Research Report Global Labour University, Department of Sociology University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg September 26th, 2014 / This research report looks at the historic farm worker strikes and protests that took place during late 2012 and early 2013, involving thousands of farm workers and the rural poor in the Western Cape, with a view to answering: 1) why did the protests take place when they did; 2) how did the protests spread across the Western Cape; and 3) did the mass participation of the protests turn into formal organisation. The research was conducted primarily through in-depth interviews with participants and observers of the protests during field visits to the Western Cape in late 2013 and early 2014. The findings of the report suggest that farm owners, responding to top-down pressures of shifting global production standards and competition, along with increased government regulation and worker protections, continue to move toward a more seasonal, outsourced, and off-farm labour force; the transformation of the workforce is leading to a breakdown or re-negotiation of two of the major impediments to overt, confrontational, and collective action, namely paternalistic social construction and farm worker isolation. These longer-term trends combined with the spark of a small, successful strike and an increasing sense of tactics, strategy, and possibility to ignite a large-scale strike in one of the major farming towns in the area. With the help of television coverage featuring scenes of this protest and a clear demand by protestors themselves for an increase in the minimum wage, local organisations then served as “coordinating” units, alongside a range of more informal networks, to spread the protest and its easily replicable tactics to towns around the region. In part because farm workers do not have meaningful access to the more institutional vehicles for expressing their grievances, the protests took on a more bottom-up, “spontaneous” nature and spread, with the strategy of disruption and its emerging repertoires of contention serving as key sources of power. Because of the unique nature of the protests and the shifting nature of farm worker identities, most of the participating organisations were unsuccessful at translating the mass participation of the protests into greatly expanded levels of formal organisation. This challenge of turning participation into organisation was exacerbated by a major backlash by farm owners after the protest, as well as by some of the organising approaches of these organisations during and after the protests. The report concludes that there may be reasons for hope as the protests seem to have created some expanded confidence and leadership among farm workers, even if they did not primarily challenge power on the farms; the question remains as to whether this historic uprising can lead to further transformation from below.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the academic requirements for the degree of Masters in Development Theory and Policy Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management School of Economic and Business Sciences University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa February 2016 / In this report, the individual and household circumstances which influence the probability of a person having a certain labour market outcome, and how these outcomes differ by gender, will be investigated. While a number of similar studies have been conducted, this report contributes to the South African literature by investigating, using more recent data from the National Income Dynamics Study, what the determining factors are that drive women and men to the labour market, and determine employment outcomes. Furthermore, the investigation is extended by exploring whether these factors differ for men and women by age cohort. The main hypothesis of the study is that the determinants, which impact labour market outcomes and a successful transition from being not economically active or unemployed in a given period, to becoming employed in another period, differ for males and females; with factors such as education, labour market experience, and other household factors like marital status and children in the home being more important for women than for men. The results of the econometric analysis suggest that education is important for both sexes, but is of particular importance in determining the labour force participation and employment probabilities of women and the youth cohort. Furthermore, the location in which an individual resides is an important determinant of the labour market outcomes of women, with women in urban areas having the most favourable labour market outcomes. Having pensioners in the home has an adverse effect on the employment probabilities of men, while it is positively related to the employment probabilities of young women. Children in the home reduce the labour force participation of both men and women, but have a negative effect on the employment probabilities of women. / MT2017

No description available.

