The dualistic nature of the South African economy manifests itself to a large extent in the agricultural sector, where ownership and access to land was previously reserved and is still mainly controlled today by white farmers. As a result black farmers were prevented from sharing in the profits...

Despite widespread poverty there is general consensus among policymakers about the preference of targeted welfare transfers over non-targeted grants due to the budgetary implications of the latter. Targeting, however, adds to the administrative complexities of disbursing welfare grants, thus...

Ongoing agricultural and food commodity price declines associated with efficiency gains in agricultural production, both domestically and internationally, can have important welfare effects for a country. The fact that consumers can buy cheaper imported and/or domestically produced foodstuffs...

Low international wheat prices caused by tariffs and subsidies in developed countries have been blamed for causing financial difficulty to local farmers. While the indignation at these unfair trade practices may be valid, it does not follow that protection of the local industry is necessarily...

Following recent international oil price increases, there has been considerable interest in how this external factor can affect the South African economy. This paper reports results from a computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis of an increase (up to 30 per cent) in international oil...

This paper reports the results of a computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis of the South African sugar industry. The study was inspired by analyses of the EU South Africa Free Trade Agreement that indicated the importance of sugar exports to the welfare gains from agricultural trade...

The Western Cape Provincial Government's proposal to introduce a provincial fuel levy within a band of 10 and 50 cents per litre raises concerns on the impact this may have on the economy, especially at a time of high international oil prices. This study reports the results of a computable...

Following deregulation in the 1990's the South African maize producing industry has been suffering a gradual decline. Current low prices suggest that this trend may continue or worsen. This paper discusses the results from a static general equilibrium model for the South African economy to...

Municipalities across the country are in the process of implementing property rates on all property, following the Local Government: Property Rates Act (2004) that came into effect on 1 July 2005. This study investigates the economic impact of property rates on agricultural land, using a static...

Municipalities across the country are in the process of implementing property rates on all property, following the Local Government: Property Rates Act (2004) that came into effect on 1 July 2005. This study investigates the economic impact of property rates on agricultural land, using a static...