A foot in the door: are NGOs effective as workplace intermediaries in the...
It has been argued that properly focused workplace intermediaries can reshape the labour market to become more youth friendly. Case studies of NGO intermediaries in South Africa offer some optimism but...
View ArticleLabour and unemployment in South Africa: towards a ‘grand bargain’
The problematics of the situation in South Africa are clear: high unemployment, high inequality and low growth, combined with a lack of consensus on what to do. It might be more fruitful to think in...
View ArticleTax(i)ing the poor? Implications of our high commuting costs
The time and monetary costs of commuting are extremely high and have increased over the last 20 years. They imply a substantial ‘tax’ on the wages of those who commute to work, notably on the users of...
View ArticleHow much is inequality reduced by progressive taxation and government spending?
Through progressive taxation and pro-poor social spending, the SA fiscal system reduces income inequality significantly. The extent of this reduction is larger than in twelve comparable middle-income...
View ArticleWhat will housing megaprojects do to our cities?
The building of large numbers of housing units in isolated greenfield locations has had detrimental side effects on our cities over the last two decades. Yet a series of new megaprojects, designed to...
View ArticleThe inequality of space: what to do?
South Africa is the most unequal country in the world in terms of people’s income. But, two decades after apartheid’s demise, why has our urban and rural geography changed so little – and how does this...
View ArticleHave real wages fallen behind or increased out of line with productivity? A...
Macroeconomic data on wages and productivity suggest that there has not been any constant tendency for real wages either to fall behind or increase out of line with increases in productivity. Upward...
View ArticleDo government spending and taxation really reduce inequality, or do we need...
World Bank staff and consultants claim that South Africa’s progressive taxation and pro-poor social spending reduce the Gini inequality coefficient from 0.77 to 0.59. But their data and methodology are...
View ArticleA growing informal sector: evidence from an enterprise survey in Delft
Using a small-area census approach, this article reports on changes in informal micro-enterprise activity in the Cape township of Delft between 2010 and 2015. The number of micro-enterprises has...
View ArticleDo low-paid workers’ wage increases raise unemployment – and is this relevant...
Increasing the wages of workers in the bottom half of the wage distribution contributes less to regional unemployment than increasing the wages of better-paid workers. The wages of the worst-paid – who...
View ArticleDay labourers and the role of makwerekweres: for better or for worse?
Foreign migrants often enter informal employment as day labourers. They compete with South Africans for jobs in this curb-side labour market. Three surveys of day labourers working in Tshwane between...
View ArticleHow accurate is our migration data?
The reliability of Census data on demography and migration comes under attack periodically. This article sheds light on the reliability of survey results with respect to migration into the Western...
View ArticleCooperatives: has the dream become a nightmare?
Over the past 15 years Government has promoted cooperatives at national and provincial levels with the aim of enabling small producers to tap into mainstream economic activities. Tens of thousands of...
View ArticleWealth inequality – striking new insights from tax data
Although South Africa is known for its extreme income inequality, the degree of wealth inequality is even greater. New tax and survey data suggest that 10% of the population own at least 90–95% of all...
View ArticlePredicting the impact of a national minimum wage: are the general equilibrium...
This article analyses whether computable general equilibrium (CGE) models are suitable for projecting the likely consequences of implementing a national minimum wage. Referring to modelling exercises...
View ArticleThe nuts and bolts of micro-manufacturing in the township - a Cape Town case...
The informal sector is frequently viewed as comprising only street traders. However, micro-manufacturing of various types constitutes a small but significant component. A Cape Town case study of...
View ArticleBetween the devil and the deep blue sea? The financing of higher education
Higher-than-inflation increases in student fees since 2009 often are blamed on declining government subsidies to universities. This is not entirely correct, if one considers real per-student subsidies....
View ArticleAre internal migrants more likely to be unemployed than locally born residents?
This article compares the labour-market status of migrants and locally born residents. The focus is on migration into Cape Town and the Western Cape from elsewhere in South Africa. Survey and census...
View ArticleThe employability of higher education graduates: are qualifications enough?
The transition from higher education to employment is a challenge, considering persistent graduate un- and underemployment. Qualifications are not enough. Graduates (should) develop a ‘workplace...
View ArticleYouth unemployment: what can we do in the short run?
The challenge of youth unemployment is shaped by factors in both the labour market and the education system, alongside intricate community, household and individual-level issues. This complex mixture...
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