scholarly journals Manufacturing Production and Non-Agricultural Employment rate in South Africa: Time Series Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 779-786
Author(s):  
Paul-Francois Muzindutsi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Open Economy ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Employment Rate ◽  
Causality Test ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Intensive Production ◽  
Capital Intensive

South African is faced with a high unemployment rate; however, the country’s manufacturing sector is one of the sectors that have been linked with job creation. Nevertheless, the growth in manufacturing production may not increase employment opportunities if this sector continues to shift to technology-intensive methods of production, which displace labour. This study uses a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to estimate the interaction between manufacturing production and the employment rate in South Africa from 1970 to 2013. Results revealed that both variables were stationary at the first difference and there was a long-term equilibrium relationship between the variables. In the short term, a significant positive relationship between manufacturing production and employment rate was observed. Granger causality test showed that there is a causal link from manufacturing production to the employment rate. A comparison between apartheid and post-apartheid periods showed the long-run relationship only existed in the post-apartheid period of a more open economy. Findings of this study revealed that a growth in the South African manufacturing sector is linked with employment opportunities in the short-run. However, these opportunities may be reduced by changes in technology which promote capital intensive production. As such, policy-makers should encourage policies that promote a mix of labour and capital intensive production in order to maintain these employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

scholarly journals Incentives for the manufacturing sector: what South Africa can learn from Malaysia and Singapore

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Lenatha Wentzel ◽  
Kerry De Hart
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
South African Government ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Similarities And Differences

The expansion of the manufacturing sector is one of the South African government’s focus areas for economic growth and employment creation. The research on which this article is based identified additional incentives, applicable to the manufacturing sector, which the South African government could introduce to encourage investors to choose the South African manufacturing sector as a desired investment destination. The incentives provided to manufacturing companies by the governments of Malaysia and Singapore and those provided by the South African government are compared in order to examine the similarities and differences between these incentives. In the light of these findings, recommendations are made for additional incentives in South Africa to promote investment in South African manufacturing companies and reduce some of the barriers that prevent local and foreign investment in the country.

scholarly journals A generic balanced scorecard for small and medium manufacturing enterprises in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Reynolds ◽  
Houdini Fourie ◽  
Lourens Erasmus
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Delphi Study ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
The Balanced Scorecard ◽  
Manufacturing Enterprises ◽  
Medium Enterprises

Background: Prior research confirmed that the balanced scorecard (BSC) can be used successfully at manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to assist with sustainability. South African SMEs have a low survival rate despite being a significant contributor to the local economy with the manufacturing sector in particular hampered by negative growth.Aim: The objective of this study was to develop a BSC for manufacturing SMEs in South Africa with measurable key performance indicators (KPIs).Setting: We conducted a Delphi study with cost accounting specialists in different industries.Methods: The development of the generic BSC was facilitated with a Delphi survey and analytical hierarchy process (AHP).Results: The research presents a generic yet flexible BSC for manufacturing SMEs. A total number of 12 generic and 104 specific KPIs were identified. The results revealed a greater emphasis on the financial and customer perspectives that may be conducive to SME sustainability and success.Conclusion: A generic BSC that can be adapted to specific organisational and industry requirements has the potential to enhance SME sustainability and success.

A case study on farm labour substitution in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Jannie Rossouw
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Full Cost ◽  
Intensive Production ◽  
Production Techniques ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Capital Intensive

This paper reports a case study on labour substitution by a small-scale farmer on his farm in the Western Cape Province of South Africa that has been owned by descendants of the same family since the early 1800s. Production techniques used on the farm have moved from labour-intensive to capital-intensive. The first step towards mechanisation was taken early in 1988, when some of the farm workers did not return after their annual holidays and before the harvesting season. One of the decisive reasons for the change in production techniques was a labour strike during the harvesting season in 2000.An analysis of gross income and production costs in 2012/13, based on capitalintensive production, compared to assumed costs if the labour-intensive production techniques of 1984/85 had been retained, shows an annual saving of R95 101 (19,5%) in comparative production costs. Moreover, capital-intensive production protects the farm against the danger of strikes and therefore reduces production risks considerably. This research raises questions about (i) the morality of capital-intensive production; (ii) the full cost of labour, compared to the full cost of capital, when the risks of unreliable labour and of labour strikes are taken into consideration; and (iii) the risk of land expropriation.

