Amina Ebrahim on can a wage subsidy system help reduce 50 per cent youth unemployment? Evidence from South Africa

Amina Ebrahim will present at the WIDER Seminar Series on 12 June 2019. This seminar will not be live streamed.

Abstract – Can a wage subsidy system help reduce 50 per cent youth unemployment? Evidence from South Africa

This paper examines the incidence and employment impacts of the Employment Tax Incentive, a South African wage subsidy system that is targeted to the employers of low-wage youth. The paper uses a triple differences strategy and both survey data and administrative data, covering the universe of South African workers. The results reveal that the system did not have a positive influence on the employment rate of eligible workers. The number of jobs in the region where the subsidy is the greatest has increased, but the increase is not statistically significant, perhaps due to a low take-up rate. The earnings seem to have increased for the eligible group, suggesting that the incidence is partly on workers.

About the speaker

Amina Ebrahim is a Research Associate at UNU-WIDER focusing on tax administrative data in South Africa. She is reading for her PhD in Economics at the University of Cape Town and holds a M.Com. in Economics from the School of Economics at UCT. Her research interests include development economics, labour economics and youth labour issues.

WIDER Seminar Series

The WIDER Seminar Series showcases recent and ongoing work on key topics in development economics. The weekly sessions held in Helsinki are open to local and visiting researchers, policy makers, and others interested in development topics. Click here to learn more.

Seminars will be live streamed on Facebook and recordings and presentations will be available after the event here.

For more information email richardson@wider.unu.edu