An Empirical Assessment of the Impact of Trade Liberalisation on Employment in South Africa

This study seeks to model the effects of trade on employment in South Africa in a Labour Demand framework. The study uses aggregated data, as opposed to a number of studies that have used either factor content or growth accounting approaches. The paper specifically seeks to determine the extent to which imports, exports, wages and output have impacted upon employment levels across the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. The analysis carried out in the study revealed that the derived labour demand in the primary sector and the secondary industries have been impacted negatively by increased imports. However, there was insufficient statistical evidence from the data to suggest that derived labour demand for any of the sectors was increased by increased exports openness.