Enterprise development for job creation and growth

South Africa’s potential growth has fallen over the last 20 years for reasons that are not deeply understood. The work stream on Enterprise development for job creation and growth aims to increase the competitiveness, growth, and job creation of South Africa’s private sector through explorations of newly available firm-level data. This research will examine the many factors which influence firms’ performances, including value chains, whether larger businesses succeed at the expense of smaller businesses, infrastructure, resource availability, research and development, and credit access among many others, but with special attention to how these factors impact job creation and can be impacted by the policy environment.

While continuing to develop the tax administrative database, work stream 1 will also build capacity within South African institutions in the management and use of large micro-datasets for microeconomic research. Specifically, several research papers will be commissioned that rely on large microeconomic datasets to deepen knowledge in this important area, including papers on domestic and global value chains, market power, trade, multinationals, the knowledge economy, and the service sector.

Working paper
C. Friedrich Kreuser, Michael Kilumelume, and Rulof P. Burger
We estimate structural, materials, and labour markups for the South African economy at the three-digit industry level for 2012–19. The fall in structural labour and materials markups found for the numerical majority of industries are...
MAY 2024
Enterprise development
Working paper
Jing Woei Chien, Lawrence Edwards and Ayanda Hlatshwayo
Using highly disaggregated customs-transaction-level data, we study the importer price effects of tariffs in the context of preferential trade agreements for South African imports of frozen bone-in chicken. We focus first on the firm-level impact...
March 2024
Enterprise development
Working paper
Joshua Budlender and Ihsaan Bassier
Faced with more favourable demand conditions, many firms raise wages. However, we show that firms with labour market power, lower productivity, and binding wage floors will absorb these positive revenue productivity shocks as excess profits...
November 2023
Enterprise development
News
SA-TIED
SA-TIED marked a significant milestone on 13 October 2023, by hosting an inaugural National Treasury Secure Data Facility (NTSDF) data lab roadshow at the University of Pretoria . The event featured a presentation by the...
October 2023
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation
Technical workshop
19 Apr 2023 / 10:00 to 20 Apr 2023 / 17:30
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Date: 19 and 20 April 2023 Time: 09:00–16:30 GMT +2 Location: Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton On the 19th and 20th of April 2023, SA-TIED will host a Work-in-progress author workshop for workstreams 1-3. This...
Working paper
Ewa Karwowski, Hanna Szymborska, Keagile Lesame, and Tlhologelo Thoka
Globally, corporate cash holdings have risen since the 1980s. In South Africa, some commentators have accused corporations of engaging in an ‘investment strike’, while others see corporate liquidity as a precaution against systemic uncertainty. We...
August 2022
Enterprise development
News
SA-TIED
To showcase key lessons from SA-TIED phase I, the programme produced a series of eight videos that feature the major accomplishments from each of the six work streams and the data lab. Watch all eight...
February 2022
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
Climate and energy
Reform implementation
Phase 1 regional growth
Working paper
Michael Kilumelume, Bruno Morando, Carol Newman, and John Rand
Extractive industries form an important part of the economy for many developing countries, but their impact on growth and welfare remains understudied. With global efforts to transition to net-zero carbon emissions in the coming decades...
February 2022
Enterprise development
Report
SA-TIED
This report is a summary of the SA-TIED programme’s major research contributions to the policy environment. These contributions are not policy proposals, but are meant to inform the policymaking process and fill important gaps in...
January 2022
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Macro-fiscal analysis
Labour market and inequality
Climate and energy
Phase 1 regional growth
Working paper
Michael Kilumelume, Bruno Morando, Carol Newman, and John Rand
An often-neglected potential negative consequence of tariffs is the impact they may have on the misallocation of factor inputs. Trade protection can provide space for domestic firms to increase prices and mark-ups, allowing low-productivity firms...
December 2021
Enterprise development
Working paper
Amina Ebrahim, C. Friedrich Kreuser, and Michael Kilumelume
This paper presents version 4.0 of the CIT-IRP5 firm-level panel dataset. Version 4.0 is the latest edition of the firm-level component of the combined administrative data using sources from the South African Revenue Service. We...
December 2021
Enterprise development