Working paper
Globally, corporate cash holdings have risen since the 1980s. In South Africa, some commentators have accused corporations of engaging in an ‘investment strike’, while others see corporate liquidity as a precaution against systemic uncertainty. We...
August 2022
Enterprise development
Working paper
The paper examines the underlying constraints impacting micro-enterprise growth within South African townships. The understanding broadly provides a finer and more granular understanding of the microeconomic constraints to economic growth and employment generation in South...
August 2022
Inequality
Report
After the South African democratic transition, substantial advances were made in the provision of water services to households which had previously not been supplied. However, more recently, the pace of progress has slowed, and technical...
July 2022
Inequality
Regional growth
Working paper
Up-to-date, nationally representative household income/expenditure data are crucial to estimating poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic and to policy-making more broadly, but South Africa lacks such data. We present new pandemic poverty estimates, simulating incomes in...
July 2022
Macro modelling
Background
Job retention schemes have been one of the many policy tools used to curb the effects of a lockdown and the COVID-19 crisis. The system works by reducing labour costs which could prevent or reduce...
June 2022
Background
Countries need data and evidence to create, amend, and evaluate policy. South Africa has been at the vanguard of data collection in sub-Saharan Africa with strong and long-standing institutions collecting data for research purposes. Making...
June 2022
Working paper
South Africa runs a primary fiscal deficit and the long-term interest rate on government borrowing, r, is greater than the long-term economic growth rate, g. Without intervention, debt will continue to rise until there is...
June 2022
Macro modelling
Report
The low rail market share for general freight and passenger transport along South Africa’s long corridors negatively impacts the cost of logistics, restricts economic growth, and underutilizes rail capacity. Opportunities exist to technically improve capacity...
April 2022
Working paper
This paper reviews South Africa’s monetary policy since 2007 and makes recommendations towards improving the inflation-targeting framework currently in place. Following a surge in inflation into double digits in 2007/08, the South African Reserve Bank...
March 2022
Macro modelling
Report
The bulk of the South African freight rail network comprises a state-owned, vertically integrated operator, which essentially does not allow freight rail competitors to access its network (some passenger access arrangements are in place). Going...
February 2022
Working paper
Extractive industries form an important part of the economy for many developing countries, but their impact on growth and welfare remains understudied. With global efforts to transition to net-zero carbon emissions in the coming decades...
February 2022
Enterprise development
Working paper
This study analyses the performance of macroeconomic policy in South Africa in 2007–2020 and outlines challenges for policy in the coming decade. After remarkable economic growth in 1997–07, South Africa’s progress slowed dramatically in 2009...
February 2022
Macro modelling