IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jafrec/v12y2003i4p476-499.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Inquiry into Cities and their Role in Subnational Economic Growth in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • W.A. NaudÈ
  • W.F. Krugell

Abstract

South Africa is characterised by significant inequality in spatial economic activity. Whether future growth and development on a sub-national level in South Africa will be such as to reduce this inequality may depend on the economic growth and development of South Africa's largest cities. Our local economic growth empirics show some indications of conditional convergence in output between poorer towns, as well as overall between all cities and towns. Between 1990 and 2000 some limited sigma convergence was found, but this was driven by declines in the standard deviation of per capita income amongst the poorest quintile of towns. An estimate of conditional beta convergence of 1.2% over the period 1990 to 2000 confirms that overall convergence has been taking place. From an estimation of the determinants of economic growth on a local level, using a dataset on 353 local areas in South Africa between 1990 and 2000, we found the most significant determinants to be stocks of human capital and distance from harbours and markets. Human capital's effect on economic growth was strongly associated with the presence of large cities, as one would predict from endogenous growth theory. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • W.A. NaudÈ & W.F. Krugell, 2003. "An Inquiry into Cities and their Role in Subnational Economic Growth in South Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 12(4), pages 476-499, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:12:y:2003:i:4:p:476-499
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Eaton, Jonathan & Eckstein, Zvi, 1997. "Cities and growth: Theory and evidence from France and Japan," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4-5), pages 443-474, August.
    3. R. Nagaraj & A. Varoudakis & M.-A. Véganzonès, 2000. "Long-run growth trends and convergence across Indian States," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 45-70.
    4. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler & Jonathan Temple, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Papers 2001-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    5. ?gel de la Fuente, "undated". "Convergence Across Countries And Regions: Theory And Empirics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 447.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    6. Sachs, Jeffrey D & Warner, Andrew M, 1997. "Sources of Slow Growth in African Economies," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), vol. 6(3), pages 335-376, October.
    7. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    8. Rosen, Kenneth T. & Resnick, Mitchel, 1980. "The size distribution of cities: An examination of the Pareto law and primacy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 165-186, September.
    9. Henderson, Vernon & Kuncoro, Ari & Turner, Matt, 1995. "Industrial Development in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1067-1090, October.
    10. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    11. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    12. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-95-4 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Jie Zhang, 2002. "Urbanization, population transition, and growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(1), pages 91-117, January.
    14. Afonso Ferreira, 2000. "Convergence in Brazil: recent trends and long-run prospects," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 479-489.
    15. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1989. "Industrialization and the Big Push," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1003-1026, October.
    16. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    17. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 1996. "Paul Krugman's Geographical Economics and Its Implications for Regional Development Theory: A Critical Assessment," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 259-292, July.
    18. Block, Steven A., 2001. "Does Africa grow differently?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 443-467, August.
    19. Puga, Diego & Venables, Anthony J, 1999. "Agglomeration and Economic Development: Import Substitution vs. Trade Liberalisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(455), pages 292-311, April.
    20. H. Hanson, Gordon, 2005. "Market potential, increasing returns and geographic concentration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-24, September.
    21. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Series Working Papers 2001-W21, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    22. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    23. Xavier Gabaix, 1999. "Zipf's Law for Cities: An Explanation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 739-767.
    24. Bencivenga, Valerie R & Smith, Bruce D, 1997. "Unemployment, Migration, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 582-608, June.
    25. Glaeser, Edward L. & Scheinkman, JoseA. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1995. "Economic growth in a cross-section of cities," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 117-143, August.
    26. Sari Pekkala, 2000. "Aggregate economic fluctuations and regional convergence: the Finnish case 1988-95," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 211-219.
    27. Jonathan Temple, 1999. "The New Growth Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 112-156, March.
    28. Henderson, Vernon, 2000. "How urban concentration affects economic growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2326, The World Bank.
    29. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    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. Anda David & Nathalie Guilbert & Nobuaki Hamaguchi & Yudai Higashi & Hiroyuki Hino & Murray Leibbrandt & Muna Shifa, 2018. "Spatial Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: A Municipality Level Analysis," Discussion Paper Series DP2018-02, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    2. Fielding, David & Shields, Kalvinder, 2006. "Regional asymmetries in monetary transmission: The case of South Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 965-979, December.
    3. Artelaris, Panagiotis & Arvanitidis, Paschalis & Petrakos, George, 2006. "Theoretical and Methodological Study on Dynamic Growth Regions and Factors Explaining their Growth Performance," Papers DYNREG02, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    4. Stephanié Rossouw & Talita Greyling, 2017. "Regional disparities in non-economic quality of life in South Africa: convergence or divergence?," Working Papers 2017-06, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    5. Maarten Bosker & Waldo Krugell, 2008. "Regional Income Evolution In South Africa After Apartheid," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 493-523, August.
    6. Willem A. Naudé & Andrea Saayman, 2005. "Determinants of Tourist Arrivals in Africa: A Panel Data Regression Analysis," Tourism Economics, , vol. 11(3), pages 365-391, September.
    7. Marianne Matthee & Wim Naudé, 2008. "The Determinants of Regional Manufactured Exports from a Developing Country," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 31(4), pages 343-358, October.
    8. Waldo Krugell & W.a. Naudé & Stephanie Rossouw, 2000. "The Quality of Metropolitan City Life in South Africa," Regional and Urban Modeling 283600049, EcoMod.
    9. Wim Naudé, 2010. "Suburbanization and Residential Desegregation in South Africa's Cities," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-024, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Wim Naudé & Mark McGillivray & Stephanie Rossouw, 2008. "Measuring the Vulnerability of Subnational Regions," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-54, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. W. A. Naudé, 2004. "The effects of policy, institutions and geography on economic growth in Africa: an econometric study based on cross-section and panel data," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 821-849.
    12. Stephanié Rossouw & Wim Naudé, 2008. "The Non-Economic Quality of Life on a Sub-National Level in South Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 433-452, May.
    13. Dominik Ziemke & Johan W. Joubert & Kai Nagel, 2018. "Accessibility in a Post-Apartheid City: Comparison of Two Approaches for Accessibility Computations," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 241-271, June.

