South African manufacturing has experienced a slow overall decline despite adopting a range of recommended economic policies from protectionism and active state support in the period preceding political change (1994) followed by aggressive liberalisation and more free access to markets thereafter. Alongside interfering industrial policies, the decline has also been blamed on poor…"

Prof. Simon Roberts, previously the director of Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development (CSID) at the University of the Witwatersrand and now chief economist at the Competition Commission in this paper explains the importance for industrial development of technological capability development across all economic sectors. The sector studies discussed here indicate that the traditional…"

Understanding firm competitiveness and product development is crucial to industrial development. The plastics sector provides a good case in which to explore these issues. The plastics sector has been one of the better performing sectors in recent years in terms of output and employment. Plastic products are increasingly replacing metal products, thus placing…"

South Africa's low investment rate has been widely recognised as both a symptom and cause of relatively poor industrial performance in the past decade. Investment is particularly important as restructuring requires the rapid growth of new activities if potential gains are to be realised, especially with a view to increasing employment and a…"

Brazil and South Africa share similar development challenges. Both have very unequal income distributions, both have a strong resource orientation underpinning their industrial development trajectory, and both have undergone a sharp liberalisation and opening up of their economies in the past decade. At the same time, both countries are attempting to chart a…"

As liberalization and globalization gather pace, concern with industrial competitiveness is growing, not just in developing countries but also in mature industrial ones. But it is the former that face the most intense competitive pressures: many find that their enterprises are unable to cope with rigours of open markets in exporting and in…"

This paper examines the impact of national developments and policies on the development of industry in Ekurhuleni. It assesses role of local government in industrial development in light of recent literature addressing agglomeration effects, industrial districts, and the development of local economic competencies and institutions. The analysis draws on recent work on the…"

In this study, we set out to empirically investigate the impact of interest rates and other macroeconomic factors on manufacturing performance in Nigeria using co-integration and an error correction mechanism (ECM) technique with annual time series covering the period between 1970 and 2002. Some statistical tools are employed to explore the relationship between…"

This paper deals with the importance of agricultural policy and technology for farmers' food security and market integration. We draw on data recently collected in interviews with over 3000 farmers in eight sub-Saharan African countries.2 The results indicate that the food production among African smallholders is highly responsive to increased use of industrial…"

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South Africa has experienced significant liberalisation during the 1990s on the political as well as economic front. Starting with the first democratic elections in 1994, the economy has undergone liberalisation of internal and external financial markets, labour markets and trade regime. Major changes have also taken place in terms of monetary and fiscal…"

This report attempts to provide an overview of South Africa's industrial landscape during the 1990s, focusing on growth and sectoral shares in value-added at a detailed 46-sector level. Use is made of the TIPS South African Standardised Industry Database, which offers long-term trends spanning 1970 to the present for 46 industrial sectors, mainly…"

This report attempts to provide an overview of South Africa's industrial landscape during the 1990s, with specific emphasis on growth and sectoral shares in exports at a detailed 46-sector level. If one of the objective of the policies adopted during the middle of the 1990s was to bring about a shift in resources…"

In spite of the trade liberalisation efforts that have characterised the 1990s, it is apparent that imports by the manufacturing sector have remained more or less constant in real terms, whereas imports by agricultural industries have witnessed a decline in imports. Declining imports of business services have also been manifest during this time.…"

Only a handful of sectors have shown an increase in their demand for labour, amongst others, Leather Products, Plastic Products, Wood and Wood Products, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Printing and Publishing, Medical Services, Basic Chemicals and Other Chemicals and Television and Communications Equipment producers (Table 17). In terms of labour demand, these industries…"

Mainstream economics and the Washington Consensus caution against industrial policies that target sectors, firms and regions. At the most they favour cross-sectoral policies which address generalised market failures. This paper analyses the success of an industry-specific policy, South Africa's Motor Industry Development Programme. It documents significant learning processes and shows the impact of…"

The purpose in this paper is to provide a framework for the analysis of the relationship between different macroeconomic, sector and commodity policies and the multiplier effects of agriculture. To this end, the paper starts with a listing of the macroeconomic, sector and commodity policies that have been included in the analysis. This…"

Section 1 examines South Africa's comparative industrial performance over approximately the last two decades – manufacturing value added (MVA), manufactured exports in aggregate and exports of dynamic manufactured products, and industrial structure. Two “equity dimensions” of this performance that feature strongly in government's objectives for manufacturing are then outlined – namely manufacturing employment…"

The small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in South Africa has been the focus of attention since the first democratic elections in 1994. Not only does the sector offer the opportunity to enhance entrepreneurship amongst previously disadvantaged communities in South Africa, but it is also seen as one that has the ability to…"

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