Download or read book An Employment targeted Economic Program for South Africa written by Robert Pollin and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2007-02-23 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Investment in South Africa is low, real interest rates are high, the employment-intensity of growth has been relatively slow. The "employment-targeted program" advocated in this book seeks to reverse these tendencies by lowering average interest rates and channeling subsidized credit to labor-intensive, pro-poor activities, particularly small-scale agriculture and small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a bold program and by challenging conventional "inflation-targeted" economic policy, the book makes a major contribution to the debate on economic policy in South Africa.' - Keith B. Griffin, University of California-Riverside, US The people of South Africa, and the African National Congress-led government, have made extraordinary social and economic advances since ending apartheid and beginning the transition to democracy in 1994. But the country still faces severe problems of mass unemployment, underemployment and poverty. This study, sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, presents a detailed economic program designed to produce major reductions in unemployment and poverty, and a general spreading of economic well-being, and to achieve these ends in a manner that is sustainable over a longer-term framework.

Download or read book An Employment targeted Economic Program for South Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Good Jobs Bad Jobs No Jobs written by Tony Avirgan and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Finding Work written by Percy Moleke and published by HSRC Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complementing existing labour-market research on graduates, this study provides qualitative and quantitative data relating to graduates, experiences in the labour market. The data presented here offers a clear picture of graduate employment and includes the time it takes graduates to find employment, the factors that influence employability, the types of jobs they find, their perceptions of the relation of the level of jobs they found to their qualifications and to the sectors of employment. The report also looks at graduate unemployment, the period of unemployment and the reasons for unemployment. It reports on mobility in the South African labour market and what influences such mobility, and reviews the extent to which graduates move abroad and the reasons for deciding to move. It further investigates why the graduates surveyed chose to continue studying after obtaining their first degrees and reports on graduates? perceptions of the skills they acquired through higher education. For planners and employers, the report will inform long-term strategies aimed at developing an effective and appropriately trained workforce for South Africa. Prospective and current students will find the report?s in-depth information on the way in which the graduate labour market works both useful and relevant.

Download or read book Towards Employment Intensive Growth in South Africa written by Anthony Black and published by Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: South Africa’s high rate of unemployment (26.4%) makes it a complete outlier compared with other middle-income countries. Indeed, the unemployment rate rises to 36% if discouraged workers are taken into account. It underpins extreme poverty and inequality and is a major contributor to social dislocation. If it were not for increased social payments, poverty would have continued to increase since the advent of democracy in 1994. Unemployment also represents a huge cost to growth. This book focuses on the growth path of the economy. The starting point is that while more rapid economic expansion is an important objective, at any given level of growth, the economy as a whole needs to become more labour-absorbing. The central question posed is how to bring about changes in the economic structure and pattern of development, which would lead to the attainment of this objective. The authors argue that employment needs to be much more centrally positioned within the economic and social policy arena. They emphasise innovative approaches within a broader focus on the growth path, and employment-intensive growth. And they posit that the negative impact of previous ‘distortions’ requires much more than a levelling of the playing field via market-based reforms. Apart from presenting an alternative growth path which could start to shift the economy in new directions, the book tackles themes which have received only limited attention, such as wage subsidies, youth unemployment and employment growth in rural areas.

Download or read book Accelerated Land Reform Mining Growth Unemployment and Inequality in South Africa written by Nombulelo Gumata and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2021-02-13 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The overarching goal of South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) is to eliminate poverty, reduce inequality, lower unemployment and increase the labour participation.This book contributes to academic and policy efforts to achieve these NDP goals. We establish that the coal, metal ores and the platinum group commodity sectors will underpin the mining as a “sunrise” industry. The export-led growth strategy is necessary for intensive employment creation but must be complemented by other micro, macroeconomic and industrial policies. A strategy of minerals beneficiation is important for intensive employment creation. Accelerated land reform is a supply side or structural reform policy intervention tool aimed at increasing potential output, changing ownership patterns in the economy, increasing entrepreneurship, labour absorption, economic inclusion and lowering income inequality. Evidence shows that the balance sheet channel, commodity price booms and busts are intricately linked with the exchange rate dynamics, policy uncertainty, confidence and the effects of droughts (also symptoms of climate change). Productivity and investment growth shocks matter for output, employment and price stability. Evidence indicates that nominal GDP growth above 10 percent and keeping inflation within the target band leads to significant increase in employment and decline in unemployment, without inflationary pressures, especially when inflation is below 4.5 percent. To operationalise the NDP targets, align and co-ordinate policies, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) mandate can be expanded to include maximum employment. This must be complemented by lowering the inflation target band, adjusting the financial regulatory, macro-prudential and monetary policy frameworks. This will enhance the conduct and credibility of monetary and financial stability policies to achieve the set objectives. These objectives make policy co-ordination pertinent and binding.