The rate of unemployment in South Africa remains stubbornly high despite vastly improved macroeconomic fundamentals and relatively high rates of economic growth for most of the post-1994 democratic era. Employment growth was much weaker than might have been expected given the improved economic outlook. This thesis investigates how the sectoral employment intensity of output growth in the eight non-agricultural sectors of the South African economy has evolved from 2000 to 2012, with a view to identifying key growth sectors that are employment intensive. An econometric model of the demand for labour is used to estimate employment elasticities in the major Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) divisions of the economy. The results suggest that aggregate employment and economic growth diverged and that jobless growth occurred in South Africa during the period under review. South Africa has become less labour intensive and more capital intensive, reflecting a structural adjustment that has weakened the employment-growth relationship. At the sectoral level, the results suggest the presence of a long-run relationship between employment and growth in finance and business services, manufacturing, transport and the utilities sectors. In particular, the results suggest that the tertiary sector performed best in terms of the employment intensity of output growth. This reflects the changing structure of the economy and the nature of employment shifting away from the primary towards the tertiary sectors. Investment in the tertiary sector may help to foster new employment opportunities and assist in improving the overall employment intensity of output growth in South Africa. / Economics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Economics)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Microeconometric techniques have improved understanding of South Africa’s labour market substantially in the last two decades. This dissertation adds to this evidence by considering three separate labour market questions, with particular attention to data quality and the application of credible methodology. Firstly, wage flexibility is investigated. Whereas selected previous microeconometric evidence suggests that wage setters in South Africa are highly responsive to external local labour market circumstances, it is not corroborated by macroeconomic and other microeconometric studies. This question is interrogated again, with particular attention to methodological issues in wage curve estimation. The latter is a robust negative relationship between individual wages and local unemployment rates, found in most countries, except where bargaining is highly centralized. Adding time variation to the data allows controls for spatial heterogeneity to be introduced, leading to the conclusion that wages are really inflexible in the short-run. Rather, the trade-off between wages and local unemployment that previous work has found represents a long-run spatial equilibrium. This finding is robust to instrumentation for reverse causality and the measurement error that is associated with choosing incorrect labour market demarcations. Secondly, the reliability of retrospective data related to childhood is investigated, with the view of estimating the long-run influence that early life circumstances have on adult outcomes. Two indicators, parental education and subjective rankings of childhood socioeconomic status, are evaluated. The first set of indicators has poor response rates, as many South African children live without their parents. Where respondents do volunteer this information, they answer consistently across waves. Subjective rankings have higher response rates, as they require respondents to provide information about their own past, and not about those of their parents. However, individuals’ assessments are inconsistent over time, despite being asked about the same point in the life cycle. They tend to change their view of the past in line with adjustments to perceptions of their position in the village income distribution and subjective well-being, providing clear evidence of anchoring. Instrumental variables analysis has been used in previous studies to account for measurement error in subjective data. However, if anchoring affects all assessments of the past and potential outcome variables (such as employment), microeconometric techniques will yield biased estimates of the effects of childhood on long-run outcomes. Finally, age-period-cohort models for South African labour force participation are estimated. This chapter is the first contribution to relax the assumption that cohort differences must remain permanent over the life cycle. Monte-Carlo simulation studies show that highly interactive specifications can partially recover the true underlying process. Using a variety of techniques (imposing behavioural restrictions and atheoretical approaches), this study shows that cohort effects in labour force participation can be temporary in South Africa, though more data is required to verify this conclusively. Regardless of technique, a distinct surge in labour force participation is noted for the group born after 1975. Pertinently, the combination of testable assumptions and highly flexible estimation can yield credible age-period-cohort profiles, despite the many disputes noted in the literature. Previous evidence of a surge in participation for the post-1975 cohort can now be shown to be temporary rather than a part of a long-run generational increase. