Agricultural Trade and Employment in South Africa

Ron Sandrey, Cecilia Punt, Hans Jensen () and Nick Vink
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Ron Sandrey: National Agricultural Marketing Council

No 130, OECD Trade Policy Papers from OECD Publishing

Abstract: This report provides an overview of policy changes in South African agriculture over the past three decades, and of some of the associated impacts on output, trade patterns and employment. In agriculture, the story is one of widespread substitution of labour for capital. While the sector has shed more than a million jobs over the past four decades, the paper highlights its continuing role as an employment creator in rural areas, albeit mainly in low-wage occupations. As for its principal analytical contribution, this paper considers future trade liberalisation in the agricultural sector. Using two different economic models, we find a remarkably consistent pattern whereby agricultural trade liberalisation in the region is predicted to increase agricultural employment.

Keywords: employment; inclusive growth; trade; wages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-10-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr, nep-int and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oec:traaab:130-en

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