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The effects of the Employment Tax Incentive on South African employment

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  • Amina Ebrahim
  • Murray Leibbrandt
  • Vimal Ranchhod

Abstract

South Africa's Employment Tax Incentive, launched in 2014, aimed to address low youth employment by reducing the cost of hiring young workers. We make use of anonymized tax administrative data from the 2012-2015 tax years to examine the effect of the Incentive on youth employment. We match firms claiming the subsidy with similar firms not claiming the subsidy and observe their hiring behaviour before and after the implementation of the policy. We find no statistically significant impact on youth employment on average.

Suggested Citation

  • Amina Ebrahim & Murray Leibbrandt & Vimal Ranchhod, 2017. "The effects of the Employment Tax Incentive on South African employment," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-5, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2017-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Seán M. Muller, 2021. "Evidence for a YETI? A Cautionary Tale from South Africa's Youth Employment Tax Incentive," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(6), pages 1301-1342, November.
    2. Aalia Cassim & Daniela Casale, 2018. "How large is the wage penalty in the labour broker sector?: Evidence for South Africa using administrative data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-48, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Bassier, Ihsaan, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117999, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill & Safia Khan & Kezia Lilenstein & Ben Stanwix, 2020. "The Employment Tax Incentive Scheme in South Africa: An Impact Assessment," Working Papers 202007, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    5. Amina Ebrahim & Rebone Gcabo & Lilian Khumalo & Jukka Pirttilä, 2019. "Tax research in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-9, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Kanayo Ogujiuba & Ntombifuthi Mngometulu, 2022. "Does Social Investment Influence Poverty and Economic Growth in South Africa: A Cointegration Analysis?," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    7. Amina Ebrahim & Jukka Pirttilä, 2019. "Can a wage subsidy system help reduce 50 per cent youth unemployment?: Evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-28, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Daniela Casale & Aalia Cassim, 2018. "How large is the wage penalty in the labour broker sector?: Evidence for South Africa using administrative data," WIDER Working Paper Series 48, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Ihsaan Bassier, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," CEP Discussion Papers dp1872, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Isaac Marcelin & Daniel Brink & David Oluwatosin Fadiran & Hammed Adedeji Amusa, 2019. "Subsidized labour and firms: Investment, profitability, and leverage," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-50, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Isaac Marcelin & Daniel Brink & Wei Sun, 2021. "Firms' resilience to financial constraints: The role of trade credit," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-78, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Amina Ebrahim & Jukka Pirttilä, 2022. "A policy for the jobless youth in South Africa: Individual impacts of the Employment Tax Incentive," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-124, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Amina Ebrahim & Friedrich Kreuser & Michael Kilumelume, 2021. "The guide to the CIT-IRP5 panel version 4.0," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-173, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Bojosi Morule & Konstantin Makrelov, 2019. "The effectiveness of the Employment Tax Incentive August 2019," Occasional Bulletin of Economic Notes 9481, South African Reserve Bank.
    15. Amina Ebrahim & Christopher Axelson, 2019. "The creation of an individual panel using administrative tax microdata in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-27, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Bassier, Ihsaan, 2022. "Firms and inequality when unemployment is high," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121970, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Ihsaan Bassier, 2019. "The wage-setting power of firms: Rent-sharing and monopsony in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-34, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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