    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. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    2. Magrini, Stefano, 2004. "Regional (di)convergence," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 62, pages 2741-2796, Elsevier.
    3. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    4. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal, 2003. "Openness and human capital as sources of productivity growth: An empirical investigation," CSAE Working Paper Series 2003-06, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    5. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    6. Alberto F. Ades & Edward L. Glaeser, 1994. "Evidence on Growth, Increasing Returns and the Extent of the Market," NBER Working Papers 4714, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2011. "Econometrics For Grumblers: A New Look At The Literature On Cross‐Country Growth Empirics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 109-155, February.
    8. Markus Eberhardt & Francis Teal, 2008. "Modeling Technology and Technological Change in Manufacturing: How do Countries Differ?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2008-12, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    9. Ulaşan, Bülent, 2012. "Cross-country growth empirics and model uncertainty: An overview," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 6, pages 1-69.
    10. Diego Romero‐Avila, 2006. "Fiscal Policies And Output In The Long Run: A Panel Cointegration Approach Applied To The Oecd," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 74(3), pages 360-388, June.
    11. Mark Roberts & Mark Setterfield, 2010. "Endogenous Regional Growth: A Critical Survey," Chapters, in: Mark Setterfield (ed.), Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Growth, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Leone Leonida, "undated". "On the Effects of Industrialization Processes on Growth and Convergence Dynamics: Evidence from Italian Regions," Discussion Papers 04/15, Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2002. "15 Years of New Growth Economics : What Have we Learnt?," Journal Economía Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 5(2), pages 5-15, August.
    14. Huang, Ho-Chuan, 2005. "Diverging evidence of convergence hypothesis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 233-255, June.
    15. W. A. Naudé, 2004. "The effects of policy, institutions and geography on economic growth in Africa: an econometric study based on cross-section and panel data," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 821-849.
    16. Jinzhao Chen, 2015. "Interprovincial Competitiveness and Economic Growth: Evidence from Chinese Provincial Data (1992–2008)," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 388-414, August.
    17. George Petrakos & Panagiotis Artelaris, 2009. "European Regional Convergence Revisited: A Weighted Least Squares Approach," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 314-331, June.
    18. Suri, Tavneet & Boozer, Michael A. & Ranis, Gustav & Stewart, Frances, 2011. "Paths to Success: The Relationship Between Human Development and Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 506-522, April.
    19. Johan Lundberg, 2006. "Using spatial econometrics to analyse local growth in Sweden," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 303-316.
    20. Soukiazis, Elias & Antunes, Micaela, 2011. "Is foreign trade important for regional growth? Empirical evidence from Portugal," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 1363-1373, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:oup:jafrec:v:12:y:2003:i:4:p:476-499. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csaoxuk.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.