The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorKarimu, Amin
dc.contributor.authorVan der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-12T10:10:26Z
dc.date.available2026-05-12T10:10:26Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.date.updated2026-05-12T09:59:47Z
dc.description.abstractThe threat of climate change and the consequent need for renewable energy development is an issue of growing importance across the world. While the environmental benefits of renewable energy are commonly documented and accepted, the economic impact of renewables on job growth is less commonly agreed upon. For South Africa in particular, the nature of this impact is crucial to understand since the country suffers from both unsustainable carbon emissions and unemployment rates. This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption on total employment in South Africa over the period 1970-2021. The autoregressive distributed lag model was employed to test the long-run and short-run impacts of renewable energy consumption on employment in a multivariate framework including other determinants of labour demand. Our findings indicate that renewable energy consumption does not have any significant statistical impact on total employment. Additionally, our findings indicate the importance of economic growth, human capital levels, foreign direct investment, energy consumption and international trade in determining job growth. Therefore, the study advocates for further research into the determinants of labour demand in South Africa, and the active creation of a positive relationship between renewable energy and job growth given the current low carbon energy transition that is taking place in South Africa.
dc.identifier.apacitationVan der Westhuizen, J. V. (2022). <i>The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationVan der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent. <i>"The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVan der Westhuizen, J.V. 2022. The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Van der Westhuizen, Johann Vincent AB - The threat of climate change and the consequent need for renewable energy development is an issue of growing importance across the world. While the environmental benefits of renewable energy are commonly documented and accepted, the economic impact of renewables on job growth is less commonly agreed upon. For South Africa in particular, the nature of this impact is crucial to understand since the country suffers from both unsustainable carbon emissions and unemployment rates. This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption on total employment in South Africa over the period 1970-2021. The autoregressive distributed lag model was employed to test the long-run and short-run impacts of renewable energy consumption on employment in a multivariate framework including other determinants of labour demand. Our findings indicate that renewable energy consumption does not have any significant statistical impact on total employment. Additionally, our findings indicate the importance of economic growth, human capital levels, foreign direct investment, energy consumption and international trade in determining job growth. Therefore, the study advocates for further research into the determinants of labour demand in South Africa, and the active creation of a positive relationship between renewable energy and job growth given the current low carbon energy transition that is taking place in South Africa. DA - 2022 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - renewable energy KW - South Africa KW - employment LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2022 T1 - The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa TI - The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationVan der Westhuizen JV. The impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Commerce ,School of Economics, 2022 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43219en_ZA
dc.language.isoen
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Economics
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerce
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subjectrenewable energy
dc.subjectSouth Africa
dc.subjectemployment
dc.titleThe impact of renewable energy on job growth in South Africa
dc.typeThesis / Dissertation
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
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