Download or read book Aging in Sub Saharan Africa written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-11-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In sub-Saharan Africa, older people make up a relatively small fraction of the total population and are supported primarily by family and other kinship networks. They have traditionally been viewed as repositories of information and wisdom, and are critical pillars of the community but as the HIV/AIDS pandemic destroys family systems, the elderly increasingly have to deal with the loss of their own support while absorbing the additional responsibilities of caring for their orphaned grandchildren. Aging in Sub-Saharan Africa explores ways to promote U.S. research interests and to augment the sub-Saharan governments' capacity to address the many challenges posed by population aging. Five major themes are explored in the book such as the need for a basic definition of "older person," the need for national governments to invest more in basic research and the coordination of data collection across countries, and the need for improved dialogue between local researchers and policy makers. This book makes three major recommendations: 1) the development of a research agenda 2) enhancing research opportunity and implementation and 3) the translation of research findings.

Download or read book Labor Market Reform Options to Boost Employment in South Africa written by Mr. Romain A Duval and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 39 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Raising South Africa’s low employment rate to levels seen in emerging market or advanced economy peers could raise GDP per capita by 50 to 60 percent and reduce income inequality dramatically in the long term. By putting further strain on an already fragile labor market, Covid-19 has raised the urgency of action. This paper reviews labor market policy and other reform options to enhance South Africa’s job market performance, drawing from international evidence and new analysis. We find much scope for improving the design of key labor market institutions—including collective bargaining and employment protection legislation—and active labor market policies to improve job seekers’ prospects. These reforms should come hand-in-hand with others, such as in the areas of education or product market regulation, that may work pay. Labor market and other reforms would primarily benefit disadvantaged groups such as youth.

Download or read book Economic Alternatives for Growth Employment and Poverty Reduction written by T. McKinley and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-09-29 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of working papers, policy briefs and training modules, published by the International Poverty Centre in Brazil, which provides a comprehensives set of recommendations for alternative economic policies that can generate growth, employment and poverty reduction in developing countries.

Download or read book Skills Shortages in South Africa written by Johan Erasmus and published by HSRC Publishers. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Skills shortages in South Africa are widely seen as a major obstacle to the achievement of targeted economic growth rates. Yet there is some dispute as to the nature and extent of these shortages, given the large number of unemployed graduates. The case studies presented here explore the question of shortage in nine key professions and artisanal trades, and find evidence of skills scarcity in most fields. The case studies provide insight into the reasons for shortages and surpluses in relation to South Africa's own context and history. They also consider the international market for knowledge and skills, in which South African qualifications are highly prized. The monograph emanates from a study on sector specific research and related skills requirements commissioned by the South African Department of Labour in 2006. It formed part of a wider research project on scarce and critical skills related to the National Skills Development Strategy and the National Industrial Policy Framework of 2007, for which the Human Siences Research Council led a research consortium comprising the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town and the Sociology of Work Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Download or read book Evaluation of the South African Special Programmes for Creating Employment written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Building Effective Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the Middle East and North Africa written by Diego F. Angel-Urdinola and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the labor market challenges that countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are facing (notably high unemployment, prevalence of skills mismatches, low labor market mobility, and lack of formal employment networks), employment services could be a relevant policy instrument to assist unemployed individuals to find jobs. Despite high and increasing unemployment rates, employers in the region are facing difficulties to find workers whose competences and skills fit their employment needs. The study first surveys international best practices for the delivery of employment services and then reviews the provision of these services in a selected group of countries in the MENA region, with a focus on public provision through existing public employment agencies. Findings indicate public agencies in the region face many challenges for the effective delivery of employment programs, namely poor administrative capacity,system fragmentation, lack of governance and accountability, regulation bottlenecks, and flaws in program design. In order to help unemployed workers to obtain the competences required by available jobs, this study proposes a reform agenda based on the development of strong partnerships between public agencies, public providers, and employers for the design and implementation of flexible employment programs that respond to real employment needs. These partnershipss will need to be developed with strong governance mechanisms that make beneficiaries, private providers, and firms accountable for making sure that investments in employment programs lead to employment insertion. The book is directed to policy makers, practitioners, economists, and anyone interested in international best practices to promote a more effective delivery of employment services.

Download or read book An Employment targeted Economic Program for Kenya written by Robert Pollin and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Kenyan economy has experienced improved economic growth in recent years, and the government has maintained a commitment to generating 500,000 new jobs per year. But the country still faces severe problems of poverty-level employment - people working full-time yet living with their families in poverty. This study develops detailed proposals for greatly expanding decent employment opportunities in Kenya, and to accomplish this in a manner that also creates a wide range of employment and business opportunities, including those for small and medium-sized enterprises, agricultural small holders, commercial banks, and microfinance institutions.

