Jan Horn Van Heerden, Jonathan Mark Horridge, David Suarez-Cuesta
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
During a lively debate between Haroon Bhorat and Michael Sachs at the University of Pretoria recently, Bhorat pleaded for supply-side measures to alleviate poverty in South Africa, rather than demand-side measures. (The debate took place during a session at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences' Inaugural Research Day on 8 September, 2023).Bhorat claimed that the SRD grants could not secure a solution to unemployment in a sustainable manner. In this paper, we use the UPGEM Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the University of Pretoria to test the performance of wage subsidies in South Africa, in comparison to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants of the same expenditure magnitude, and report on the differences between the two policy measures in terms of (i) unemployment alleviation, (ii) poverty alleviation and (iii) economic impact in general.
期刊介绍:
The South African Journal of Economics (SAJE) has a long and distinguished history, ranking amongst the oldest generalist journals in economics. In terms of editorial focus, the journal remains a generalist journal covering all fields in economics, but with a particular focus on developmental and African contexts. Toward this end, the editorial policy of the SAJE emphasizes scholarly work on developing countries, with African and Southern African development challenges receiving particular attention. While the SAJE remains a generalist journal, it encourages empirical work on developing and African economies. Importantly the focus is on both theoretical developments and methodological innovations that reflect developing country and African contexts and the policy challenges they pose. The objective of the journal is to be the premier vehicle for the publication of the most innovative work on development country and particularly African economic problems. It aims to be the target journal of choice not only for scholars located in Southern Africa, but of any scholar interested in the analysis of development challenges and their African applications. Clear theoretical foundations to work published should be a hallmark of the journal, and innovation in both theory and empirics appropriate to developing country and the African contexts are encouraged. In terms of submissions, the journal invites submissions primarily of original research articles, as well as survey articles and book reviews relevant to its context. In the case of both survey articles and book reviews, authors should note that a key minimum requirement is a critical reflection on the broader context of the existing literature.