Employment, Wages and Skills Development: Firm Specific Effects - Evidence from Two Firm Surveys in South Africa

Haroon Bhorat and Paul Lundall ()
Additional contact information
Paul Lundall: Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town

Working Papers from University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit

Abstract: The paper explores the inter and intra firm dynamics that are instrumental in shaping the determination of skills training within the South African labour market. The essential starting point is to show that the size of the enterprise and nature of the economic sector in which these enterprises operate, sets conditions on the regimes of enterprise training and skills development. While contesting the notion that there is inevitability in the outcome of these processes, the paper compels us to explore the reasons for it taking place in the present South African milieu. And this enables us to analyse the dynamic evolution of contractual obligations that are built on insecure and temporal employment relations. Consequently, the detour via the structural and organisation dynamics that are embedded within firms enables us to recognise the important role which training can command in promoting greater efficiencies within South African firms and halting the deleterious effects of insecurity and low productivity. The analysis leads us to the conclusion that training ultimately makes good business sense and more so if these sentiments are demonstrated and transmitted through active public policy.

Keywords: South; Africa:; regimes; of; enterprise; training; and; skills; development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 51 pages
Date: 2002-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Working Paper Series by the Development Policy Research Unit, June 2002, pages 1-51

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7199 First version, 2002 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctw:wpaper:02068

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Waseema Petersen ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).