This paper seeks to provide a coherent definition of BEE, which has the empowerment of the people as its prime objective. In the first section, I examine how the concept of empowerment has been used in the field of development. In section two, I introduce and critique the minimalist approach…

The South African Competition Act of 1998, implemented on 1 September 1999, establishes a range of criteria for evaluating mergers and company practices that are deemed to harm economic efficiency, among other objectives. In particular, the Act prohibits a range of practices if the firm is ‘dominant’, including charging an…

This paper describes formal employment trends in the South African economy since 1970, through using both survey and time-series data. In addition, the study tries to understand the forces that have shaped these employment trends. The descriptive statistics reveal that the primary sectors have shed close to 1.5 million jobs…

In most industrialised economies, service sectors do not only show high growth rates of output and employment : they also go through dramatic changes with respect to use of technology, innovation, and regulatory frameworks. Service sector performance becomes more and more important for the competitiveness of national economies. However, not…

Rapid technological change has impacted on the provision of telecommunications in South Africa, as in other countries. The increasing capacity of fibre optic networks, the growing powers of computers, the growth of satellite communications and other broadband developments are major factors influencing growth. Data to support an "information society" is…

The studies of Evans (1996, 1997a,b) appear to be the most analytically ambitious attempts to address, empirically, the question of the economic desirability of a southern African free trade area (FTA).  Evans (1996) is apparently the only serious study available to date which gives detailed sectoral effects of the formation…

Low investment levels in the South African economy are consistently identified as the principal factor behind suboptimal growth rates. Despite the increasing recognition of the importance of investment there is relatively little analytical research available in South Africa on the determinants of investment behaviour, specifically at the sectoral level. It…

It is generally acknowledged that there is no sufficient, exhaustive and elaborate empirical examination of the quantitative impact of policies pertaining to import demand and economic growth in South Africa. In order to arrive at conclusive, sagacious and applicable policies on the economic growth potential of an economy, it is…

The paper aimed to establish the changes that had occurred in the institutional structures governing trade policy in South Africa during the period 1990-1998. It also examined the forces that had influenced the application of tariff policy by the major tariff setting bodies by applying various theories of endogenous protection…

The purpose of this report is to launch a debate on the proposed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Brazil and India by providing some preliminary analysis. Two different but complementary research methodologies have been employed, each of which provides a different perspective on the possible impact of these agreements.

In this paper, we examine the changing role of trade in South Africa and SADC from different vantage points. We first review progress in liberalizing South Africa's trade regime, and conclude that, while signs of progress are clear, the levels and complexity of protection continue to pose barriers to the…

The growth of employment in the manufacturing sector has been an important issue in development economics for a long time. Employment growth is, of course, limited by output growth in this sector, but the elasticity of employment with respect to output has varied widely in different regions and economies. This…