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Industry structure and labor market flexibility in the South African manufacturing sector: A time series and panel data approach

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  • Fedderke, Johannes W.
  • Hill, Andrew J.

Abstract

This paper presents a joint analysis of labor market flexibility and product market structure. Our investigation confirms earlier results of imperfect competition in South African manufacturing where we find an average mark-up of 50% for the period 1970 to 2004 that is without consistent trend over time. The contribution of the paper is to provide a theoretically grounded means of linking output market conduct to labor market flexibility. We infer the proportion of labor associated with rigidities in the labor market from the mark-up, and find that two thirds of total labor employed in South African manufacturing is associated with rigidities. We find that this proportion falls during the 1980s and rises during the 1990s, suggesting an increase in labor flexibility followed by a decrease.

Suggested Citation

  • Fedderke, Johannes W. & Hill, Andrew J., 2011. "Industry structure and labor market flexibility in the South African manufacturing sector: A time series and panel data approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 1291-1302, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:28:y:2011:i:3:p:1291-1302
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes W. Fedderke & Daniel K. Mengisteab, 2017. "Estimating South Africa's Output Gap and Potential Growth Rate," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(2), pages 161-177, June.
    2. Johannes Fedderke & Nonso Obikili & Nicola Viegi, 2018. "Markups and Concentration in South African Manufacturing Sectors: An Analysis with Administrative Data," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(S1), pages 120-140, January.
    3. Gupta, Rangan & Steinbach, Rudi, 2013. "A DSGE-VAR model for forecasting key South African macroeconomic variables," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 19-33.
    4. Erten, Bilge & Leight, Jessica & Tregenna, Fiona, 2019. "Trade liberalization and local labor market adjustment in South Africa," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 448-467.
    5. Johannes Fedderke, 2012. "The Cost of Rigidity: The Case of the South African Labor Market," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 54(4), pages 809-842, December.
    6. Joshua Budlender, 2019. "Markups and market structure in South Africa: What can be learnt from new administrative data?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-58, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Johannes Fedderke & Nonso Obikili & Nicola Viegi, 2018. "Markups and Concentration in South African Manufacturing Sectors: An Analysis with Administrative Data," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(S1), pages 120-140, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mark-up Industry structure Labor market flexibility;

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • J29 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Other
    • J69 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Other
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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