This paper attempts to estimate the causal effect of government enforcement on compliance with minimum wages in South Africa, a country where considerable non-compliance exists. The number of labour inspectors per capita is used as a proxy for enforcement, whilst non-compliance is measured using...

Theory predicts that an increase in employment protection may reduce employment levels by acting as a tax on firms by constraining hiring and firing decisions. We use a unique administrative database of the country’s dispute resolution body – the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and...

The inflation crisis of 2008 drew greater attention to the varying experiences of inflation in South Africa and, in particular, to the fact that different groups within society may have significantly differing inflation experiences. The groups may be defined according to income level, but may...

I provide six possible employment creating policy options within the arena of principally, but not exclusively, active labour market policy. The notion is that interventions in these areas should provide for short-term and possibly long-term employment creation avenues and options for the...

This paper investigates the take-up rate or claim-waiting rate of the unemployed under the South African Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) system. The goal is to identify disincentive effects that income replacement rates (IRR) and accumulated credits may have on the claimants behaviour in terms...

Based on 2005 estimates of National Transfer Accounts for South Africa, this paper investigates the resource flows across ages within the generational economy. The paper provides estimates of the lifecycle deficit and describes the financing of the deficit. The final section of the paper...

Despite the explosive growth in the number of people receiving disability benefits in South Africa, very little is known about the labour supply effects of the disability grant (DG). This study investigates the impact of disability grant receipt on labour force participation. Consideration is...

One Achilles’ heel of post-Apartheid South Africa is the growing intra-racial income inequality, particularly among Africans. This paper examines the role of labour unions in explaining this phenomenon among African men given that labour markets are at the core of income inequality in South...

This paper provides a historical overview of the South African trade union movement, followed by a brief discussion of the labour market legislation and institutions formed since 1994. Thereafter, a detailed evaluation of the impact of trade unions, legislation, and institutions on labour market...

As the 20th anniversary of the transition to democracy approaches in 2014, the economic policy debates in South Africa are in full flow. The forthcoming Oxford Companion to the Economics of South Africa contributes to the policy and analytical debate by drawing together perspectives on a range...