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Do Industrial Disputes Reduce Employment? Evidence from South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haroon Bhorat
  • Elne Jacobs
  • Carlene van der Westhuizen

    (Development Policy Research Unit
    Director and Professor)

Abstract

Theory predicts that an increase in employment protection may reduce employment levels by acting as a tax on firms by constraining hiring and firing decisions. We use a unique administrative database of the country’s dispute resolution body – the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) – to create a nuanced and empirically based measure of employment protection for the labour market in South Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Elne Jacobs & Carlene van der Westhuizen, 2013. "Do Industrial Disputes Reduce Employment? Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 13161, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctw:wpaper:13161
    as

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    File URL: http://www.dpru.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/36/DPRU%20WP13-161.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    6. H. Bhorat & J. Hodge, 1999. "Decomposing Shifts in Labour Demand in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 67(3), pages 155-168, September.
    7. Horst Feldmann, 2008. "Business regulation and labor market performance around the world," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 201-235, April.
    8. Paul BENJAMIN & Haroon BHORAT & Halton CHEADLE, 2010. "The cost of “doing business” and labour regulation: The case of South Africa," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 149(1), pages 73-91, March.
    9. Grout, Paul A, 1984. "Investment and Wages in the Absence of Binding Contracts: A Nash Bargining Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 449-460, March.
    10. David H. Autor & William R. Kerr & Adriana D. Kugler, 2007. "Does Employment Protection Reduce Productivity? Evidence From US States," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(521), pages 189-217, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Bhorat, Haroon & Naidoo, Karmen & Yu, Derek, 2014. "Trade unions in an emerging economy: The case of South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 055, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Derek Yu, 2014. "Trade Unions in an Emerging Economy: The Case of South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-055, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CCMA; Industrial Disputes; Employment; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

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