Post-pandemic, South Africa’s economy finds itself in a constrained fiscal environment...
Basic page
Home
Latest Announcement
ERSA would like to welcome Professor Manoel Bittencourt as our new Research Director from the beginning of this year. He is also an extraordinary professor of economics at the University of Pretoria and affiliated with the universities of Goettingen, Heidelberg and Oxford. Read more
Upcoming Events
Structural Constraints on the Economcy, Growth and Political Economy Webinar:
- Monday 14 February 2022, Pascual Restrepo (Boston University), 'Pascual Restrepo from Boston University will present 'Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in US Wage Inequality' Register here
Featured Policy Papers
- Publication
Sailing into the Wind: evaluating the (near)future of Monetary Policy in South Africa
This paper evaluates the main challenges facing South African monetary policy. We focus on three main issues: the external environment, the growth potential of the economy and its fiscal balance. The external environment will remain uncertain and volatile and South Africa monetary policy should...Read moreApr 2021
Latest Working Papers
- Publication
Does the uptake of multiple climate smart agriculture practices enhance household savings, food security and household vulnerability to climate change? Insights from Zimbabwe
Climate change and variability poses a significant hindrance on agricultural productivity. The adverse effects are particularly concerning in many African countries that rely more on rainfed subsistence agriculture for livelihood. The promotion of climate smart agriculture technologies as a pathway...Read moreJan 2022 - Publication
Measuring and Testing a Modified Version of the South African Financial Cycle
This study reports on measuring and testing of a Composite Financial Cycle Index (CFCI) as a modified version of a South African Financial Cycle (FC). This is achieved through the adoption of thirteen monthly financial time series indicators observed over the period 2000M1 to 2018M12. In this...Read moreOct 2021 - Publication
Measuring and Testing a Modified Version of the South African Financial Cycle
This study reports on measuring and testing of a Composite Financial Cycle Index (CFCI) as a modified version of a South African Financial Cycle (FC). This is achieved through the adoption of thirteen monthly financial time series indicators observed over the period 2000M1 to 2018M12. In this...Read moreOct 2021 - Publication
Government Religious Preference and Intrastate Conflict
Understanding the causes and consequences of conflicts continues to be an important contribution to the economic development literature, particularly the mechanisms that can reduce civilian deaths. We contribute to understanding attacks on civilians and the spillover effects by analysing the impact...Read moreAug 2021 - Publication
Risk and Return Spillovers in a Global Model of the Foreign Exchange Network
We developed a network model to capture the dynamic interactions among foreign exchange returns and realised risk measures among 20 developed and emerging market currencies, including the rand (ZAR). We demonstrate how this framework can be used to assess the sensitivity of a given currency to...Read moreAug 2021
Featured Policy Bulletin
- Policy bulletin
Policy Bulletin 05: The impact of global FX liquidity on the rand
Read moreThe Covid crisis saw significant declines in market liquidity and calls for central banks to step in. Most research into foreign exchange (FX) liquidity does not consider a large cross-section of emerging market currency pairs...
- Policy bulletin
Policy Bulletin 04: Electricity reforms: Experience and approach
Read moreSouth Africa has been experiencing electricity shortages since 2008. Load shedding is taking place even at the moment, despite a large contraction in economic activity due to the Covid-19 crisis. It is time to reform the electricity market and breakdown Eskom’s vertically integrated monopoly. An...
- Policy bulletin
Policy Bulletin 03: Macroeconomic policy options for a savings constrained economy: the case of South Africa
Read moreEconomic growth requires delivering a credible fiscal consolidation plan that shifts spending towards investment in infrastructure, human capital accumulation and a environmentally sustainable economy. Fiscal policy has to move first, reducing risk...
- Policy bulletin
Policy Bulletin 02: Reflections on Aspects of Public Finance and Fiscal Policy in South Africa
Read moreAfter the COVID-19 crisis is over, South Africa will face a fiscal mountain that looks insurmountable. Many of the problems experienced in the public finances originated outside of the fiscus and have to be addressed at source, neither fiscal discretion, nor fiscal rules or any...
- Policy bulletin
Policy Bulletin 01: A fair price for economic modelling? Transparency Required
Read moreThe principle of transparency is the only way that policy makers can understand the limitations of a model and use its outputs effectively to inform policy. In absence of this transparency, there is no accountability and claims cannot be tested. The first ERSA policy bulletin discusses how to...
Featured Policy Briefs
- Publication
Assessing inflation targeting and its communication
It is less onerous to achieve policy objectives when they are clear, credibly implemented and appropriately communicated, all of which reduces uncertaintyRead moreNov 2019 - Publication
Relating public and private remuneration
The study explores remuneration patterns in South Africa between 2000 and 2017, with a focus on the relationship between public- and private-sector earnings. Although remuneration is likely to increase over time in both sectors, this does not necessarily mean these increases are related to each other.Read moreNov 2019
Latest Conversations
-
Thu, 18 November 2021
-
Fri, 12 November 2021
After our new Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his first Medium Term Budget...
-
Tue, 03 August 2021
An issue often overlooked in many discussions is that of exports and trade in the South African economy. But with a downward trajectory over the past 20 years having indirectly cost our general...
-
Thu, 15 July 2021
At a time when tensions are rising due to growing inequality and unemployment, ERSA’s host...
-
Thu, 24 June 2021
Only three times in the last century has monetary policy been re-evaluated and tested to its limits. This global pandemic has forced many central banks around the world to use non-conventional...
-
Fri, 14 May 2021
It is just over a year since South Africa had to succumb to what was considered one of the most draconian national lockdowns, and as expected, we have noticed a...
-
Mon, 03 May 2021
Have you ever wondered how sensitive the South African Rand is to shocks in other currencies? Instead of debating the relative volatility of the rand or the factors influencing this volatility,...
-
Thu, 29 April 2021
It is not often that a country has an opportunity to allocate windfall government funds. Between the external pressure to stabilize our debt burden after the unexpected pandemic and the internal...
-
Thu, 15 April 2021
-
Thu, 18 March 2021
In our second podcast with Dr Daan Steenkamp, a lead economist at the South African Reserve Bank, we delve further into how nowcasting works and discuss the latest research regarding the suite of...