Download or read book The Oxford Companion to the Economics of South Africa written by Haroon Bhorat and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2014-11-27 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1994 South Africa saw the end of apartheid. The new era of political freedom was seen as the foundation for economic prosperity and inclusion. The last two decades have seen mixed results. Economic growth has been volatile. While inequalities in public services have been reduced, income inequality has increased, and poverty has remained stagnant. As the twentieth anniversary of the transition to democracy approaches in 2014, the economic policy debates in South Africa are in full flow. They combine a stocktake of the various programs of the last two decades with a forward looking discussion of strategy in the face of an ever open but volatile global economy. Underlying the discourse are basic and often unresolved differences on an appropriate strategy for an economy like South Africa, with a strong natural resource base but with deeply entrenched inherited inequalities, especially across race. This volume contributes to the policy and analytical debate by pulling together perspectives on a range of issues: micro, macro, sectoral, country wide and global, from leading economists working on South Africa. Other than the requirement that it be analytical and not polemical, the contributors were given freedom to put forward their particular perspective on their topic. The economists invited are from within South Africa and from outside; from academia and the policy world; from international and national level economic policy agencies. The contributors include recognized world leaders in South African economic analysis, as well as the very best of the younger crop of economists who are working on the study of South Africa, the next generation of leaders in thought and policy.

Download or read book Youth Unemployment Scenarios written by Maximilian Matschke and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-27 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the factors driving youth unemployment in South Africa, exploring potential future outcomes of its mass unemployment, and offering a variety of strategies to avoid an impending crisis in the country. Utilizing scenario analysis rooted in complex systems theory while building on statistical and fi eld research, the author illustrates four possible future states of youth employment in South Africa in the year 2040. This includes the South African version of the Arab Spring, where young people riot or agitate for extreme political and social change because of a belief that access to education and jobs is only possible through social status or corruption (Spring), fair access to a high number of jobs supported by Chinese interventions (Summer), a technology- driven decline in the number of jobs where merit- based access for youth is granted (Fall), and the collapse of the economy, with the economy collapsing and youth becoming increasingly desperate (Winter). The author then presents five strategies to fight youth unemployment, including training of youth to start businesses, stimulating small- and medium- sized enterprises, and sending unemployed youth abroad for skills development and to where their labour is needed. This book will be of interest to scholars of South African politics and economics, labour economics and youth studies, and readers with an interest in tackling youth unemployment independent of the country.

Download or read book The Political Economy of Africa written by Vishnu Padayachee and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-06-10 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Political Economy of Africa aims to fill a major gap in the existing literature by exploring the economy and economics of Africa. The book has a critical approach from the perspective of political economy rather than mainstream economics. This book addresses the seemingly intractable economic problems of the African continent, and trace their origins, but also always to bring out the instances of successful economic change, and the possibilities for economic revival and renewal.

Download or read book Beyond Inflation Targeting written by Gerald A. Epstein and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inflation targeting (IT) has become the sacred cow of central banking. But its suitability to developing nations remains contested. The contributors to this volume perform the valuable service of sketching out plausible, more development-friendly alternatives. They are to be commended in particular for avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach and paying close attention to the needs of specific countries. Their proposals range from relatively minor tinkering in IT to comprehensive overhaul. A common theme is the central role of the real exchange rate, which the central banks ignore at their economies peril. Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, US As the world economy is devastated by a virulent financial crisis and jobs are lost in scores, central bankers are increasingly questioned as to why they have failed to sustain stability and growth even though they told us all along that conquering inflation would be necessary and sufficient to do so while hoping to get a pat on the back for achieving a degree of price stability unprecedented in recent times. This book provides a lot of food for thought on why. It is a powerful critique of the orthodox obsession with inflation in neglect of the two deepseated problems of the unbridled market economy financial instability and unemployment. It is a must for all policy makers, notably in the developing world, and for the mainstream. Yilmaz Akyuz, formerly of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland This collective volume makes a compelling case for balancing the developmental and stabilization functions of central banks. In particular, the authors emphasize that, as practiced in many successful developing countries, competitive real exchange rates can be good for growth and employment generation, and should thus be a specific focus of central bank actions. The book is a must read for those looking for a more balanced framework for central bank policies. José Antonio Ocampo, Columbia University, US and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs and Finance Minister of Colombia This book, written by an international team of economists, develops concrete, country specific alternatives to inflation targeting, the dominant policy framework of central bank policy that focuses on keeping inflation in the low single digits to the virtual exclusion of other key goals such as employment creation, poverty reduction and sustainable development. The book includes thematic chapters, including analyses of class attitudes toward inflation and unemployment and the gender impacts of restrictive monetary policy. Other chapters propose improved monetary frameworks for Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam. Policy frameworks that are explored include employment targeting, and targeting a stable and competitive real exchange rate. The authors also show that to reach a larger number of targets, including higher employment and stable inflation, central banks must use a larger number of instruments, including capital management techniques. This volume offers concrete, socially valuable alternatives that economists, policy makers, students and interested laypeople should consider before adopting one size fits all, often inadequate, policies that have become a virtual policy making fad.