Coordination failure and employment in South Africa
Date
2003
Authors
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Publisher
TIPS, Johannesburg, ZA
Abstract
Current research (2003) indicates South Africa is moving away from using semi-skilled labour towards skilled labour-intensive processes in the formal sector, and very low skilled work in the informal sector. This study addresses the evidence that no sector in South Africa has adopted a semi-skilled intensive technology. The paper argues this is the consequence of well-documented acute apartheid era distortions leading to a coordination failure where (i) firms are locked into a mostly skill-intensive technology where they have very little demand for semi-skilled and unskilled labour, and (ii) there are too few skilled and semi-skilled black workers.
Description
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Working Paper
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Keywords
EMPLOYMENT, APARTHEID, LABOUR MARKET, POLICY MAKING, SOUTH AFRICA, SKILLED WORKERS, METHODOLOGY, ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS, SOUTH OF SAHARA, HUMAN CAPITAL, INDUSTRIAL POLICY