IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2020-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Structural transformation, inequality, and inclusive growth in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haroon Bhorat
  • Kezia Lilenstein
  • Morné Oosthuizen
  • Amy Thornton

Abstract

This paper evaluates structural change, inequality dynamics, and industrial policy in South Africa between 1960 and the present day. We find that South Africa experienced growth-enhancing structural transformation until the early 1970s, before entering a period of premature deindustrialization. Today, the services sector has become the primary driver of growth and employment in the country, while the agriculture, mining, and manufacturing sectors have declined in relative importance.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Kezia Lilenstein & Morné Oosthuizen & Amy Thornton, 2020. "Structural transformation, inequality, and inclusive growth in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-50, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-50
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2020-50.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dani Rodrik, 2008. "Understanding South Africa's economic puzzles," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 769-797, October.
    2. Feinstein,Charles H., 2005. "An Economic History of South Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521616416, November.
    3. Joseph E. Stiglitz & Justin Lin Yifu & Ebrahim Patel (ed.), 2013. "The Industrial Policy Revolution II," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-33523-4, April.
    4. Martin Wittenberg, 2017. "Wages and Wage Inequality in South Africa 1994–2011: Part 1 – Wage Measurement and Trends," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(2), pages 279-297, June.
    5. 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).
    6. Geoffrey E. Schneider, 2000. "The Development of the Manufacturing Sector in South Africa," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 413-424, June.
    7. Murray Leibbrandt & Arden Finn & Ingrid Woolard, 2012. "Describing and decomposing post-apartheid income inequality in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 19-34, March.
    8. C. S. Richards, 1940. "Some Economic And Administrative Aspects Of South Africa'S War Effort," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 8(4), pages 325-363, December.
    9. Martin Wittenberg, 2017. "Wages and Wage Inequality in South Africa 1994–2011: Part 2 – Inequality Measurement and Trends," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(2), pages 298-318, June.
    10. Haroon Bhorat & François Steenkamp & Christopher Rooney & Nomsa Kachingwe & Adrienne Lees, 2016. "Understanding and characterizing the services sector in South Africa: An overview," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-157, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Haroon Bhorat & Carlene Van Der Westhuizen & Derek Yu, 2014. "The Silent Success: Delivery of Public Assets Since Democracy," Working Papers 201403, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    12. Lawrence Edwards, 2005. "Has South Africa Liberalised Its Trade?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 73(4), pages 754-775, December.
    13. Lawrence Edwards & Robert Z. Lawrence, 2006. "South African Trade Policy Matters: Trade Performance and Trade Policy," NBER Working Papers 12760, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Servaas van der Berg & Haroon Bhorat, 1999. "The Present as a Legacy of the Past: The Labour Market, Inequality and Poverty in South Africa," Working Papers 99029, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    15. Feinstein,Charles H., 2005. "An Economic History of South Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521850919, November.
    16. Findlay, Ronald & Lundahl, Mats, "undated". "Resource-Led Growth – A Long-Term Perspective The Relevance of the 1870-1914 Experience for Today's Developing Economies," WIDER Working Papers 295488, United Nations University, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Lawrence Edwards & Robert Lawrence, 2008. "South African trade policy matters Trade performance and trade policy," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 585-608, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kholeka Mdingi & Sin-Yu Ho, 2023. "Income inequality and economic growth: An empirical investigation in South Africa," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 2230027-223, June.
    2. Caitlin Allen Whitehead & Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill & Tim Köhler & François Steenkamp, 2021. "The Potential Employment Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: The Case of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector," Working Papers 202106, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    3. Plantinga, Paul, 2021. "Innovation and the Public Service: Facilitating Inclusive Industrial and Social Development," SocArXiv qcdjg, Center for Open Science.
    4. Justin Visagie & Ivan Turok, 2022. "Firing on all cylinders: Decomposing regional growth dynamics in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 90(1), pages 57-74, March.
    5. Giorgio d'Agostino & Francesco Giuli & Marco Lorusso & Margherita Scarlato, 2020. "Fiscal policy, labour market, and inequality: Diagnosing South Africa's anomalies in the shadow of racial discrimination," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-122, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Adaiah Lilenstein, 2020. "Better measures of progress: Developing reliable estimates of educational access and quality in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 13/2020, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jørn Rattsø & Hildegunn E. Stokke, 2007. "A Growth Model For South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(4), pages 616-630, December.
    2. Mats Lundahl & Lennart Petersson, 2009. "Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Economic Success Story?," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-56, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. 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.
    4. Dani Rodrik, 2008. "Understanding South Africa's economic puzzles," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(4), pages 769-797, October.
    5. Torfinn Harding & Jørn Rattsø, 2009. "Industrial labor productivities and tariffs in South Africa. Identification based on multilateral liberalization reform," Discussion Papers 585, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Carlos Gradin, 2015. "Poverty and Ethnicity among Black South Africans," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 27(5), pages 921-942, December.
    7. Jørn Rattsø & Hildegunn E. Stokke, 2009. "Trade barriers to growth in South Africa: Endogenous investment-productivity-trade interaction," DEGIT Conference Papers c014_010, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    8. Bhorat, Haroon & Hirsch, Alan & Kanbur, Ravi & Ncube, Mthuli, 2014. "Economic Policy in South Africa: Past, Present, and Future," Working Papers 180150, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    9. Kerr, Andrew & Wittenberg, Martin, 2021. "Union wage premia and wage inequality in South Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 255-271.
    10. Nicoli Nattrass & Jeremy Seekings, 2018. "Employment and labour productivity in high unemployment countries," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S2), pages 769-785, September.
    11. Murray Leibbrandt & Vimal Ranchhod & Pippa Green, 2018. "Taking stock of South African income inequality," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-184, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Carlos Gradin, 2015. "Poverty and Ethnicity among Black South Africans," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 27(5), pages 921-942, December.
    13. Carlos Gradín, 2019. "Occupational segregation by race in South Africa after apartheid," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 553-576, May.
    14. Carlos Gradín, 2019. "Occupational segregation by race in South Africa after apartheid," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 553-576, May.
    15. Chandana Kularatne & Johannes W. Fedderke & Nicola Viegi & Peter W. Howitt & Philippe Aghion, 2008. "Testing creative destruction in an opening economy: the case of the South African manufacturing industries," Working Papers 093, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    16. Haroon Bhorat & Kezia Lilenstein & Morné Oosthuizen & Amy Thornton, 2020. "Wage polarization in a high-inequality emerging economy: The case of South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-55, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Torfinn Harding & Jørn Rattsø, 2010. "Industrial labour productivities and tariffs in South Africa," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(3), pages 459-485, July.
    18. Rattsø, Jørn & Stokke, Hildegunn E., 2012. "Trade policy in a growth model with technology gap dynamics and simulations for South Africa," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1042-1056.
    19. Murray Leibbrandt & Vima Ranchhod & Pippa Green, 2018. "Taking stock of South African income inequality," WIDER Working Paper Series 184, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Stanley L. Engerman & Kenneth L. Sokoloff, 2008. "Once Upon a Time in the Americas: Land and Immigration Policies in the New World," NBER Chapters, in: Understanding Long-Run Economic Growth: Geography, Institutions, and the Knowledge Economy, pages 13-48, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-50. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    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.