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mikro-ekonometriese tegnieke het kennis oor die Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidsmark aansienlik uitgebrei in die afgelope twee dekades. Hierdie proefskrif dra by tot hierdie bewyse deur drie afsonderlike arbeidsmark vraagstukke te beskou, met die klem op datagehalte en toepassing van geloofwaardige metodologie. Eerstens word die kwessie van loonaanpasbaarheid beskou. Waar sekere vorige mikro-ekonometriese bewyse aandui dat loonbepalers in Suid-Afrika sterk op eksterne plaaslike arbeidsmarktoestande reageer, word hierdie bevinding nie deur makro-ekonomiese en ander mikro-ekonometriese studies ondersteun nie. Hierdie vraag word dus opnuut ondersoek, met die klem op metodologiese kwessies wat ‘n invloed op die beraming van die loonkurwe het. Laasgenoemde is die negatiewe verhouding tussen individuele lone en plaaslike werkloosheidskoerse wat in die meeste lande geld, behalwe daar waar loonbedinging sterk gesentraliseer is. Deur tydsvariasie by die data te voeg, is dit moontlik om vir heterogeniteit oor ruimte voorsiening te maak, wat tot die gevolgtrekking lei dat lone inderdaad onbuigsaam oor die korttermyn is. Die afruiling tussen lone en plaaslike werkloosheidskoerse wat vorige navorsing bevind het, verteenwoordig eerder ‘n langtermyn ruimtelike ewewig. Hierdie bevinding is nie sensitief vir instrumentasie nie. Laasgenoemde is nodig om voorsiening te maak vir moontlike sydigheid wat kan ontstaan indien die rigting van kousaliteit omgekeerd is, sowel as metingsfoute wat daarmee gepaard gaan as navorsers die plaaslike arbeidsmark verkeerd definiëer. Tweedens word die betroubaarheid van data wat volwassenes vra om hulle kinderomstandighede te onthou, ondersoek. Die uiteindelike doel is om vas te stel of omstandighede vroeg in die lewe ‘n invloed op die uitkomstes van volwassenes het. Twee veranderlikes, naamlik ouers se opvoedingsvlakke en die subjektiewe terugskouende sosioekonomiese rang in respondente se kinderdae, word geëvalueer. Die eerste stel veranderlikes is onderhewig aan lae reaksiekoerse omdat ‘n aansienlike hoeveelheid Suid-Afrikaanse kinders sonder een of beide ouers grootword. Waar respondente wel hierdie inligting verskaf is individue se antwoorde konsekwent tussen twee golwe van ‘n paneelopname. Die vraag na die subjektiewe rang lewer beter reaksiekoerse omdat dit vereis dat respondente inligting oor hulle eie verlede verskaf, en nie oor dié van hul ouers nie. Nietemin is individue se antwoorde strydig oor tyd, ten spyte daarvan dat hulle inligting oor dieselfde tydstip in die lewenssiklus moet verskaf. Hulle is geneig om hulle opinies oor die verlede in lyn met veranderende persepsies van hul huidige posisie in die dorpsinkomsteverdeling, sowel as hulle eie subjektiewe welstand, aan te pas. Dit verskaf dus ‘n sterk aanduiding dat mense hulle antwoorde oor die verlede in huidige toestande anker. Instrumentele veranderlike analise is in vorige studies aangewend om voorsiening te maak vir metingsfoute in subjektiewe data. Indien inligting oor die verlede, asook moontlik uitkomsteveranderlikes (soos indiensname), geanker word in huidige persepsies, sal mikroekonometriese tegnieke egter steeds sydige beramings van die impak van kinderdae op langtermyn uitkomstes bied. Laastens, word sogenaamde ouderdom-periode-kohort modelle op Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidsmarkdeelname data toegepas. Hierdie hoofstuk is die eerste bydrae wat die aanname dat kohortverskille permanent moet bly oor die lewenssiklus laat vaar. Monte-Carlo simulasies dui aan dat hoogs interaktiewe spesifikasies die onderliggende proses gedeeltelik kan weerspieël. Verskeie tegnieke word aangewend (insluitend dié wat gedragsaannames afdwing asook ateoretiese benaderings) wat wys dat kohorteffekte in arbeidsmarkdeelname tydelik kan wees. Tog word meer data benodig om hierdie stelling sonder twyfel te bevestig. Onafhanklik van die tegniek wat gebruik word, is dit duidelik dat ‘n skerp toename in arbeidsmarkdeelname plaasgevind het vir die groep wat na 1975 gebore is. Verder is dit beduidend dat die kombinasie van toetsbare aannames en hoogs buigsame beramers ‘n geloofwaardige oplossing vir die ouderdoms-periode-kohort probleem verskaf, ten spyte van die vele twispunte wat in die literatuur uitgelig word. Vorige bewyse van ‘n toename in arbeidsmagdeelname vir die post-1975 kohort kan nou as ‘n tydelike tendens bestempel word, eerder as ‘n deel van die langtermyn toename oor generasies.

Thesis (MComm (Economics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / A new political dispensation in 1994 heralded a period of optimism for many ordinary South Africans, who hoped for freedom and an escape from poverty. Since this transition, however, South Africa has registered steady increases in unemployment, which was already high and widespread at that stage. The new policy environment introduced a mix of legislation which changed the way in which South African society was to be structured: separate development was abandoned, the pillars of Apartheid dismantled, and equitable access to education and jobs was enacted. At the same time, the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), as well as the Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) document addressed, amongst other issues, socioeconomic and labour market disparities. Economic growth was to bolster employment generation. Rising unemployment is, in light of these diverse changes, a source of considerable concern to labour market participants and policymakers alike: the benefits of better understanding the dynamic forces at play are potentially large. Given the many and farreaching changes referred to above, it is a complex task to disentangle specific reasons for the outcomes realised in the labour market, and more so the manner in which these have interacted to arrive at the status quo...

