How has graduate unemployment evolved since 2008? We situate trends in graduate unemployment in the contexts of improved graduation rates, the shifting composition of graduates, the broader labour market, and public expenditure on higher education.
A forum for economic policy debate
Econ3x3 promotes analysis and debate on unemployment and employment, income distribution and inclusive growth in South Africa. It publishes accessible research- and expertise-based articles and provides a forum for engagement between research and policy making. We invite contributions from economists and other social science researchers, policy advisors and independent experts.
Hannah McGinty, Emma Whitelaw
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Pippa Green
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Hannah McGinty, Emma Whitelaw
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Thapelo Chauke
With high youth unemployment and poor education outcomes, the informal sector could become a viable alternative for many young people.
Walter Shiba
South Africa is due to host the BRICS+ Agricultural Investment and Trade Summit this year, which may be a significant step towards fostering sustainable agricultural development and enhancing trade relations among BRICS and allied nations. The summit will bring together policymakers, industry leaders, and investors, and specialists to discuss innovative solutions for food security, climate-resilient farming, and the future of agribusiness. By strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation and integrating new partners, the event aims to develop a more collaborative, sustainable, and technologically advanced agricultural sector that can drive economic growth and improve livelihoods in participating countries.
Andrew Donaldson
If tax increases are to be avoided in this year’s revised Budget, there will have to be clear commitments to expenditure adjustments. In this Econ3x3 opinion piece, former Treasury official Andrew Donaldson argues for proactive measures by the Treasury to reduce or curtail spending plans that are not currently subject to effective budgetary oversight
Wandile Sihlobo, Johann Kirsten
Technological improvement is a primary catalyst for the growth of the South African agricultural sector. Thus, it is critical that the country continue to spend money on research and development to its long-term growth. However, in recent years, the country seems to be spending less. This is worrying, especially as the sector faces risks such as the consequences of climate change.
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Editor's Corner
Andrew Donaldson
In this opinion piece on South Africa’s unemployment crisis, Andrew Donaldson argues that while structural reforms are needed to raise growth and broaden development over the longer term, an employment-oriented economic strategy is the central challenge in present times.
Viewed through an elementary growth accounting lens, South Africa’s frontiers of labour-intensive production should be steadily moving out, bringing unemployed human resources into economically useful occupations. We have abundant physical and mental human capabilities searching for work.
However imperfect the adjustment (“tâtonnement”) process, economic theory implies that there should be progress towards full employment, and higher output should flow from the mobilisation of otherwise unutilised capacity. And if markets don’t generate this result, it is a policy coordination function.
It is not that constructive applications are hard to identify. Houses need to be built, roads repaired, food markets expanded, clothing and furniture supplied, safety and security improved, water sources protected, children cared for.
It is not that we lack the know-how or technological capabilities required: these are activities in which knowledge is readily available and there is clear evidence of under-utilised productive capacity. To put unskilled labour to work, we do not need to overcome technological barriers in artificial intelligence, biosciences or big data processing.
It is not that higher production to meet domestic consumption needs might have unsustainable fiscal or balance of payments effects: in horticulture, timber and related products, light manufacturing, and a wide swathe of commercial and hospitality services there are growth opportunities in tradeable goods and tax revenue will flow from expanded activity.
Of course, there are complementarities in the resource combinations required to expand economic activity: engineering skills accompany artisanal capabilities and physical effort on building sites and floor managers oversee the organisation of work in restaurant kitchens and clothing assembly lines.
But the best available theories of skills development suggest that it is the application of learning by “doing” that is the proximate driver of productivity and skills acquisition.