Mandate

Established at the request of senior policy-makers of the new Government in 1996, TIPS is an independent, non-profit economic research institution. The organisation initially operated as a project within the IDRC's Johannesburg Office, and became a Section 21 Company in 2001.

Vision

To be a leader in independent economic policy analysis and research in pursuit of development in Africa.

Mission

• Developing an internal critical mass of intellectual capacity to undertake and disseminate ground-breaking and relevant economic research.
• Stimulating debate between policy practitioners and the wider research community to generate viable policy options.
• Building on our links with key international policy-relevant institutions to draw the quality of our research efforts ever closer to international best practice.

Objectives

We are active in both the South African and Southern African economic policy arenas and co-ordinate a wide network of established researchers. Our aim is to remain responsive to the local policy environment, government and other clients' research and information needs; to deliver high-quality, policy-relevant research; and to maintain an overt and strong interest in public policy in the areas associated with developing country economic policy.

PO Box 11214, Hatfield, Pretoria, South Africa 0028

234 Lange St, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria, South Africa 0108

Tel: +27 (12) 433 9340/1/2

DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE: info@tips.org.za

ANNUAL FORUM: info@tips.org.za

TRAINING WORKSHOPS: info@tips.org.za

SMALL GRANTS: info@tips.org.za

INTERNSHIPS: info@tips.org.za

GENERAL QUERIES: info@tips.org.za

Directions to the TIPS office are available in the downloadable file:

Following the debt crisis of the 1980s a large number of developing countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa, and to a lesser extent in Asia, have undergone what have been termed as ‘Structural Adjustment Programmes’. A certain degree of orthodoxy has developed around these programmes although clear evidence on…

The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) is tasked with ensuring that the broad objectives of the RDP and GEAR, in terms of industrial restructuring, export and investment facilitation, as well as job creation and redistribution, are met. The Department has thus put in place a set of programmes and…

This paper is concerned with informal clothing in the inner city of Johannesburg. This is done in the context of both the changing racial complexion of small enterprise development and of South Africa's economic heartland inner-city as an important incubator for emerging black manufacturers. This study builds on local research…

This paper looks at some of the relevant and critical issues facing the South African government in devising an industrial policy. It provides an overview of some of the key theoretical issues in industrial policy and looks at some of the critical choices facing South Africa with reference to the…

As South Africa commits itself to entering a free-trade agreement with the SADC community a number of important issues arise. These range from the likely economic impact of a FTA on member countries, the legal political and regulatory problems and others. This paper represents the first attempt to explain these…

The Services sector has become one of the most important sectors in the South African economy as it has grown double the rate of manufacturing over the last three decades. There is a noticeable absence of serious economic analysis on the importance of the South African Services sector both to…

This study undertakes a preliminary analysis of changes in manufacturing in light of the ongoing trade liberalisation measures introduced in the 1990s. The case for trade liberalisation rests on firms responding to the increased incentive to export, leading to more efficient use of resources, with increased productivity, competition and investment.…

The production of and trade in high technology products has always been seen to be important for both developed and developing countries. For developed nations these products are a source of significant exports, off-setting their loss of competitiveness in traditional low technology products. For developing nations, mastery of these products…

This paper reviews several studies of the determinants of exports in South Africa in the light of the policy directions, which have emphasised the importance of an export led growth path for the economy. Major trading partners and the composition of trade are examined as are the role of the real exchange rate, capital intensity, research and development, export incentives and the vent for surplus theories of export behaviour.