The study sought to investigate the perceptions of TVET students regarding vocational education and its relation to the labour market. It hoped to illuminate connections or disconnections between vocational education and employment. The research emanated from the prevailing view that TVET education by its very nature is work-oriented and therefore those who enroll in TVET colleges are able to find employment. Furthermore, that conceptually the TVET curriculum was and continues to be regarded as skills-based for labour market demands thereby enhancing national competiveness and economic growth. Qualitative questionnaires, which are open-ended in nature, were used to gather facts about students’ beliefs and experiences regarding certain engineering programmes and services offered at TVET colleges. Non-probability sampling was used to select one hundred and thirteen (113) participants who voluntarily completed qualitative questionnaires, which were structured to elicit the required information, and the results reveal divergent views shared by students. There are those who feel very strongly that a TVET qualification, in engineering in particular, leads to employment due to its demand and the fact that the institution generally assists students through the placement unit makes it even easier to find employment. Other students firmly believed that whatever qualifications one attained, the world of work cannot accommodate them, as they do not have work experience. They felt this was unfair because they are unable to find employment without being properly monitored and trained by the very same industry that hopes to employ them in the near future. They argue that the only problem pertaining to unemployment is job scarcity, rather than skills scarcity. The research is framed within the human capital theory. Research findings reveal the fact that there is no link between vocational education and the labour market and as a result employment is not easy. There are personal skills required but they are not available in our educational curriculum, which focuses on educational aspirations. The research further posits five distinct but necessary interventions that students are suggesting in order to increase their lack of experience in the job market.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / The orthodox school's explanation for wage differentials, unemployment and labour market discrimination and the policy measures which they proposed did not offer workable solutions to the problems of the day. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a group of American labour economists conducted field studies in American urban ghettos which resulted in the formulation of the dual labour market theory. In contrast with the orthodox approach, which emphasises free market forces and investment in human capital, the dual labour market theory focuses on the dual structure of the labour market. The labour market is divided between a primary (high-wage) and a secondary (low-wage) sector, with little or no mobility between the sectors. An oversupply of labour in the secondary sector and unemployment are the results. These labour market phenomena and dualism also characterise the South African labour market and should be taken into account when policy measures are formulated. / Loonverskille, werkloosheid en arbeidsmarkdiskriminasie is algemene verskynsels in arbeids· markte wereldwyd. Die ortodokse denkskool se verklaring vir die verskynsels en die beleidsmaatreels wat bulle voorste~ het met verloop van tyd ontevredenheid ontketen omdat dit geen werkbare oplossing vir die probleme van die dag kon hied nie. Gedurende die laat ·1960s en vroee 1970s het 'n groep Arnerikaanse arbeidsekonome verskeie veldstudies in verskillende Arneri· kaanse stedelike ghetto's geloods op soek na 'n meer aanvaarbare verklaring vir hierdie verskyn· sels. Uit hierdie veldstudies is die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie geformuleer. In teenstelling met die ortodokse benadering, wat Idem le op die werking van vrye markkragte en investering in menslike kapitaal, benadruk die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie die tweeledige struktuur van die arbeidsmark. Die arbeidsmark is verdeel tusssen 'n primere (hoogbesoldigde) en sekondere (laagbesoldigde) sektor, met min of geen mobiliteit tussen die sektore nie. Werkers se toegang tot die primere sektor word beperk, met 'n ooraanbod van arbeid in die sekondere sektor en werkloosheid as die gevolg. Hierdie arbeidsmarkverskynsels en dualisme is ook kenmerkend van die Suid·Afrikaanse arbeidsmark en beleidsmaatreels moet daarmee rekening hou / Economics and Management Sciences / M. Comm. (Economy)

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The welfare challenge that faces South Africa in the post-apartheid period is, at its core, defined by the high levels of poverty and inequality in the society. The labour market, as a provider of wages to individuals and ultimately households, remains the key transmitter of these poverty and inequality outcomes in the society. This specific line of reasoning is the underlying intellectual thrust of this thesis: namely that the state of poverty and inequality in a society is mirrored by, and perhaps more strongly - determined and shaped - by the state of its labour market. The thesis therefore focuses in the first instance on employment trends in South Africa since 1970, across two discrete time periods. The intention is to sketch the changing patterns of labour demand in South Africa, with a particular focus on how these patterns have yielded differential gains for different occupation, race, gender and education cohorts. Ultimately, these uneven employment patterns remain one of the most significant factors shaping South Africa's poverty and inequality challenges. The inequality