Myriam Velia

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to address the paucity in micro-level research on the impact of trade liberalisation on manufacturing firms in South Africa. Using data from a survey of manufacturing firms in the Durban area, the second largest concentration of manufacturing activity in South Africa, we explore how firms are responding to trade liberalisation. We explore three sets of issues: the export orientation of firms, the effects of volatility in exchange rates, and the links between exports and firm behaviour, including productivity growth. We find that firms engage with the international economy both as exporters and as importers. This suggests that analyses focusing exclusively on exporting may be misleading. Firm size is an important indicator of export success. Our results indicate that some of the benefits deemed to accrue from trade liberalisation, such as reduction in the cost of inputs and productivity growth, are not evident among Durban firms. This poses a number of challenges for policymakers. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

This paper examines the impact of prime-age adult mortality on the transition made by adolescents from school to the labour market and on female adult labour force participation decisions in South Africa. We find, first, that deaths of prime-age adults significantly increase both male and female adolescents' labour force participation as they stop their schooling. Secondly, the death of prime-age adults in general also decreases school enrolment "ex ante". Thirdly, female adults tend to join the labour force following the death of prime-age adult males. These findings imply that prime-age adult mortality increases labour supply and disrupts human capital formation. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Department of Economics, University of Oxford, 2008.

This paper examines the impact of prime-age adult mortality on the transition from school to the labor market of adolescents and on decisions by female adults to participate in the labor force in South Africa. The analysis focuses on that period— 1998–2004—when South Africa experienced excess mortality due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We find, first, that deaths of prime-age adults significantly increase both male and female adolescents' labor force participation because they stop their schooling in order to help support their families. Female school enrollment may also decrease because girls are required to stay at home to take care of the sick. Therefore, the total negative impact on schooling is larger among female adolescents than among male adolescents. Second, we find that female adults tend to join the labor force following the death of prime-age adult males. This change could cause a decrease in the time they spend on housework and child rearing. Combined, these findings im...

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This paper evaluates the trade, business and investment climate currently in place within the island states of the Western Indian Ocean. Operating on the premise that trade-based globalization poses a considerable challenge to island states’ economic stability and prospects for equitable development, this report argues that both state institutions and exporting firms in the Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles must aggressively seek to put in place policies and practices that are conducive to attracting foreign investment, encouraging private sector growth and expanding export capabilities. As part of this analysis, this paper provides a politico-economic overview of the Western Indian Ocean island states as well as a theoretical outline of academic perspectives relating to island states’ prospects for growth in a globalizing world economy. This is followed by an examination of trade and investment-related trends in these four countries (informed by primary interview re...

Introduction The recent dramatic increase in prime-age adult mortality in many African countries is largely attributed to the AIDS epidemic. Excess mortality is concentrated among women between the ages of 25 and 39 and among men between the ages of 30 and 44. Households can respond to an increase in mortality among prime-age adults in many ways—they can utilize government grants and formal insurance; engage in some ex ante and ex post risk coping/mitigating strategies (e.g., borrowing or tapping on remittances) to buffer shocks; and/or develop foster-care arrangements or income diversification strategies (including labor supply). There are, however, problems with these approaches. If such strategies are imperfect in smoothing consumption, prime-age adult death can decrease child schooling investments and increase labor supply, at least in the short-run. Moreover, prime-age adult death also reduces the expected future earnings for the household. This, in turn, reduces investments in...

This paper examines the impact of prime-age adult mortality on the transition made by adolescents from school to the labour market and on female adult labour force participation decisions in South Africa. We find, first, that deaths of prime-age adults significantly increase both male and female adolescents' labour force participation as they stop their schooling. Secondly, the death of prime-age adults in general also decreases school enrolment "ex ante". Thirdly, female adults tend to join the labour force following the death of prime-age adult males. These findings imply that prime-age adult mortality increases labour supply and disrupts human capital formation. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Department of Economics, University of Oxford, 2008.