The banking sector in South Africa is highly concentrated. When there is high concentration, it is necessary to examine the effects on efficiency and prices. In this paper, we discuss the fact that there are various types of efficiency in banking, and that high levels of concentration tend to reduce…

The South African government and the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) in particular have embarked on a policy framework to ensure that the SA economy becomes competitive. In an increasingly traded global economy, it is recognised that national economic welfare will be enhanced by both greater efficiency, brought…

Almost immediately after the first democratic election, South African policy makers embraced the policy of trade liberalisation (see Holden 2000). To many observers, the offer made by South Africa to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been very generous. Various attempts to evaluate the impact of trade liberalisation on the…

The government of South Africa comes across clear in enunciating its goals for the reform of public enterprises. According to the Minister of Public Enterprises, “restructuring” is the generic term taken to represent the set of strategies employed by the state to ensure that public enterprises in South Africa are…

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY South Africa has, since 1994, been faced with the double challenges of re-integration into global markets as a global economy, while at the same time positioning itself to realise the high expectations of its populace regarding a successful transition towards a more democratic order. To achieve…

South Africa's democratic transition now lies close to a decade in the past. The transition carried with it much by way of hopes in terms of greater access by its population, not only to an improved rights environment. It was envisaged that the political self-realization of all South African citizens…

In September 2000, the SADC FTA has been launched wherein full liberalization of trade is expected by 2012. The SADC FTA is intended to act as a catalyst for increased regional integration. Nevertheless what are the benefits expected from the SADC FTA given the economic structure disparities existing among its…

This paper analyzes a number of the challenges confronting developing countries seeking to use the WTO Doha negotiations to promote their economic growth and performance. A precondition for success is to have clear objectives and to take a pro-active stance. But a key necessary condition for success will be to…

The negotiating mandate for the Doha Development Agenda is both broad and comprehensive. This paper has tried to focus on the basic mandate given to negotiators in the area of tariffs and trade in industrial products. With respect to developed country markets the key issue is how to tackle the…

This paper is about changes in the regulation of citrus exports from South Africa. It traces the changes from state regulation of the citrus chain to very recent forms of private regulation in the context of highly competitive global markets. The paper argues that while these forms of private regulation…

This paper analyses the historical performance of the South African manufacturing sector in an international perspective. After a brief overview of the industrialisation process of South Africa during the 20th century, a binary comparison of manufacturing output and productivity between South Africa and the US is presented. The industry-of-origin approach…

The paper first outlines the history of industrial and trade policy in the industry. It highlights the significance of the transition from import-substitution policies to export promotion policies. It then provides an analytic exposition of the welfare costs and benefits of the current export complementation programme. We find that: The…

Over the past two decades, South Africa's agricultural sector has been extensively liberalised. As a result, a closer examination of the data shows some interesting trends in international trade in food and beverage products. First, exports of processed foods and beverages have shown strong growth. Despite the large increase in…

This study investigates the impact of a free trade area (FTA) on industrial distribution within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). As such the study is grounded in new theories of international trade analysing the impact of trade agreements on countries of different sizes. SADC represents a consortium of countries…

Economists seem to agree that the theory of comparative advantage can be extended to trade in services. Countries with relatively large endowments of skilled labour and capital and relatively few natural resources should export more services and less mining or agricultural goods than those relatively rich in land or resources.…

This paper investigates the economic impact of globalisation on the Namibian labour market. It deals with how trade liberalisation, which is just one dimension of globalisation, impacts on the labour market, and therefore outlines possible indicators of the links between liberalisation and employment. The paper argues that the economic returns…

In 1996 the maize market was liberalised and the maize marketing board was abolished. This has meant that prices and production decisions now respond to market forces. At the same time there has been a restructuring of agents at different levels of the maize supply chain and there are relatively…

This paper examines the impact of trade liberalization on export performance in South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s. It employs a time series regression analysis in which export performance is assumed to be determined by external market conditions, the ability to compete in the world markets, and the extent…

Globalisation and regional integration have brought to the fore the need to benchmark economic policies of nations as a way of identifying and evaluating reasons as to why some countries are more competitive than others. The present paper therefore attempts to compare and contrast the levels and variations between Zimbabwe…