Oor die afgelope paar jaar was daar sterk groei in die vraag na Suid-Afrikaanse musiek, in besonder Afrikaanse musiek. Die artikel poog om die groei te verduidelik deur die model van rasionele verslawing van Stickler en Becker te kombineer met die bandwagon effek. In die model lei die verbruik...

Before the introduction of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been using the same methodology to derive the informal sector employment throughout the years, focusing on the enterprise registration status to classify workers (which include...

In order to achieve an ‘optimal health system’ health policies should not only be focused on the supply of health care, but also take cognisance of the demand for health care. Studies of health care demand in South Africa are scarce due to considerable data limitations. This analysis...

Trade unions played an important role in South Africa’s transition from apartheid in 1994 and continue to play a very public role in the South African economy. Trade unions are found to have had an increasingly positive effect on members’ wages, although it appears that this increase has...

Higher education displays characteristics of both private and public goods and there is a trend worldwide to expect individuals to pay more of the costs of their higher education. In South Africa public funding of higher education decreased from 0.86% of GDP in 1986 to only 0.66% in 2006. Due to...

Despite the fact that there are currently millions of HIV-infected people living in South Africa, the worst effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic have yet to be felt. The most long lasting of these is the anticipated dramatic increase in orphanhood. This paper examines the extent of the impending...

Black consumption patterns differ from those of whites, even when considering income levels and household size. This applies particularly to the black middle class, the subject of intense public interest. This paper postulates that this difference results not from cultural differences in taste...

This paper considers the role of fiscal policy as a component of stabilisation policy in South Africa. The South African economy – like many others, most notably the United States – has experienced considerable economic stability over the last decade. At stake in this paper is whether fiscal...

No country knows what the right policy choices are because we live in a world of uncertainty. One way to improve policy choices is to ensure a good feedback mechanism. With feedback, current policy choices might be altered to ensure a better fit with prevailing circumstances. Botswana seems to...

Supply-side solutions to health-care provision dominate the South African debate about health care. These solutions are often premised on views that health resources are too concentrated in the private health sector – which supposedly serves only a small minority of the population – and thus...