IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ctw/wpaper/201604.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Vulnerability In Employment: Evidence from South Africa

Author

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

    (University of Cape Town
    Deputy Director)

Abstract

This paper sets out to update the impression of vulnerability in the labour market, by examining how low pay and informality interact with each other, and with poverty. Throughout, we try to include comparative results from within the sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American regions. What becomes clear is that a job alone is not a solution to poverty in South Africa. And informality in South Africa plays an important role as a buffer to unemployment in contrast to the higher levels of voluntary informality in Latin America.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Kezia Lilenstein & Morne Oosthuizen & Amy Thornton, 2016. "Vulnerability In Employment: Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 201604, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctw:wpaper:201604
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://commerce.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/content_migration/commerce_uct_ac_za/1093/files/DPRU%2520WP201604.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2016
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Melissa Sekkel Gaal & Louise Fox, 2008. "Working Out of Poverty : Job Creation and the Quality of Growth in Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6434.
    2. Derek Yu, 2012. "Defining and measuring informal employment in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 157-175, March.
    3. Morné OOSTHUIZEN, 2012. "Low pay in South Africa," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 151(3), pages 173-192, September.
    4. Dinkelman, Taryn & Ranchhod, Vimal, 2012. "Evidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 27-45.
    5. Kezia Lilenstein & Ingrid Woolard & Murray Leibbrandt, 2016. "In-Work Poverty in South Africa: The Impact of Income Sharing in the Presence of High Unemployment," SALDRU Working Papers 193, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    6. Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "Conceptualising Informality: Regulation and Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 4186, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Benjamin Stanwix, 2014. "Estimating the Impact of Minimum Wages on Employment, Wages, and Non-Wage Benefits: The Case of Agriculture in South Africa," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1402-1419.
    8. Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard & Arden Finn & Jonathan Argent, 2010. "Trends in South African Income Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 101, OECD Publishing.
    9. Paul Cichello & Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard, 2012. "Labour Market: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 and 2 Datasets," SALDRU Working Papers 78, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    10. Josh Budlender & Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard, 2015. "South African poverty lines: a review and two new money-metric thresholds," SALDRU Working Papers 151, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    11. World Bank Group & International Monetary Fund, 2015. "Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015 : Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 20330.
    12. Kanbur, Ravi, 2011. "Avoiding Informality Traps," Working Papers 126536, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    13. Stephan Klasen & Ingrid Woolard, 2009. "Surviving Unemployment Without State Support: Unemployment and Household Formation in South Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 18(1), pages 1-51, January.
    14. James Heintz & Dorrit Posel, 2008. "Revisiting Informal Employment And Segmentation In The South African Labour Market," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 76(1), pages 26-44, March.
    15. Ghani, Ejaz (ed.), 2011. "Reshaping Tomorrow: Is South Asia Ready for the Big Leap?," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198075028.
    16. Vimal Ranchhod & Taryn Dinkelman, 2007. "Labour Market Transitions in South Africa: What can we learn from matched Labour Force Survey data?," SALDRU Working Papers 14, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    17. Shane Godfrey & Johann Maree & Jan Theron, 2006. "Conditions of Employment and Small Business: Coverage, Compliance and Exemptions," Working Papers 06106, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    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. World Bank, 2021. "South Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 36514, The World Bank Group.
    2. World Bank, 2021. "South Africa - Social Assistance Programs and Systems Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 37713, The World Bank Group.

    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. Aalia Cassim & Kezia Lilenstein & Morne Oosthuizen & Francois Steenkamp, 2016. "Informality and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 201602, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    2. Mr. Christopher S Adam & Mr. Edward F Buffie, 2020. "The Minimum Wage Puzzle in Less Developed Countries: Reconciling Theory and Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2020/023, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Anushree Sinha & Ravi Kanbur, 2012. "Introduction: Informality—Concepts, Facts and Models," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 6(2), pages 91-102, May.
    4. Marisa Coetzee, 2013. "Finding the Benefits: Estimating the Impact of The South African Child Support Grant," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(3), pages 427-450, September.
    5. Belman, Dale. & Wolfson, Paul J., 2016. "What does the minimum wage do in developing countries? : A review of studies and methodologies," ILO Working Papers 994893283402676, International Labour Organization.
    6. Essers, Dennis, 2013. "South African labour market transitions during the global financial and economic crisis: Micro-level evidence from the NIDS panel and matched QLFS cross-sections," IOB Working Papers 2013.12, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    7. Pauw, Karl & Leibbrandt, Murray, 2012. "Minimum Wages and Household Poverty: General Equilibrium Macro–Micro Simulations for South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 771-783.
    8. John Knight, 2021. "A Tale of Two Countries and Two Stages: South Africa, China and the Lewis Model," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(2), pages 143-172, June.
    9. Altay Mussurov & G Arabsheibani, 2015. "Informal self-employment in Kazakhstan," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. World Bank, 2021. "South Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 36514, The World Bank Group.
    11. Amina Ebrahim & Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard, 2015. "Strategies of the unemployed in South Africa: Does moving allow the unemployed to get ahead?," SALDRU Working Papers 157, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    12. Kathuria, Vinish & Rajesh Raj, S.N. & Sen, Kunal, 2013. "The effects of economic reforms on manufacturing dualism: Evidence from India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1240-1262.
    13. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Benjamin Stanwix, 2017. "Minimum Wages in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Primer," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 21-74.
    14. Jacqueline Mosomi, 2019. "Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-17, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Gordon G. Sollars & Fred Englander, 2018. "Sweatshops: Economic Analysis and Exploitation as Unfairness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 15-29, April.
    16. Rocco Zizzamia & Simone Schotte & Murray Leibbrandt & Vimal Ranchhod, 2016. "Vulnerability and the Middle Class in South Africa," SALDRU Working Papers 188, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    17. Neumark, David & Munguía Corella, Luis Felipe, 2021. "Do minimum wages reduce employment in developing countries? A survey and exploration of conflicting evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    18. Marlies Piek & Dieter von Fintel, 2020. "Sectoral minimum wages in South Africa: Disemployment by firm size and trade exposure," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 462-482, May.
    19. Rajesh SN Raj & Kunal Sen, 2016. "Moving out of the bottom of the economy? Constraints to firm transition in the Indian informal manufacturing sector," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, December.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ctw:wpaper:201604. 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: Waseema Petersen The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Waseema Petersen to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dpuctza.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.