<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Research background:</bold> High unemployment rates are one of the greatest economic challenges facing the post-apartheid South African government over the past two decades and this problem has become more worrisome in the post-global financial crisis period.<bold>Purpose:</bold> Our study examines the determinants of unemployment for the South African economy in the post-crisis period over a quarterly frequency period of 2009:Q1 to 2018:Q4. The determinants are examined for four classes of unemployment rates (total, male, female and youth) and we further partition possible unemployment determinants into fiscal, monetary and macroeconomic variables.<bold>Research methodology:</bold> We employ the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) models.<bold>Results:</bold> We find income tax, repo rates, economic growth, trade, investment, household debt and savings to be significant determinants of unemployment in the post-crisis South African economy and yet we note discrepancies of the significance of these determinants amongst different unemployment categories.<bold>Novelty:</bold> No study has examined the determinants of unemployment in South Africa in the post-financial crisis era.</abstract>

Research background: High unemployment rates are one of the greatest economic challenges facing the post-apartheid South African government over the past two decades and this problem has become more worrisome in the post-global financial crisis period.Purpose: Our study examines the determinants of unemployment for the South African economy in the post-crisis period over a quarterly frequency period of 2009:Q1 to 2018:Q4. The determinants are examined for four classes of unemployment rates (total, male, female and youth) and we further partition possible unemployment determinants into fiscal, monetary and macroeconomic variables.Research methodology: We employ the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) models.Results: We find income tax, repo rates, economic growth, trade, investment, household debt and savings to be significant determinants of unemployment in the post-crisis South African economy and yet we note discrepancies of the significance of these determinants amongst different unemployment categories.Novelty: No study has examined the determinants of unemployment in South Africa in the post-financial crisis era.

South African Unemployment in the Post-Financial Crisis Era: What are the Determinants?

Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, Department of Economics

Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Research background: High unemployment rates are one of the greatest economic challenges facing the post-apartheid South African government over the past two...

South African Unemployment in the Post-Financial Crisis Era: What are the Determinants?

Published Online: Jan 29, 2021

Page range: 230 - 248

Received: Sep 12, 2019

Accepted: Oct 03, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foli-2020-0046

Keywords
unemployment, ARDL, financial crisis, South Africa

© 2020 Lutho Mbekeni et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

South African Unemployment in the Post-Financial Crisis Era: What are the Determinants?

Published Online: Jan 29, 2021

Page range: 230 - 248

Received: Sep 12, 2019

Accepted: Oct 03, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/foli-2020-0046

Keywordsunemployment, ARDL, financial crisis, South Africa

© 2020 Lutho Mbekeni et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
unemployment, ARDL, financial crisis, South Africa