Economic growth in South Africa : a Kaldorian approach.
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Date
2003
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Abstract
Professor Lord Nicholas Kaldor (1908 - 1986) made original and important contributions to the theory of the firm, to Keynesian economics, to growth and distribution theory, to equilibrium economics, and to thinking about domestic and international economic policy. However, the emphasis of this thesis is Kaldor's contribution to growth and distribution theory namely, Kaldor's three laws of growth, and the application thereof to the South African economy. According to Kaldor (1966) the industrial sector, manufacturing in particular, is deemed to be the engine of growth and is generally referred to as Kaldor's engine of growth hypothesis. Kaldor's first law states that there is a strong positive correlation between the growth of manufacturing output and the growth of overall GDP. The second law states that there is a strong positive correlation between the growth of manufacturing output and the growth of productivity in the manufacturing sector. The third law states that there is a strong positive correlation between the growth of manufacturing output and the growth of productivity outside of the manufacturing sector or in the non-manufacturing sector. The general finding of this thesis is supportive of the Kaldorian approach to economic growth in South Africa. Hence, the manufacturing sector is an engine of growth in the South African economy. Given the importance of the manufacturing sector, and future economic growth in South Africa, investment and policy formulation should be increasingly geared towards promoting this sector.
Description
Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.
Keywords
South Africa--Economic conditions., Theses--Economics.