scholarly journals WHO ARE THE TRUE BENEFICIARIES OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION? Solidarity obo Barnard v SAPS 2010 5 BLLR 561 (LC)

Obiter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Mushariwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
South African ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Note ◽  
Not Given ◽  
African Society ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Action Measures

Affirmative action measures within the workplace seek to ensure equal employment opportunities and create a workforce that is representative of South African society. One of the issues faced by employers in implementing affirmative action is the question of who should be a beneficiary of affirmative action. This case note seeks to answer this question by looking at the definition given to beneficiaries of affirmative action and the concept of disadvantage. The first part of the article will explore the general objective ofaffirmative action and the two schools of thought on how we identify beneficiaries of affirmative action. I argue that recognition must be given to the fact that individuals who fall within the designated groups are not necessarily equally placed in terms of their experience of disadvantage. I further argue that in recognizing these differing experiences of disadvantage, we can avoid the creation of an elite middle-class black group that benefits from affirmative action to the exclusion of those that truly deserve the protection. The second part of this case note will focus on a landmark decision that highlights the difficulties encountered by employers in fulfilling their obligation of implementing affirmative action policies. In the last part of this case note I shall comment on the lessons that can be drawn from the case. I shall compare the development of affirmative action in the United States and India with that of South Africa in order to show the constitutional principles that need to be advanced within such a social transitional programme and recommend that affirmative action as a means to an end needs to evolve with the understanding that it functions within an ever changing social and economic environment. If such changes are ignored the true beneficiaries of affirmative action are not given recognition and the desired end of creating a workforce representative of South African society and thus reaching our goal of equality cannot be realized.

scholarly journals Market Structure and Inter-industry Profit Differences in Taiwan

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Chung Lai
Keyword(s):  
Market Structure ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Domestic Market ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chow Test ◽  
Intensive Production ◽  
Output Ratio ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Capital Intensive

A high degree of openness and labour-intensive production are the two main features of Taiwan's manufacturing sector. This study uses the export/sales ratio and the KIL ratio to divide the sector into two groups: (1) the export-oriented and domestic market-oriented industries, and (2) the capital-intensive and labour-intensive industries. The Chow test confirmed the two-regime hypothesis for both the groups, supporting the validity of our dualistic analysis. Using 1986 census data, the distribution of profit rates in the two groups are compared. The major determinants of inter-industry profit differences are the domestic sales ratio and the capital/output ratio; the other variables have either little impact or generate unsystematic effects.

A New Keynesian Phillips Curve for South Africa

2013 ◽  
pp. 30-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rulof Burger ◽  
Stan du Plessis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Open Economy ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Phillips Curve ◽  
African Literature ◽  
New Keynesian ◽  
New Keynesian Phillips Curve ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Literature

In South Africa, as elsewhere, economists have not reached an agreed upon model for the Phillips curve, despite its importance for understanding the process of inflation and its relevance for policy makers. It has been a particular challenge to identify the role of aggregate economic activity in the inflationary process in the South African literature, since the breakdown of a reasonably traditional Phillips curve, which had existed until the early seventies. A comparatively new model of the Phillips curve, often called the New Keynesian Phillips Curve (NKPC), has recently received considerable interest and support from monetary economists. The South African literature is exceptional in that these models have not yet been applied locally, despite their close association with forward looking and rules-based monetary policy regimes such as the inflation-targeting regime of the South African Reserve Bank. This chapter takes a first step towards introducing the NKPC in the South African debate, by estimating standard, hybrid, and open economy versions of the model and comparing the results with the international literature as well as South African precedents. The authors find encouraging, though tentative, evidence that research along these lines might help to identify the impact of aggregate economic activity in the domestic process of inflation.

