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Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Haroon Bhorat
  • Karmen Naidoo
  • Morné Oosthuizen
  • Kavisha Pillay

Abstract

This paper looks to uncover the growth traps and opportunities for the South African economy, with a focus on underlying labour market dynamics. We explore the potential of South Africa's demographic dividend. We also consider the structure of the labour market and the growth-employment interactions, which uncover the skills-biased labour demand path of the economy and a rising trend in the use of labour brokers to source temporary workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Morné Oosthuizen & Kavisha Pillay, 2015. "Demographic, employment, and wage trends in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2015-141, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2015-141
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. 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).
    3. Pedro Naso, 2019. "Environmental Regulation in a Transitional Political System: Delegation of Regulation and Perceived Corruption in South Africa," CIES Research Paper series 59-2019, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    4. Jacobus Johannes de Jongh, 2019. "Understanding the Drivers of Long-Term Youth Unemployment: Micro-Level Evidence from South Africa," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 9912297, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    5. Roberts, Gareth & Schöer, Volker, 2021. "Gender-based segregation in education, jobs and earnings in South Africa," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    6. Adekunle Adedeji & Tosin Tunrayo Olonisakin & Johanna Buchcik & Erhabor S. Idemudia, 2023. "Socioeconomic status and social capital as predictors of happiness: evidence and gender differences," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    7. Glenda Kruss, 2020. "Catching up, falling behind: the need to build upgrading coalitions for innovation and inclusive development in South Africa [Catching up, falling behind: a necessidade de coalizões políticas para ino," Nova Economia, Economics Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), vol. 30(spe), pages 1115-1144, December.
    8. Douglas Barrios & Federico Sturzenegger & Frank Muci & Patricio Goldstein & Ricardo Hausmann, 2022. "Macroeconomic risks after a decade of microeconomic turbulence: South Africa 2007-2020," CID Working Papers 404, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    9. Haroon Bhorat & Safia Khan, 2018. "Structural Change and Patterns of Inequality in the South African Labour Market," Working Papers 201801, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.

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