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Employment Outcomes and Returns to Earnings in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haroon Bhorat
  • Natasha Mayet

    (Development Policy Research Unit
    Director and Professor)

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand some of the key drivers of employment and earnings trends within the South African labour market in the 15 years following the demise of apartheid. A number of factors are discussed which feature in the understanding of South Africa’s labour market dynamics in general, and its high unemployment levels in particular. The role of demographic characteristics in determining labour market outcomes is investigated, along with employment trends by sector. The paper also analyses the skills mismatch between labour demand and supply. The role played by the institutional regulatory framework in the labour market is examined and estimates of the wage premia associated with union and bargaining council membership are presented. The paper also discusses the role played by the quality of higher education in determining labour market success.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Natasha Mayet, 2012. "Employment Outcomes and Returns to Earnings in Post-Apartheid South Africa," Working Papers 12152, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctw:wpaper:12152
    as

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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7303
    File Function: First version, 2012
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abhijit Banerjee & Sebastian Galiani & Jim Levinsohn & Zoë McLaren & Ingrid Woolard, 2008. "Why has unemployment risen in the New South Africa?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 715-740, October.
    2. T. Paul Schultz & Germano Mwabu, 1998. "Labor Unions and the Distribution of Wages and Employment in South Africa," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 680-703, July.
    3. Haroon Bhorat & Carlene van der Westhuizen, 2009. "A Synthesis of Current Issues in the Labour Regulatory Environment," Working Papers 09136, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    4. Azam, Jean-Paul & Rospabe, Sandrine, 2007. "Trade unions vs. statistical discrimination: Theory and application to post-apartheid South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 417-444, September.
    5. Haroon Bhorat & Halton Cheadle, 2009. "Labour Reform in South Africa: Measuring Regulation and a Synthesis of Policy Suggestions," Working Papers 09139, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    6. Daniela Casale & Dorrit Posel, 2002. "The Continued Feminisation Of The Labour Force In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(1), pages 156-184, March.
    7. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    8. Haroon Bhorat & Sumayya Goga & Carlene Van Der Westhuizen, 2012. "Institutional Wage Effects: Revisiting Union And Bargaining Council Wage Premia In South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 80(3), pages 400-414, September.
    9. P. G. Moll, 1993. "Black South African Unions: Relative Wage Effects in International Perspective," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 46(2), pages 245-261, January.
    10. Haroon Bhorat & Natasha Mayet & Mariette Visser, 2012. "Student Graduation, Labour Market Destinations and Employment Earnings," Working Papers 12153, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Morné Oosthuizen & Kavisha Pillay, 2015. "Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Haroon Bhorat & Zaakhir Asmal & Kezia Lilenstein & Kirsten van der Zee, 2018. "SMMES in South Africa: Understanding the Constraints on Growth and Performance," Working Papers 201802, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    3. Haroon Bhorat & Adaiah Lilenstein & Jabulile Monnakgotla & Amy Thornton, 2017. "The Socio-Economic Determinants of Crime in South Africa: An Empirical Assessment," Working Papers 201704, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    4. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Morné Oosthuizen & Kavisha Pillay, 2015. "Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    South Africa; labour market; unemployment; labour force; employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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