Browsing by Author "Ranchhod, Vimal"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 23
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemOpen AccessAll jobs are equal, but some jobs are more equal than others: what a clustering algorithm reveals about the labour market segmentation in South Africa(2021) Kensett, Jonathan Matthew; Ranchhod, Vimal; Leibbrandt, MurrayThe theory of labour market segmentation is often used to explain wage inequality in South Africa. It posits that labour markets consist of different segments that are differentiated from other segments based on some observable characteristics. Limited mobility between these segments prevents wages from equalising. In this paper, I make use of a clustering algorithm to identify these informal and formal segments in the labour market. I apply this methodology to a nationally representative panel dataset of employed South Africans. I find that employed South Africans fall into one of three segments. Two of these segments resemble what is commonly referred to as formal and informal employment. The third segment lies somewhere between these two segments and is referred to as semiformal employment. Findings suggest that informally and semiformally employed individuals have s relatively lower chance of entering formal employment. Those in formal employment are much more likely to remain formally employed. It also appears that much of the churning observed in the labour market is between semiformal and informal employment, rather than between informal and formal employment. The identification of this group of semiformally employed labour market participants helps contributes to a more nuanced understanding of labour market dynamics in South Africa and highlights the value that data driven methodologies can provide to applied labour economic analysis.
- ItemMetadata onlyEarnings volatility in South Africa(2015-05-28) Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemOpen AccessEconomic mobility in South Africa: evidence from household survey data(2017) Finn, Arden; Leibbrandt, Murray; Ranchhod, VimalHigh levels of inequality, poverty and unemployment are some of the most substantial challenges facing post-apartheid South Africa. Most of the research addressing these questions has used micro datasets to compare snapshots of welfare over time. Although these studies are both interesting and useful, they have been unable to extend their analysis into a nationally-representative dynamic setting, due to the lack of available data. The paucity of large longitudinal datasets has also limited the number of studies of economic mobility, which allows researchers to track the welfare measures of the same individuals over time. This means that while we know a great deal about how South Africans are doing at a particular point in time, we know far less about how they are faring dynamically. Understanding how and why economic mobility happens in South Africa is therefore a question that demands attention. From both a distributive justice as well as a policy point of view, the distinction that arises when we drop the assumption of anonymity and move from a cross-sectional measure of welfare to a dynamic one is important. This is because many of the conclusions about longer-run welfare are dependent on the level of economic mobility present in society. This study contributes to the body of work on welfare in South Africa by addressing three different aspects of economic mobility. The first of these is about how a particular kind of measurement error in household surveys is best detected, and what effect its presence has on the understanding of labour market mobility. The second is about how best to model money-metric poverty dynamics in South Africa in order to better understand who escapes poverty and who enters poverty over time. The third is about how the persistence of intergenerational earnings should be calculated in a society with high unemployment, and what the role of education is in shaping these mobility dynamics.
- ItemOpen AccessThe effect of selected academic development programmes on the academic performance of academic development students at a South African university : an empirical study.(2012) Smith, Leonard Cowper; Case, Jenni; Fraser, Duncan; Van Walbeek, Corné; Ranchhod, VimalThe case studies that make up this thesis cover the three largest academic development programmes at the University of Cape Town. A variety of statistical methods are used to estimate the effect of educational interventions in selected first- and second-year academic development courses on the academic performance of academic development students in these courses and through to graduation, relative to mainstream students. In general, research in this area in South Africa and internationally has been characterised by small sample sizes and a lack of statistical rigour. Few studies control for the range of independent variables that can affect students’ academic performance, in addition to the academic development programme or course, and the great majority ignore the sampleselection problem that arises in the selection of students for academic development and mainstream programmes. The theoretical rationale underpinning this thesis is informed by the postpositivist and evidence-based approaches to empirical investigation. Demographic, academic and other data for some 9000 students for the years 1999?2005 was obtained from the university’s data base and academic departments. Statistical techniques including multivariate analysis and propensity score matching are used in an attempt to finesse the problems associated with the use of non-experimental data as students are selected into different courses and programmes.
