Resource Intensity, Knowledge and Development: insights from Africa and Latin America
Minerals economies often struggle to diversify their industrial base. Lorenzten considers opportunities for industrial diversification stimulated in resource based industries. This know-how can then migrate laterally to other industrial uses. The resource-based technology clusters programme of the Human Sciences Research Council and Mintek proposed that this could be an important way for minerals economies to…
read more >>Exchange Rate and Employment: The Experience of Fast-Growing Economies
This paper forms part of an Human Sciences Research Council project on exchange rates and employment, which seeks to understand the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on employment in South Africa. Ngandu examines the exchange rate policies of countries that achieved rapid, labour-absorbing growth. While exchange rates are only one instrument in an employment and…
read more >>A Review of Labour Markets in South Africa: how Different is the South African Labour Market? International Perspectives and Parallels
Half a century of apartheid left a deep imprint on all aspects of the South African labour market. In many ways, this leaves the country as a ‘special case’ in the field of labour market analysis, with large gaps in human development, significant underutilisation of the labour force, and difficult tensions in industrial relations. But…
read more >>Innovation in Resource-Based Technology Clusters: Investigating the Lateral Migration Thesis – The development of a sugar-based plastic in Brazil
Velho & Velho offer a case study from Brazil on the lateral migration of technology from resource industries. It is about an industrial plant to manufacture biodegradable plastic from sugar. This development is closely associated with the long term activity of sugar and alcohol production in Brazil, which is based on the natural endowments of…
read more >>Innovation in Resource-Based Technology Clusters: Investigating the Lateral Migration Thesis
Lorenzten considers opportunities for industrial diversification stimulated in resource based industries. This paper contributed to a joint programme of the Human Sciences Research Council and Mintek to explore innovation aimed at addressing the requirements of a country’s resource industries. This know-how can then migrate laterally to other industrial uses. The resource-based technology clusters programme of…
read more >>International Policy Response of Developing Countries to the Global Economic Crisis
“The impact of the 2008 financial crisis on emerging markets like South Africa has been quite different from its impact on developed economies, and so too have been the responses to the crisis. This paper presents an overview of the policy responses employed to counter the effects of the crisis in Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico and…
read more >>Taking Off Into Sustained, Equitable Growth:Lessons From Successes And Failures
Berry offers an extensive set of case studies of economies that achieved sustained high growth. Chapter 1 discusses issues surrounding growth acceleration and current challenge for underperforming developing countries and the empirical record: evidence from countries that have accelerated to high sustained growth. Chapter 2 discusses the experience of Singapore and development strategy/policy prior to…
read more >>Thoughts on Employment Typologies
Mineral (and other natural resource) exports promote development and employment, as long as the rents are used wisely and undesirable macroeconomic effects are avoided. However, many countries have failed to achieve this. Mineral rents are often wasted, either through corruption and theft or through inefficiencies and rent-seeking by private and public agents. Too often the…
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