challenge, so often thought of in terms of households only, is analysed here purely in terms of the employed. The starting point once again, is that it is precisely these earnings that contribute to the extraordinarily high inequality levels in South Africa. This analysis imparts information about the manner in which intra-employed wage inequality is structured and furthermore, how South Africa compares in the international context. A major contribution of the thesis is to, through more formal measures of poverty, apply these to labour market-defined individuals, rather than households, which is the norm in the literature. The point of departure is of course that poverty, or vulnerability, expresses itself through individuals in the labour market, and is thereby transmitted at the household level. Hence a significant component of the dissertation attempts a formal measurement and modelling of the degree of poverty and vulnerability in the South African labour market. These welfare challenges for a society though, should not only be analysed, but rather solved as well. Hence the final two chapters of the dissertation attempts to examine two very recent policy options mooted in South Africa, and through using simulation techniques, attempts to estimate both the costs and benefits of instituting these two alternatives which are explicitly aimed at reducing poverty, vulnerability and inequality in the society. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika se welvaartsvraagstuk in die na-apartheidsperiode word deur die hoë vlakke van armoede en ongelykheid in die samelewing bepaal. Die arbeidsmark, as voorsiener van lone aan individue en uiteindelik ook huishoudings, is die belangrikste bepaler van die oordrag van armoede- en ongelykheidsuitkomste in die samelewing. Die sleuteluitgangspunt van hierdie proefskrif is dat die stand van armoede en ongelykheid in 'n samelewing in sy arbeidsmark weerspieël en selfs daardeur bepaal en gevorm word. Die proefskrif fokus daarom veralop Suid- Afrikaanse indiensnemingstendense sedert die sewentigerjare, in twee diskrete periodes. Die doel is om die veranderende Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidsvraagpatroon te skets, veral die ongelyke voordele wat hierdie patrone vir verskillende beroeps-, rasse-, gestags- en opvoedkundige groepe meegebring het. Hierdie ongelyke indiensnemingspatrone is uiteindelik belangrike determinante van Suid-Afrika se armoede- en ongelykheidsvraagstuk. Hierdie analise verskaf inligting omtrent die struktuur van loonongelykheid onder werkendes en hoe Suid-Afrika internasionaal vergelyk. 'n Belangrike bydrae is die toepassing van formele armoedemaatstawwe op individue in die arbeidsmark, eerder as die konvensionele toepassing op huishoudings. Die uitgangspunt is natuurlik dat armoede of weerloosheid in die arbeidsmark op die vlak van die individu ervaar word, en dat dit daarna na die huishouding oorgedra word. Daarom is 'n groot deel van die proefskrif op die formele meting en modellering van die omvangvan armoede en weerloosheid in die Suid-Afrikaanse arbeidsmark toegespits. Hierdie welsynsvraagstukke moet natuurlik nie net ontleed word nie, maar ook opgelos word. Daarom poog die laaste twee hoofstukke om die implikasies van twee onlangse beleidsvoorstelle te ontleed. Deur simulasietegnieke word probeer om die kostes en voordele van hierdie twee alternatiewe beleidsvoorstelle gemik op die vermindering van armoede, ongelykheid en weerloosheid in die samelewing te beraam.

This thesis is about imperfections in urban labour markets of three developing countries. I study how physical living conditions place constraints on labour force participation, and increase risks associated with unemployment. In Chapter One I test for the impact of high search costs on labour market outcomes of job seekers. I use a randomized trial of transport subsidies among youth living far away from the centre of the city in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Lowering transport costs increases the intensity of job search and leads to better employment outcomes. Weekly phone call data shows that treatment works to stop job search activity from declining over time. I show that the results are consistent with a dynamic model of job search with cash constraints and monetary search costs. Income from temporary work is used to smooth consumption and pay for the costs of search. I find that subsidies reduce participation in temporary work. Chapter Two looks at the links between poor housing conditions in slums and market labour supply. I test for the effect of free government housing in South Africa on households, using four waves of panel data and a natural experiment due to the allocation of new housing according to proximity from housing projects. I then use planned but cancelled projects to control for non-random selection of housing project sites. I find that government housing leads to large increases in household incomes from wage work, and increases in the labour supply of female household members. I argue that these results are due to reduced burdens of work in the home of improved housing, especially for women. In Chapter Three we look at how labour markets respond to large but temporary economic shocks caused by typhoons in the Philippines. We use quarterly aggregate, repeated-cross sectional and panel data to demonstrate robust evidence of downward wage flexibility. Lay-offs do not occur when storms hits, but hours per worker fall. We explain these results with a model of implicit contracts under which risk is shared between workers and firms through wage cuts, but workers are insured against lay-offs so that adjustments in labour demand occur through reductions in hours per worker. Our results are particularly strong for workers in long term contractual relationships in the private sector.