South Africa's Export Predicament

52 Pages Posted: 5 Nov 2006

See all articles by Ricardo Hausmann

Ricardo Hausmann

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Bailey Klinger

Center for International Development

Date Written: September 2006

Abstract

This paper explores export performance in South Africa over the past 50 years, and concludes that a lagging process of structural transformation is part of the explanation for stagnant exports per capita. Slow structural transformation in South Africa is found to be a consequence of the peripheral nature of South Africa's productive capabilities. We apply new tools to evaluate South Africa's future prospects for structural transformation, as well as to explore the sectoral priorities of the DTI's draft industrial strategy. We then discuss policy conclusions, advocating an 'open-architecture' industrial policy where the methods applied herein are but one tool to screen private sector requests for sector-specific coordination and public goods. [Jointly published as Center for International Development Working Paper No. 129 and KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP06-040.]

Keywords: South Africa, Structural Transformation, Economics - Economic and Econometric Theory, Economics - International Economics, Economics - Macroeconomics, Economics - Microeconomics, International Affairs/Globalization, International Development, International Trade and Finance

JEL Classification: 055, F19, O14, O33, O40

Suggested Citation

Hausmann, Ricardo and Klinger, Bailey, South Africa's Export Predicament (September 2006). KSG Working Paper No. RWP06-040, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=939650 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.939650

Ricardo Hausmann (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Mailbox 34
Cambridge, MA 02138
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HOME PAGE: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/about/faculty-staff-directory/ricardo-hausmann

Bailey Klinger

Center for International Development ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-495-1717 (Phone)
617-496-8753 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://bwklinger.googlepages.com

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