Factors that affect discouragement: A South African labour market analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-90
Author(s):  
Precious Mncayi ◽  
Jacques de Jongh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Market Analysis ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
The World ◽  
Very High

Labour markets across the world have in recent years been characterised by instability and scare employment opportunities. Despite the fact that the 21st century has carried with it massive technological change and a rise in the significance of education for better employment prospects, it has moreover brought about expanded vulnerability which has neglected to ensure employment for work-searchers. For those who want to work, the inability to find employment has been a source of enormous adversities both personally and economically. This is not unique to South Africa as the country is plagued with very high unemployment rates across all age categories and continually rising numbers of discouraged work-seekers. Although unemployment indicators have to a great extent followed international standards, the failure to incorporate those who have abstained from searching has inadvertently contributed to a lack of understanding regarding the nature of discouragement in the labour market. Keywords: Employment, discouragement; work-seekers, labour markets, South Africa, unemployment.

Trends in foreign agricultural trade and its impact on households in South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 003072702094955
Author(s):  
Roscoe Bertrum van Wyk ◽  
Bianca Flavia van Wyk ◽  
Katleho Daniel Makatjane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Causal Relationship ◽  
South African ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Causality Test ◽  
Vector Autoregressive ◽  
Foreign Agricultural ◽  
Agricultural Imports

This study examines the trends in foreign trade in agriculture focusing on imports and exports for different sub-sectors and the identity of agricultural trade flows with specific regions and countries. Secondly, to understand how agricultural imports and exports improve the living standards of households in South Africa. The study uses a quantitative research approach by analysing trade data from the South African Revenue Services (SARS) and household data from the World Bank and OECD. The threshold vector autoregressive (TVAR) model is employed to establish a nonlinear causal relationship. The Diks-Panchenko nonparametric causality test revealed no causal relationship between the foreign agricultural trade and household consumption and household income in South Africa. However, with the increase of exported agricultural goods from South Africa, there are many significant benefits to South African households.

scholarly journals Estimating Vat Refunds the Case of South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Cathrine Thato Koloane ◽  
◽  
Mangalani Peter Makananisa ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Vector Autoregression ◽  
Var Model ◽  
Employment Rate ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Forecast Period ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
Voluntary Compliance ◽  
Ideal Situation

This study intends to estimate VAT refund levels in South Africa in an ideal situation where there are well-equipped, incorruptible officials and a proper VAT system is in place. Understanding the dynamics behind the behaviour of VAT and its main drivers is crucial and could have a huge benefit to the country’s economy with regards to closing the tax gap related to this tax type. Using the data from various sources (VAT refunds and some macroeconomic variables), a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model was used to estimate the level of VAT refunds in South Africa. The model estimates VAT refunds for the period 2021/22 to be R242.7 billion, while the VAT refunds forecast for the period 2022/23 and 2023/24 amounts to R254.6 billion and R267.3 billion, respectively. Furthermore, VAT refunds contribute on average 17.5% to the total tax for the forecast period of 2021/22-2023/24. The study also indicates that the growth in VAT refunds is influenced by the growth in domestic VAT collections, increasing employment rate and the growth in both agriculture and construction GDP. The estimated level of VAT refunds can serve as an important consideration in the national budgeting processes in South Africa. Adequate provisions can be made to enable proper planning and distributions to government departments. To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind for South Africa. In summary, the South African tax authority should not deviate from the primary goal of building sound VAT systems based on improved voluntary compliance through effective systems of self-assessment

scholarly journals Disability Discrimination and the Right of Disabled Persons to Access the Labour Market

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 344
Author(s):  
Motseotsile Clement Marumoagae
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Government Work ◽  
The Right

Inequality, discrimination and transformation remain the key challenges which most employers are faced with in the South African labour market. Key among such challenges has also been employers' ability to ensure that persons with disabilities access the labour market. In this paper I highlight employment discrimination experienced by persons with disabilities in South African workplaces, which often prohibits them from accessing employment opportunities. I argue that employers need to consider employing persons with disabilities and also reasonably to accommodate them within South African workplaces. I further illustrate efforts by the legislature to eradicate forms of unjustified discrimination against persons with disabilities through the enactment of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998. I argue that all of us need to understand how cultural, social, physical and other barriers continue to prevent persons with disabilities in South Africa from enjoying their constitutional rights to equality, freedom and human dignity, and further, that it is desirable that society at large and government work together towards eradicating barriers which prevent persons with disabilities from accessing the labour market.

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