The Oxford Companion to the Economics of South Africa

Abstract

In 1994 South Africa saw the end of apartheid. The new era of political freedom was seen as the foundation for economic prosperity and inclusion. The last two decades have seen mixed results. Economic growth has been volatile. While inequalities in public services have been reduced, income inequality has increased, and poverty has remained stagnant. As the twentieth anniversary of the transition to democracy approaches in 2014, the economic policy debates in South Africa are in full flow. They combine a stocktake of the various programs of the last two decades with a forward looking discussion of strategy in the face of an ever open but volatile global economy. Underlying the discourse are basic and often unresolved differences on an appropriate strategy for an economy like South Africa, with a strong natural resource base but with deeply entrenched inherited inequalities, especially across race. This volume contributes to the policy and analytical debate by pulling together perspectives on a range of issues: micro, macro, sectoral, country wide and global, from leading economists working on South Africa. Other than the requirement that it be analytical and not polemical, the contributors were given freedom to put forward their particular perspective on their topic. The economists invited are from within South Africa and from outside; from academia and the policy world; from international and national level economic policy agencies. The contributors include recognized world leaders in South African economic analysis, as well as the very best of the younger crop of economists who are working on the study of South Africa, the next generation of leaders in thought and policy. Contributors to this volume - Tania Ajam, Financial and Fiscal Commission Cally Ardington, University of Cape Town Janine Aron, University of Oxford Samantha Ashman, University of the Witwatersrand Paul Benjamin, Cheadle Thompson & Haysom, Inc. Haroon Bhorat, University of Cape Town Anthony Black, University of Cape Town Nicola Branson, University of Cape Town Anne Case, Princeton University Ben Cousins, University of the Western Cape Kenneth Creamer, University of the Witwatersrand Chris Desmond, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Anton Eberhard, University of Cape Town Rolfe Eberhard, Independent Lawrence Edwards, University of Cape Town Johannes Fedderke, Independent Gary Fields, Cornell University Ben Fine, University of London Arden Finn, University of Cape Town Vusi Gumede, University of South Africa Katharine Hall, University of Cape Town Shakill Hassan, South African Reserve Bank and University of Cape Town Penelope Hawkins, Feasibility (Pty) Ltd. Alan Hirsch, University of Cape Town Shaun de Jager, South African Reserve Bank Nokuzola Jenness Brian Kahn, South African Reserve Bank David Kaplan, University of Cape Town Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University Mohammad Karaan, University of Stellenbosch David Lam, University of Michigan Murray Leibbrandt, University of Cape Town Tony Leiman, University of Cape Town James Levinsohn, Yale University Brian Levy, Johns Hopkins University Francie Lund, University of KwaZulu-Natal Sandeep Mahajan, The World Bank Group Claudia Manning, Independent Trevor Manuel, The Presidency Julian May, University of the Western Cape Cecil Mlatsheni, University of Cape Town Seeraj Mohamed, University of the Witwatersrand John Muellbauer, University of Oxford Nicoli Nattrass, University of Cape Town Mthuli Ncube, African Development Bank Morne Oosthuizen, University of Cape Town Vishnu Padayachee, University of KwaZulu Natal Kate Philip, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) Stan du Plessis, University of Stellenbosch Dorrit Posel, University of KwaZulu-Natal Vimal Ranchhod, University of Cape Town Neil Rankin, University of Stellenbosch Linda Richter, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Simon Roberts., The Competition Commission David Savage, Independent John Sender, University of London Ruchir Sharma, Morgan Stanley Ben Smit, Stellenbosch University Ethel Teljeur, Genesis-Analytics Ivan Turok, Human Sciences Research Council Imraan Valodia, University of KwaZulu-Natal Brendan Vickers, Department Trade and Industry (the dti) Nichola Viegi, University of Pretoria Nick Vink, University of Stellenbosch Francis Wilson, University of Cape Town Martin Wittenberg, University of Cape Town Ingrid Woolard, University of Cape Town Andreas Worgotter, Organisation de Cooperation et de Developpement Economiques (OCDE)