IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rnd/arjebs/v5y2013i6p336-345.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Economic Growth Lead Employment in South Africa?

Author

Listed:
  • Temitope L A

Abstract

This paper adopts the Toda-Yamamoto technique of causality in order to examine the direction of causality between employment and economic growth. This is to investigate whether the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) translates into increased employment or not and vice versa, in South Africa, using quarterly data from 2000Q1 to 2012Q3. South Africa has been experiencing high and increased growth for the past decade, yet the rate of employment is not significantly high. Meanwhile, the objective of the government, since the first democratic election in 1994, was to increase economic growth along with a reduction in the unemployment rate (BMR, 2011). Although the economy has been experiencing significant success of increased economic growth, it performed poorly in the area of increased employment (BMR, 2011). This study thus seeks to answer the following questions: (1) does it mean that the increase in growth does not translate to the creation of more jobs and (2) is increased economic growth not as a result of increase in employment in South Africa? The results obtained shows that causality does not run from employment to economic growth in South Africa, as the null hypothesis was not rejected at all significant levels. However, Keynes General Theory holds for South Africa, where the empirical result showed that economic growth leads employment. These results support the criticism of ‘jobless growth’ against South Africa (Kumo, 2012). The paper suggests some policy recommendations for the improvement of employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Temitope L A, 2013. "Does Economic Growth Lead Employment in South Africa?," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 5(6), pages 336-345.
    • Handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:5:y:2013:i:6:p:336-345
    DOI: 10.22610/jebs.v5i6.409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/409/409
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs/article/view/409
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22610/jebs.v5i6.409?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurence Ball & Robert Moffitt, 2001. "Productivity Growth and the Phillips Curve," NBER Working Papers 8421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    3. Mdu Biyase & Lumengo Bonga-Bonga, 2007. "South Africa’s Growth Paradox," DEGIT Conference Papers c012_043, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    4. Barbara Sawtelle, 2007. "Analyzing the Link Between Real GDP and Employment: An Industry Sector Approach," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 46-54, October.
    5. Toda, Hiro Y. & Yamamoto, Taku, 1995. "Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1-2), pages 225-250.
    6. Enrico Marelli & Marcello Signorelli, 2010. "Employment, productivity and models of growth in the EU," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(7), pages 732-754, October.
    7. Bradley Ewing, 1999. "Employment and economic performance: Jobs, inflation, and growth," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 622-624, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chipeta Chama & Meyer Daniel Francois & Muzindutsi Paul-Francois, 2017. "The Effect of Exchange Rate Movements and Economic Growth on Job Creation," Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Oeconomica, Sciendo, vol. 62(2), pages 20-41, August.
    2. Peter Ansu Mensah & Monica Ansu Mensah, 2021. "Mapping evidence of individuals’ sustainable consumption behaviour and energy or transport use in Africa: A scoping review," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 369-382, September.
    3. Adetunji Adeniyi, 2021. "Job Absorption Capacity of Nigeria’s Mining and Quarrying Sector," Journal of Business Administration Research, Journal of Business Administration Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(1), pages 1-51, April.
    4. Omoshoro-Jones, Oyeyinka Sunday, 2021. "Asymmetry in Okun’s Law Revisited: New evidence on cyclical unemployment–cyclical output trade-off in the Free State Province using NARDL model," MPRA Paper 107126, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ademola Obafemi YOUNG, 2019. "Why Has Growth Not Trickled Down to the Poor? A Study of Nigeria," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(1), pages 156-156, December.
    6. Brian Tavonga Mazorodze & Noureen Siddiq, 2018. "On the Unemployment Output Relation in South Africa: A Non-Linear ARDL Approach," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(5), pages 167-178.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Judith Giles & Cara Williams, 2001. "Export-led growth: a survey of the empirical literature and some non-causality results. Part 2," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 445-470.
