An investigation of the labour market determinants of income dynamics for a highly unequal society: The South African case
| dc.contributor.advisor | Burger, Rulof | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Malindi, Kholekile Nicholas | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.other | Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Economics. | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-02-28T08:10:04Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-04-17T08:17:00Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-02-28T08:10:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-04-17T08:17:00Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-04 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2019. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ENGLISH SUMMARY : South Africa ranks as the country with the highest income inequality in the world. Inequality of labour market outcomes drives most of this inequality. Labour market success (or failure) is a crucial determinant of where an individual or household is positioned on the income distribution. Furthermore, labour market outcomes in South Africa are characterised by a strong racial and gender hierarchy. Black women are on many levels the most disadvantaged with the lowest average earnings, highest unemployment, lower level of skill attainment, etc. They are consequently located at the bottom of this hierarchy regarding labour market outcomes. White men, on the other hand, are the most advantaged and are thus located at the top of this hierarchy. Differences in labour market outcomes in South Africa have spawned a large body of literature that identifies pre-labour and labour market differences in the accumulation of and returns to human capital as the key determinants of labour market inequality. A smaller strand of the literature points to labour market discrimination and barriers to entry into wage employment as contributing factors to the inequality of labour market outcomes in South Africa. This dissertation contributes to both strands of the literature. It contributes to the first strand of the literature by investigating the two critical components of the dynamic structure of wages. This includes the wage returns to labour market experience and job tenure for different demographic groups. On-the-job training as a means of human capital investment and a source of inequality is mostly ignored in the South African literature on differences in labour market outcomes. The dissertation adds theoretical and empirical evidence of the importance of information asymmetry and statistical discrimination in the barriers to entry and labour market discrimination literature, respectively. The empirical evidence presented in this dissertation is based on rigorous implementation and adaption of micro-econometric techniques to a nationally representative household South African panel dataset. The overall result points to better labour market outcomes for black workers regarding higher wage growth. This is due to the accumulation of on-the-job training and subsequent resolving of uncertainty regarding their expected productivity. This result is contrary to the stereotypical racial and gender hierarchy that sees black workers having inferior labour market outcomes. Additionally, this motivates the observed decline in inter-racial income inequality and the rise in intra-racial income inequality, especially amongst the black population. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Suid-Afrika word beskou as die land met die hoogste inkomste-ongelykheid ter wêreld. Meeste van hierdie ongelykheid word deur ongelykheid in terme van uitkomste in die arbeidsmark gedryf. Sukses (of mislukking) in die arbeidsmark is ’n sleutel determinant van waar ’n individueel of huishouding in die inkomste verspreiding geplaas word. Daarbenewens, word arbeidsmark uitkomste deur sterk ras- en geslag hiërargies gekenmerk. Swart vroumense is op baie vlakke die meeste benadeel (met die laagste gemiddelde inkomstes, hoogste werkloosheid, en die laagste verkryging-van-vaardighede vlakke), en is dus aan die laagste end van hierdie hiërargie in terme van arbeidsmark uitkomste. Blanke mans, aan die ander kant, is die meeste bevoordeel en is dus aan die boonste end van hierdie hiërargie. Verskille in arbeidsmark uitkomste in Suid-Afrika het ’n groot liggaam literatuur geïnspireer wat verskille in die akkumulasie en opbrengs van menslike kapitaal (voor- en binne die arbeidsmark) as die sleutel determinante van arbeidsmark-ongelykheid identifiseer. ’n Kleiner deel van die literatuur wys na arbeidsmark diskriminasie en hindernesse tot toetrede as faktore wat bydra tot ongelykheid van arbeidsmark uitkomste in Suid-Afrika. Hierdie dissertasie dra by tot beide dele van die literatuur. Dit dra by tot die eerste deel van die literatuur deur die ondersoek van die twee sleutel komponente van die dinamiese struktuur van lone – die loonopbrengs verbonde aan arbeidsmark ondervinding en posbekleding vir verskillende demografiese groepe. Op-die-werk opleiding as ’n vorm van menslike kapitaal investering en as ’n bron van ongelykheid is grotendeels in die Suid-Afrikaanse literatuur oor verskille in arbeidsmark uitkomste geïgnoreer. Die dissertasie dra teoretiese en empiriese bewyse by oor die belangrikheid van inligting asimmetrie en statistiese diskriminasie in die hindernisse tot toetrede- en arbeidsmark diskriminasie literatuur. Die empiriese bewyse wat in hierdie dissertasie aangebied word, is gebaseer op streng implementasie en aanpassing van mikro-ekonometriese tegnieke op ’n nasionaal–verteenwoordigende Suid-Afrikaanse stel paneeldata op die huishoudelike vlak. Die algehele resultaat wys na beter arbeidsmark uitkomste vir swart werkers in terme van hoër loongroei, as gevolg van akkumulasie van op-die-werk opleiding en opeenvolgende oplossing van onsekerheid rondom hul verwagte produktiwiteit. Hierdie resultaat is in teenstelling met die stereotipiese ras- en geslagshiërargie waar swart werkers minderwaardige arbeidsmark uitkomste ervaar. Daarbenewens, gee dit ’n motivering vir die waargeneemde afname in inter-ras inkomste ongelykheid en toename in intra-ras inkomste ongelykheid, veral onder die swart bevolking. | af_ZA |
| dc.format.extent | 160 pages ; illustrations | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/105880 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University | |
| dc.rights.holder | Stellenbosch University | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Labor market -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Income distribution -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Labor supply -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Discrimination in employment -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | UCTD | |
| dc.title | An investigation of the labour market determinants of income dynamics for a highly unequal society: The South African case | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Doctorate | en_ZA |