spending on different macroeconomic variables in the province.     

The Midrand area: An emerging high‐technology cluster?

This article takes a close look at art emerging high‐technology cluster in a developing country ‐ Midrand in South Africa ‐ to develop a deeper understanding of its nature, why it emerged and the problems it faces. Midrand lies within the Gauteng province, which has a disproportionately large share of South Africa's private and public demand, as well as factor inputs for high‐technology sectors. The cluster is growing rapidly and includes a large contingent of high‐tech multinationals and blue‐chip local firms. The cluster is not, however, based on research and development but rather on head office, warehousing and distribution functions, and manufacturing. Its success is built on a central location, high visibility, a positive high‐tech image, good quality of life, a visionary town council, good investment returns, low operating costs and a lack of local competition. Its weaknesses are that it has not been built on a solid foundation of high‐tech infrastructure and lacks high‐tech dynamism, rendering its locational advantage somewhat fragile.     

Some poor and invisible women: Farm labourers in South Africa

This article presents the results of a prevalence survey carried out in 1994 to assess the socio‐economic significance of waged farmwork in parts of the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga). The survey was designed to shed light on the question of how many rural households depend for their survival on the availability of wage employment opportunities for women on farms. The results support the view that economists and statisticians in South Africa have paid insufficient attention to the importance of unrecorded, or statistically ‘invisible’ agricultural wage employment to the rural population. In particular, the importance of women's work as waged farm labourers has not received the attention it deserves for policy purposes. Women's wages and working conditions on all types of farms are probably the critical determinants of the standard of living of many tens of thowsands of households in Mhala and Mapulaneng, and of many millions of the poorest households in South Africa as a whole.     

ASYMMETRIC PRICE TRANSMISSION AND MARKET CONCENTRATION: AN INVESTIGATION INTO FOUR SOUTH AFRICAN AGRO-FOOD INDUSTRIES

相似文献   

Restless minds: South African students and the brain drain

This article reports the results of a 2002 survey of emigration potential among a representative sample of 4784 postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students at South Africa's tertiary educational institutions. The authors created a valid and reliable index of emigration potential and found slightly higher levels than those measured by identical questions in previous surveys of skilled adult South Africans. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the factors that most increase emigration potential among South Africa's future skills base are logistical ones, including family encouragement and financial resources. Next in importance are students' prospects of a better life for themselves and their families in their target countries than in South Africa. Finally, the study showed that patriotism and strong national identity decrease emigration potential while previous travel abroad and access to information about life abroad increase it. It also found that a range of possible government attempts to make emigration more difficult would only increase students' probability of leaving the country.     

The impact of tourism on poverty in South Africa

This paper evaluates the potential impact of tourism on poverty in South Africa on the basis of recent survey data on international tourism spending patterns. It looks at three scenarios, using an applied general equilibrium model. The main finding is that the poor benefit very little in the short term from additional tourism income. A further finding is that domestic and international tourist expenditure affect the economy differently; both markets are therefore important. In essence, the research confirms that tourism receipts can be used as a tool to alleviate poverty, but in South Africa this must be supported by policies that focus on the labour market and human resource development.     

Trade Policy Reform and the Competitive Response in Kwazulu Natal Province,South Africa

Like many other formerly protected economies, the liberalization of the external trade regime has placed new competitive pressures on South African enterprises. Detailed research in over 130 enterprises in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province of South Africa shows the extent to which firms have been able to respond to these new competitive pressures and particularly on their ability to “hear” and to meet more demanding customers' requirements. Inevitably the response has been varied, but there are reasons to be concerned that the pace of adjustment has been suboptimal. This reflects imperfections in information markets, the challenges poses by the need for new social relations in production, and the limited implementation of new “supply-sided” policies designed to compensate firms for the reduction in protective barriers.     

An analysis of the determinants of labour force participation and unemployment in South Africa's North-West province

This article uses a probit model to estimate the determinants of labour force participation and unemployment in South Africa's North-West province. Data from three surveys are used, namely the 1993 Saldru survey, the 1995 CSS (now Statistics SA) survey and a survey conducted in 1997 by the authors. It finds that gender, location (rural or urban), education level, and family structure and relations are significant determinants of unemployment in the province. Because the North-West is a rural province, the results are indicative of the unemployment challenges in South Africa's rural areas. Thus, unless job creation initiatives have a specific rural and gender (female) bias, rural unemployment in South Africa may not be significantly reduced.     

Internet-enabled supply chain integration: Prospects and challenges for the South African automotive industry

The impetus for supply chain integration (SCI) in the global automotive industry is being driven by the Internet. The article critically explores the potential of the Internet to optimise and streamline the complex supply chains found in the South African automotive industry. The Internet's potential to create seamless, collaborative supply networks could provide the local automotive industry with a distinctive competitive advantage in its pursuit of an 'outward orientation' and 'global connectedness' after a lengthy period of trade isolation and government protection. The findings, however, reveal that domestic automotive firms are generally not using the Internet for substantive interbusiness trade and advanced SCI. By not making the transition to Internet-enabled SCI, South African automotive firms may be placing themselves at risk of becoming less competitive in the globally interconnected market, which will impact on both their current market positions and long-term viability.