Growth and development policy – new data, new approaches, and new evidence

Report

In contrast to South Africa, most of the other economies in the southern Africa region have grown reasonably rapidly over the past two decades. Recent experience has, however, highlighted the vulnerability of these economies to shocks, sometimes...

Report

The Republic of South Africa faces the imperative of escaping economic stagnation. The broad-level economic ills besetting South Africa are well known but bear brief repetition: real GDP per capita has hardly grown for nine years; productivity growth...

Research Brief

Transport and logistical efficiencies are critical factors in the competitiveness of regional value producers. The relatively high cost of regional transport in Southern Africa has impacted suppliers’ cost-competitiveness. Reducing the cost of...

Research Brief

More intense climate changes are expected in South Africa if GHG emissions are not constrained. Increased GHG emissions are likely to result in increases in average annual surface temperatures and higher evaporation rates. Average precipitation...

• Climate change
• Runoff
• Streamflow

Research Brief

The demand for irrigation is likely to increase in South Africa as a result of increased temperatures and evaporation rates. Rain-fed agricultural crops are likely to experience a decline in average annual yields. This is particularly the case for...

• Climate change
• Runoff
• Streamflow

Research Brief

15-20% of local demand for poultry in South Africa is met by imports Evidence from Zambia suggests that capital investments in the value chain can increase local production Increased demand due to growing urban populations poses critical challenges...

• Value chains
• Trade
• Poultry

Research Brief

Climate change risks for run-off and irrigation demand vary significantly across South Africa, with some regions expected to experience increased drying and others flooding Smaller impacts on water resources by 2050 are expected if global emissions...

• Climate change
• Economic development
• Economic growth

Research Brief

Supermarkets are potential partners in regional industrial development and should be considered in future policy making While the growth of supermarkets in the region has improved competitive pricing and accessibility to a broader range of products...

• Southern Africa
• Economic growth
• Regional growth

Working Paper

The South African Revenue Service and National Treasury Firm-Level Panel is an unbalanced panel data set created by merging several sources of administrative tax data received during 2015. The four data sources that constitute the panel are: company...

• Business tax
• Public administration
• Taxation

Working Paper

The manufacturing sector is an important source of productivity growth and exports. Manufacturing firms are generally more productive than firms in the agricultural or services sectors and are an important source of job creation. Little is known...

• Business
• Manufacturing
• Productivity

Working Paper

This paper uses firm-level data from company tax declarations to analyse the complementary relationship between direct access to imported intermediate inputs and manufacturing firm performance in South Africa. There are three main findings. The first...

• Business
• Delivery of goods
• International trade

Working Paper

Existing South African work on firm-level data has been limited by access to large datasets that track firms over time. This paper overcomes this by analysing a new dataset of the population of manufacturing firms that are matched to their export...

• Business
• Commerce
• Productivity