IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v58y2024i4p976-1007.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Against the odds: Unveiling the racial dynamics of financial resilience in post‐apartheid South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Essel‐Gaisey
  • Tsun‐Feng Chiang

Abstract

Recent economic shocks have intensified financial distress and inequality, prompting research into the factors contributing to financial resilience. Previous studies have primarily employed unidimensional measures of financial resilience, neglecting the role of race. This paper addresses knowledge gaps by exploring how race influences financial resilience. Using data from the South African National Income Dynamic Study, this paper constructs a multidimensional financial resilience index, examines the relationship between race and financial resilience, and identifies potential mediating variables. The results indicate that approximately 52% of South Africans are financially resilient. Empirically, propensity score matching shows that Non‐Whites exhibit approximately 11% lower financial resilience levels than whites. Additionally, the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition proves that discrimination accounts for approximately 3.7% of this disparity. Financial resilience among Non‐Whites would have increased by 1.5% if they had similar characteristics to Whites. Furthermore, mental health disorders and low trust mediate the relationship between race and financial resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Essel‐Gaisey & Tsun‐Feng Chiang, 2024. "Against the odds: Unveiling the racial dynamics of financial resilience in post‐apartheid South Africa," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 976-1007, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:58:y:2024:i:4:p:976-1007
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12608
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12608
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12608?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
    ---><---

    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:bla:jconsa:v:58:y:2024:i:4:p:976-1007. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    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.