Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal

dc.contributor.authorCichello, Paul L
dc.contributor.authorFields, Gary S
dc.contributor.authorMurray, Leibbrandt
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-06T08:25:13Z
dc.date.available2016-05-06T08:25:13Z
dc.date.issued2005
dc.date.updated2016-05-06T08:23:17Z
dc.description.abstractThe labour market is central in determining individual and household wellbeing in South Africa. Therefore, an understanding of earnings and employment dynamics is a key policy issue. However, the absence of panel data has constrained empirical work addressing these issues. This paper makes use of a regional panel data set for KwaZulu-Natal to begin the study of earnings and employment dynamics. The authors find that, on average, working-aged Africans in KwaZulu-Natal experienced large gains in earnings during the period 1993-8. These gains were progressive in nature, with the highest quintile of 1993 earners and those originally employed in the formal sector actually experiencing zero or negative growth in their average earnings. The average gain in earnings varied substantially depending on the employment transitions experienced by labour force participants. Obtaining formal sector employment is found to be an important pathway to growth in earnings, yet not exclusively so. The majority of those who get ahead do so by retaining employment in a given sector or moving into the informal sector. The dynamism of the informal sector over this period is shown to be an important contributor to the progressive growth in earnings. Government policies that seek to increase employment and earnings in the informal as well as formal sectors are recommended. Understanding the constraints preventing the vast number of unemployed from engaging in informal employment is shown to be a key issue for future work.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCichello, P. L., Fields, G. S., & Murray, L. (2005). Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal. <i>Journal of African Economies</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19475en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCichello, Paul L, Gary S Fields, and Leibbrandt Murray "Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal." <i>Journal of African Economies</i> (2005) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19475en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCichello, P. L., Fields, G. S., & Leibbrandt, M. (2005). Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal. Journal of African Economies, 14(2), 143-190.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0963-8024en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Cichello, Paul L AU - Fields, Gary S AU - Murray, Leibbrandt AB - The labour market is central in determining individual and household wellbeing in South Africa. Therefore, an understanding of earnings and employment dynamics is a key policy issue. However, the absence of panel data has constrained empirical work addressing these issues. This paper makes use of a regional panel data set for KwaZulu-Natal to begin the study of earnings and employment dynamics. The authors find that, on average, working-aged Africans in KwaZulu-Natal experienced large gains in earnings during the period 1993-8. These gains were progressive in nature, with the highest quintile of 1993 earners and those originally employed in the formal sector actually experiencing zero or negative growth in their average earnings. The average gain in earnings varied substantially depending on the employment transitions experienced by labour force participants. Obtaining formal sector employment is found to be an important pathway to growth in earnings, yet not exclusively so. The majority of those who get ahead do so by retaining employment in a given sector or moving into the informal sector. The dynamism of the informal sector over this period is shown to be an important contributor to the progressive growth in earnings. Government policies that seek to increase employment and earnings in the informal as well as formal sectors are recommended. Understanding the constraints preventing the vast number of unemployed from engaging in informal employment is shown to be a key issue for future work. DA - 2005 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Journal of African Economies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2005 SM - 0963-8024 T1 - Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal TI - Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19475 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/19475
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCichello PL, Fields GS, Murray L. Earnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natal. Journal of African Economies. 2005; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19475.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Social Science Research(CSSR)en_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceJournal of African Economiesen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://jae.oxfordjournals.org/
dc.titleEarnings and employment dynamics for Africans in post-apartheid South Africa: a panel study of KwaZulu-Natalen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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