    2. Keppler, Jan Horst & Mansanet-Bataller, Maria, 2010. "Causalities between CO2, electricity, and other energy variables during phase I and phase II of the EU ETS," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3329-3341, July.
    3. Hatemi-J, Abdulnasser, 2012. "Is the UAE stock market integrated with the USA stock market? New evidence from asymmetric causality testing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 273-280.
    4. Ibrahim Ari & Muammer Koc, 2018. "Sustainable Financing for Sustainable Development: Understanding the Interrelations between Public Investment and Sovereign Debt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    5. Koi Nyen Wong & Tuck Cheong Tang, 2009. "New Evidence on the Causal Linkages Between Foreign Direct Investment,Exports and Imports in Malaysia," The IUP Journal of Applied Economics, IUP Publications, vol. 0(1), pages 20-25, January.
    6. Camgöz, Mevlüt & Topal, Mehmet Hanefi, 2022. "Identifying the asymmetric price dynamics of Islamic equities: Implications for international investors," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    7. Cristina Boţa-Avram & Adrian Groşanu & Paula-Ramona Răchişan & Sorin Romulus Berinde, 2021. "Granger Causal Nexus between Good Public Governance and Unemployment: Evidence from Cross-Country Panel Data Investigation," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-11, February.
    8. Nyakabawo, Wendy & Miller, Stephen M. & Balcilar, Mehmet & Das, Sonali & Gupta, Rangan, 2015. "Temporal causality between house prices and output in the US: A bootstrap rolling-window approach," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 55-73.
    9. Muhammad Shahbaz & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Perry Sadorsky, 2018. "How strong is the causal relationship between globalization and energy consumption in developed economies? A country-specific time-series and panel analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(13), pages 1479-1494, March.
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Rasool, Ghulam & Ahmed, Khalid & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2016. "Considering the effect of biomass energy consumption on economic growth: Fresh evidence from BRICS region," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1442-1450.
    11. Ari, Ibrahim & Akkas, Erhan & Asutay, Mehmet & Koç, Muammer, 2019. "Public and private investment in the hydrocarbon-based rentier economies: A case study for the GCC countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 165-175.
    12. Kondoz, Mehmet & Kirikkaleli, Dervis & Athari, Seyed Alireza, 2021. "Time-frequency dependencies of financial and economic risks in South American countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 170-181.
    13. Ilham Haouas & Naceur Kheraief & Arusha Cooray & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad, 2019. "Time-Varying Casual Nexuses Between Remittances and Financial Development in Some MENA Countries," Working Papers 1294, Economic Research Forum, revised 2019.
    14. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gungor, Hasan & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2015. "The time-varying causality between spot and futures crude oil prices: A regime switching approach," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 51-71.
    15. Paul-Francois Muzindutsi, 2014. "Manufacturing Production and Non-Agricultural Employment rate in South Africa: Time Series Analysis," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 6(10), pages 779-786.
    16. Syed Ali Raza & Muhammad Shahbaz & Sudharshan Reddy Paramati, 2017. "Dynamics of Military Expenditure and Income Inequality in Pakistan," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 1035-1055, April.
    17. Ehouma Jacques Allou & Bosede Ngozi Adeleye & Jianhua Cheng & Rehman Abdul, 2020. "Is there a nexus between China outward foreign direct investment and welfare in Côte dʼIvoire? Empirical evidence from the Toda–Yamamoto procedure," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 499-510, September.
    18. Xiaojuan He & Dervis Kirikkaleli & Melike Torun & Zecheng Li, 2021. "Modeling Economic Risk in the QISMUT Countries: Evidence From Nonlinear Cointegration Tests," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    19. Bashiri Behmiri, Niaz & Pires Manso, José R., 2012. "Does Portuguese economy support crude oil conservation hypothesis?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 628-634.
    20. Chakraborty, Debashis & Mukherjee, Jaydeep & Lee, Jaewook, 2016. "Do FDI Inflows influence Merchandise Exports? Causality Analysis on India over 1991-2016," MPRA Paper 74851, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rnd:arjebs:v:5:y:2013:i:6:p:336-345. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Muhammad Tayyab (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ojs.amhinternational.com/index.php/jebs .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.