Structural transformation, labour markets, and inequality dynamics

Despite its position as the economic hub of the Southern African region, South Africa has the unenviable position of being the most unequal society in the world. This work stream attempts to understand how historical, social, economic, financial, fiscal, and environmental issues contribute to this inequality.

Researchers will analyze these contributions to deep inequality while looking at the demographic, social, and labour market dynamics that contribute to the persistence of poverty and inequality. Through this work, we aim to provide policymakers with insights and solutions that can strengthen the emerging policy options on reducing poverty and inequality and contributing to inclusive growth.

What data is used for this research?

A new dataset provides previously unavailable administrative tax data which will allow researchers to look more deeply at inequality dynamics, particularly the labour market dynamics that condition it. In Phase II, work stream 3 will continue to develop this novel dataset, augmenting it with additional data sources from other government institutions.

Blog
Sebastian Ssebuyira and Raisibe Gololo
In recent years, UNU-WIDER has partnered with sub-Saharan African governments to establish secure data labs that provide researchers with access to anonymized administrative tax data for economic research. Two notable examples are the Uganda Revenue...
February 2025
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality
Working paper
Faaiqa Hartley and Sherwin Gabriel
The world has faced an increasing number of global shocks that have resulted in large and unpredictable changes in global prices, particularly of food. These increases, coupled with the negative impacts of shocks to economic...
December 2024
Labour market and inequality
Working paper
Ihsaan Bassier and Leila Gautham
We find that women sorting into lower wage firms explains nearly half of the gender wage gap in South Africa, using matched employer-employee panel data covering the universe of formal sector workers. Sorting varies considerably...
December 2024
Labour market and inequality
Working paper
Chandré Jacobs, Amina Ebrahim, Murray Leibbrandt, Jukka Pirttilä, and Marlies Piek
We use individual-level tax administrative data to estimate personal income inequality among the tax-compliant population in South Africa over the period 2011–21. Our results indicate that inequality of this population rose slightly over the period...
SEPTEMBER 2024
Labour market and inequality
Research seminar
2 Aug 2024 / 16:00 to 17:00
Labour market and inequality
Macro-fiscal analysis
On 2 August 2024, SA-TIED research was presented at a Government Technical Advisory Centre seminar that reflected on the state of South Africa's economy, 30 years into democracy. Joshua Budlender, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at...
Working paper
Sanduku Mulumba, Lawrence Edwards and David Fadiran
In this paper, we use the new economic geography (NEG) framework to estimate the extent to which spatial wage disparities in the South African manufacturing sector are an outcome of economic forces such as market...
August 2024
Labour market and inequality
News
SA-TIED
The Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme hosted the SA-TIED, National Treasury Secure Data Facility (NTSDF) data lab roadshow at the North-West University campus in Potchefstroom, South Africa, on 23 July 2024...
July 2024
Enterprise development
Public revenue
Labour market and inequality