Browsing by Author "Wakeford, Jeremy"

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Budget deficits and the term structure of interest rates : evidence from Mauritius (1968-1999)
    (2000) Rangasamy, Krishen; Standish, Barry; Wakeford, Jeremy
    Bibliography: leaves 80-85.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Determinants of earnings in Eritea : a first attempt to estimate the Mincerian earnings function
    (2003) Ghebretsadik, Eyob Fissuh; Wakeford, Jeremy
    This paper attempts to estimate the Mincerian earnings function for Eritrea by employing Eritrean Household Income and Expenditure Survey (EHIES) 96/97 data. The Mincerian earnings function is estimated by using OLS and Heckman two-stage econometric techniques. The latter was found to be plausible because it avoids selectivity bias. The list of potential determinants of earnings is broadened to include education, potential experience, occupation, gender, the pre-independence history of workers and region. On average, the rate of return to education increases with increased years of schooling. The highest rate of return is found for a technical school or university diploma, followed respectively by a university degree, secondary, middle and elementary schooling. Females enjoy a higher rate of return to education than males. The rate of return to education differs substantially between private and public sector employment. Ex-fighters enjoy some form of special wage premium in view of the importance of their pre-independence history and this party premium is substantially higher in the public sector than in the private sector. There is also a peak level of experience that positively affects earnings. The effect of experience on earnings is greater in the private sector than in the public sector. Occupational choice is one of the determinants of earnings in Eritrea; however, not all occupational groups affect earnings significantly. There is also a regional earnings differential in Eritrea.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Productivity, Wages and Employment in South Africa's Manufacturing Sector, 1970 - 2002
    (2004-03) Wakeford, Jeremy
    This paper investigates the relationship between labour productivity, average real wages and employment in South Africa's manufacturing sector, using cointegrating VAR and VECM econometric techniques. A long-run equilibrium relationship was found between real wages and productivity, with an elasticity of 0,38 indicating that productivity has grown more rapidly than wages.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Racial Wage Discrimation in South Africa: Before and After the First Democratic Election
    (2001-05) Erichsen, Gaute; Wakeford, Jeremy
    Apartheid in South Africa was formally discarded by the first free election in 1994. Prior to 1994, discrimination in the labour market was embodied in a number of policies (pass laws, occupational colour barring etc.). While such polices have been eliminated by the ANC government, it is likely that the eradication of racial wage discrimination altogether will be a lengthy process.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Racial wage discrimination in South Africa before and after the first democratic election
    (2001) Erichson, Gaute; Wakeford, Jeremy
    Apartheid in South Africa was formally discarded by the first free election in 1994. Prior to 1994 discrimination in the labour market was embodied in a number of policies (pass laws, occupational colour barring etc.). While such polices may be eliminated by the ANC government, it is apparent that the elimination of racial wage discrimination altogether will be a lengthy process. In the present paper, racial wage discrimination is treated via a multilateral wage decomposition technique. Each observed wage differential is broken down into a productivity component and a discrimination component so that the extent of racial wage discrimination can be estimated.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Risks to Global Trade and Implications for South Africa's Economy and Policy
    (2006-07) Wakeford, Jeremy
    The past two decades have witnessed an unprecedented globalisation of trade in goods and services. This process has been driven, inter alia, by technology, ideology and the availability of relatively cheap energy. By extrapolating this trend, one may expect further integration of world markets and increasingly unhindered international trade.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Risks to Global Trade and Implications for South Africa's Economy and Policy
    (2006-08) Wakeford, Jeremy
    This policy brief is based on DPRU Working Paper 06/111, Risks to Global Trade and Implications for South Africas Economy and Policy by Jeremy Wakeford.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Student financial aid at South African universities and technikons
    (1997) Wakeford, Jeremy; Archer, Sean; Fitschen, Amanda
    Given the striking inequality of access to tertiary education in South Africa, a National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is of great importance. Since the present NSFAS has insufficient funds and lacks a long-term plan, the objective of this study is to contribute to the development of proposals for a comprehensive, sustainable NSFAS. More specifically, the aims are to: ( 1) throw light on the current status of student financial aid at universities and technikons; (2) highlight implications for the NSFAS; and (3) consider the future role of institution-based schemes. The paper begins by drawing lessons from a selection of international literature. The main body of the text is based on responses to a survey questionnaire which included both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. All twenty-one universities and twelve out of fifteen technikons submitted written replies. The paper presents and analyses quantitative and qualitative data describing financial and administrative aspects of institutions' schemes for assisting undergraduate/pre-diplomate, full-time students. The survey revealed that half of the total resources available for financial aid came from the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa and a quarter from institutions' general operating budgets. The remaining contributions came from various donors including Provincial Governments, non-governmental organisations, international agencies and South African private sector firms. Bursaries, and to a lessor extent loans, are the main types of financial aid received by needy students. Scholarships and sports awards are allocated according to merit rather than financial need. Differences (such as sources and types of aid) are identified between the financial aid schemes of universities and technikons, and of historically black and historically white institutions. Comparisons of aggregate data with figures presented by the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) showed similarities in some instances, but the NCHE's projection of gross student needs in 1996 was far greater than the resources reportedly available to institutions from all sources. Institution-based schemes do not always comply with the lessons from international experience: the aggregate bursary/loan mix is favourable; the degree of cost recovery is inconclusive; targeting of needy students is sound in theory but difficult in practice; and mortgage-type loans, rather than internationally recommended income-contingent loans, are the norm, and they have substantial hidden subsidies. Implications for the NSFAS include the following: standardisation of the means test and the definition of "legitimate" study costs is desirable on equity grounds; administrative difficulties experienced by financial aid bureaux impact on the NSF AS and therefore more resources are required in this area. With regard to the future role of institution-based schemes: a levelling of the playing fields with respect to the contributions by institutions themselves to financial aid is suggested; institution-based loan schemes may be viewed as complementary to the NSFAS (in that they target students with different characteristics), which provides a theoretical reason for the creation of a centralised mortgage-type loan scheme to harness private sector capital. Such decisions need to be based on detailed assessments of efficiency which are beyond the scope of this paper.