Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989
| dc.contributor.author | Nattrass, Nicoli | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2016-05-09T10:02:14Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2016-05-09T10:02:14Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2014 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2016-05-09T09:59:28Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This paper discusses trends in South African profitability between 1960 and 1989 (the last peak year before the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990). It is argued that where distributional conflict is a persistent feature of the economic historical landscape, or is claimed to be of central importance (as is the case with regard to the radical ‘cheap labour’ theory of capital accumulation and growth under apartheid), examining trends in profitability and the underlying forces behind it may be of some assistance to economic historians. Trends in the profit rate can be linked to institutional transformation, and deconstructing the profit rate can help isolate the relative importance of the profit share and productivity in shaping the rate of return for capitalists. The empirical analysis finds that there were different economic factors at work behind trends in profitability between 1960 and 1989, and that Marxist claims about cheap labour being the basis for supposedly rising profitability and growth under apartheid are not supported by the data. Rather, the paper highlights the role of falling capital productivity as the key determinant of falling profitability – developments which suggests that investment in the late apartheid period was misdirected in significant ways. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20780389.2014.955269 | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Nattrass, N. (2014). Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989. <i>Economic History of Developing Regions</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19527 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Nattrass, Nicoli "Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989." <i>Economic History of Developing Regions</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19527 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Nattrass, N. (2014). Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960–1989. Economic History of Developing Regions, 29(2), 245-267. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2078-0389 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Journal Article AU - Nattrass, Nicoli AB - This paper discusses trends in South African profitability between 1960 and 1989 (the last peak year before the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990). It is argued that where distributional conflict is a persistent feature of the economic historical landscape, or is claimed to be of central importance (as is the case with regard to the radical ‘cheap labour’ theory of capital accumulation and growth under apartheid), examining trends in profitability and the underlying forces behind it may be of some assistance to economic historians. Trends in the profit rate can be linked to institutional transformation, and deconstructing the profit rate can help isolate the relative importance of the profit share and productivity in shaping the rate of return for capitalists. The empirical analysis finds that there were different economic factors at work behind trends in profitability between 1960 and 1989, and that Marxist claims about cheap labour being the basis for supposedly rising profitability and growth under apartheid are not supported by the data. Rather, the paper highlights the role of falling capital productivity as the key determinant of falling profitability – developments which suggests that investment in the late apartheid period was misdirected in significant ways. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - Economic History of Developing Regions LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 SM - 2078-0389 T1 - Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989 TI - Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19527 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19527 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Nattrass N. Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989. Economic History of Developing Regions. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/19527. | en_ZA |
| dc.language | eng | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Taylor & Francis | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.department | Centre for Social Science Research(CSSR) | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.source | Economic History of Developing Regions | en_ZA |
| dc.source.uri | http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rehd20#.VzBfb9J96Uk | |
| dc.subject.other | South Africa | |
| dc.subject.other | Profit Rate | |
| dc.subject.other | Profitability | |
| dc.subject.other | Apartheid | |
| dc.subject.other | Profit Share | |
| dc.subject.other | Wages | |
| dc.subject.other | Productivity | |
| dc.title | Deconstructing profitability under apartheid: 1960-1989 | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Journal Article | en_ZA |
| uct.type.filetype | Text | |
| uct.type.filetype | Image | |
| uct.type.publication | Research | en_ZA |
| uct.type.resource | Article | en_ZA |