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Exchange Rates And Employment

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  • Stewart Ngandu

Abstract

The analysis of exchange rates and employment has received scant attention in development economics. This is surprising, since there appears to be a number of well‐defined transmission channels through which exchange rates impact on employment. In South Africa this is particularly important given the rand's higher volatility relative to other emerging economies. The main focus of this paper is to give an overview of the transmission channels through which exchange rates affect employment and to discuss the standard methodological approach to conceptualising the impact of exchange rates on employment. Given the sector‐specific impact of exchange rates which are conditioned by industry characteristics, such as the degree of external orientation, there will always be winners and losers in the face of a currency shock. This means the full impact of exchange rates on employment can only be dealt with in an economy‐wide framework. Results from a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model are presented to demonstrate that even in a country with unreliable employment data such as South Africa, one can still analyse exchange rate and employment issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Stewart Ngandu, 2008. "Exchange Rates And Employment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 76(s2), pages 205-221, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:sajeco:v:76:y:2008:i:s2:p:s205-s221
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2008.00188.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Brixiova Zuzana & Egert Balazs & Essid Thouraya Hadj Amor, 2014. "The Real Exchange Rate and External Competitiveness in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 25-51, April.
    3. Ranjini L. Thaver & E. M. Ekanayake, 2010. "The Impact Of Apartheid And International Sanctions On South Africa'S Import Demand Function: An Empirical Analysis," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 4(4), pages 11-22.
    4. Mourad Zmami & Ousama Ben-Salha, 2015. "Exchange rate movements and manufacturing employment in Tunisia: Do different categories of firms react similarly?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 137-167, May.
    5. Haroon Bhorat & Nan Tian & Mark Ellyne, 2014. "The Real Exchange Rate and Sectoral Employment in South Africa," Working Papers 201404, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    6. Garcia-Jimenez, Carlos I. & Mishra, Ashok K., 2010. "The Effects of Public Debt on Labor Demand in the United States," 2010 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2010, Orlando, Florida 56361, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    7. Nyoni, Thabani, 2018. "Modeling and Forecasting Naira / USD Exchange Rate In Nigeria: a Box - Jenkins ARIMA approach," MPRA Paper 88622, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Aug 2018.
    8. Ranjini L. Thaver & E. M. Ekanayake & Daniel R. Plante, 2012. "An Estimation Of The Impact Of Gear And Nepad On South Africa'S Disaggregated Import Demand Function With Nigeria," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 6(2), pages 69-79.
    9. Frederick C.v.N. Fourie, 2011. "The South African unemployment debate: three worlds, three discourses?," SALDRU Working Papers 63, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    10. Zuzana Brixiova & Balázs Égert & Thouraya Hadj Amor Essid, 2013. "Working Paper 187 - The Real Exchange Rate and External Competitiveness in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia," Working Paper Series 991, African Development Bank.

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