- ItemMetadata onlyEnforcement and compliance: The case of minimum wages and mandatory contracts for domestic workers in South Africa(Econ3x3, ) Dinkelman, Taryn; Ranchhod, Vimal; Hofmeyr, Clare
- ItemMetadata onlyEstimating the effect of adolescent fertility on educational attainment in Cape Town using a propensity score weighted regression(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Ranchhod, Vimal; Lam, David; Leibbrandt, Murray; Marteleto, Letitia
- ItemMetadata onlyEstimating the Effects of South Africa's Youth Employment Tax Incentive – An Update(2017-06-06) Ranchhod, Vimal; Finn, Arden
- ItemMetadata onlyEstimating the responsiveness of college applications to the likelihood of acceptance and financial assistance: Evidence from Texas.(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Andrews, Rodney; Ranchhod, Vimal; Sathy, Viji
- ItemMetadata onlyEstimating the short run effects of South Africa's Employment Tax Incentive on youth employment probabilities using a difference-in-differences approach(2015-05-28) Ranchhod, Vimal; Finn, Arden
- ItemMetadata onlyEvidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Dinkelman, Taryn; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyEvidence on the impact of minimum wage laws in an informal sector: Domestic workers in South Africa(Journal of Development Economics, 2015-05-28) Dinkelman, Taryn; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyGenuine Fakes: The prevalence and implications of fieldworker fraud in a large South African survey(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Finn, Arden; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyHousehold responses to adverse income shocks: Pensioner out-migration and mortality in South Africa(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyInequality traps and human capital accumulation in South Africa(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Pellicer, Miquel; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyInequality Traps in South Africa: An overview and research agenda(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Pellicer, Miquel; Ranchhod, Vimal; Sarr, Mare; Wegner, Eva
- ItemMetadata onlyLabour force withdrawal of the elderly in South Africa(CSSR and SALDRU, 2015-05-28) Lam, David; Leibbrandt, Murray; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemMetadata onlyLabour market transitions in South Africa: What can we learn from matched Labour Force Survey data?(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Ranchhod, Vimal; Dinkelman, Taryn
- ItemOpen AccessMeasuring the impact of educational interventions on the academic performance of academic development students in second-year microeconomics(Wiley, 2012) Smith, Leonard C; Ranchhod, VimalThis paper analyses the impact of educational interventions made in the first- and second-year microeconomics courses on academic development students' final mark in the second-year course. It also addresses issues of methodology, specification, and statistical analysis with respect to other studies in the field. The results suggest that the educational interventions in the first year had a positive impact on the academic performance of the academic development cohort, relative to the mainstream cohort for the first period (2000-2002). The results also suggest that the educational interventions introduced in the second period (2003-2005), in the form of voluntary workshops, improved the academic performance of the academic development and mainstream cohorts.
- ItemMetadata onlyMeasuring the impact of educational interventions on the academic performance of Academic Development Students in second-year microeconomics(Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Smith, Leonard; Ranchhod, Vimal
- ItemOpen AccessThe added worker effect in South Africa(2019) Hoffman, Morne; Ranchhod, VimalThe theory that married women’s labour supply increases in response to their partners job loss is known as the added worker effect (addWE). This paper investigates how married women’s labour force participation, probability of employment and average working hours respond to the recently unanticipated job loss of their partners in South Africa. It also considers the effect of partners job loss on married women’s preference to work and the probability that they work more hours from the previous period. The paper finds that the probability of married women’s participation, employment and average working hours rises (a positive effect) in response to their partners unanticipated job loss. However, these results are all statistically insignificant and its inconclusive evidence can be attributed primarily to limitations in the data. Alternatively, the labour supply responses are modelled to the static unemployment status of partners as a sensitivity check and find the probability of labour force participation of married women falls if their partners are unemployed. Albeit statistically significant, it is argued that this result is predominately due to the idea that people tend to get married to other people of similar socio-economic, religious and ethnic backgrounds (known as assortative mating) which masks the addWE. This approach is thus shown to be inappropriate for the analysis of the addWE.