Welcome to ERSA

Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) is a research programme which is being funded by the National Treasury of South Africa.

Africa by night

Latest Publications

Life satisfaction and education in South Africa: Investigating the role of attainment and the likelihood of education as a positional good by Ferdi Botha
This paper explores various dynamics in the relationship between life satisfaction and education in South Africa using the 2008 National Income Dynamics Survey.
Achieving Higher Growth and Employment: Policy options for South Africa by David Faulkner, Christopher Loewald and Konstantin Makrelov
Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, the paper provides some direction on the areas of policy reform that could generate strong growth, employment and poverty reduction in South Africa.
Effects of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Education on Conflict Intensity in Africa by Julius A Agbor
This study investigates the impact of different dimensions of schooling education (primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment) on the intensity of intra-state conflicts in Africa during 1989-2008. It uses fixed-effects regressions in a panel framework and annual data for 25 African countries.
Debt Relief under the HIPC Initiative: Why Some Countries Complete the Programme Faster Than Others by William Akoto
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative has been one of the primary avenues for delivering debt relief to developing countries in the past decade.
Concentration Measures as an element in testing the structure-conduct-performance paradigm by Johann du Pisanie
The original structure-conduct-performance (SCP) paradigm, according to which market structure determines market conduct and market conduct determines market performance, underlies numerous competition policies.

Latest News

ERSA Scholarships Awardees 2013

Congratulations to the ERSA Scholarship Awardees, 2013

ERSA Economic Prizes

Economic Research Southern Africa is pleased to continue the annual awarding of monetary prizes to the best Economics students in Southern Africa.

For more information on this initiative please see this page.

Workshops

Financial Globalisation and Sustainable Finance: Implications for Policy and Practice
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 to Friday, May 31, 2013
ERSA is pleased to announce the sponsorship of 10 South African delegates whose papers are accepted for presentation at the above mentioned conference, details attached.
Workshop location: Cape Town, South Africa
Third Annual Monetary Economics Workshop: "The Future of Monetary Policy"
Thursday, August 29, 2013 to Friday, August 30, 2013
29th and 30th of August 2013
Workshop location: South African Reserve Bank, Pretoria

Latest Journal Publications

What Drives Corruption? Evidence from North African Firms by Clara Delavallade
2013, Journal of African Economies (http://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/4/499.full.pdf+html?sid=6568cb6f-37bb-4...)
This paper empirically analyzes the main microeconomic determinants of two forms of corruption supply, administrative corruption and state capture, by Maghrebi firms. This study is based on a new database of nearly 600 Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian firms.
Trade Shocks from BRIC to South Africa: A Global VAR Analysis by Mustafa Yavuz Çakir and Alain Kabundi
Economic Modelling, 32 (2013) 190 - 202 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2013.02.010)
This paper studies the trade linkages between South Africa and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries.
A parsimonious model of subjective life expectancy by Alexander Ludwig and Alexander Zimper
Theory and Decision, 2013 (http://www.springer.com/alert/urltracking.do?id=Lf5f27cMbb2a24Sb07109c)
This paper develops a theoretical model for the formation of subjective beliefs on individual survival expectations.
Time-Varying Parameter in the Almost Ideal Demand System and the Rotterdam Model: Will the Best Specification Please Stand Up? by William A. Barnett and Isaac Kalonda-Kanyama
Applied Economics, 2013 (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00036846.2013.768014)
This paper assesses the ability of the Rotterdam model and of three versions of the almost ideal demand system (AIDS) to recover the time-varying elasticities of a true demand system and to satisfy theoretical regularity.
Islamic Economics: Still in Search of an Identity by Abdulkader Cassim Mahomedy
International Journal of Social Economics, 2013 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03068291311321857)
The last few decades have seen a phenomenal growth of the emerging discipline of Islamic Economics and Finance. In this paper I trace the origins and birth of this nascent science examining the various factors that gave impetus to its emergence and development.