Welcome

We are one of the oldest Economics departments on the continent and one of the largest in the university. We are dedicated to quality research and teaching, with a focus on economic issues pertaining to South Africa and Africa. For any information not on this site, please contact the [protected email address] .

The Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University turned a hundred years old in 2020. Visit the centenary website to travel through a hundred years of history with us, and for more information on the celebratory activities.

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Stellenbosch Students Win ESSA Founder's Medal Prizes

Two of the Department's students won the 2023 Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA) Founder's Medal's in their respective categories. The intention of the awards is to give national recognition to economic research of outstanding merit among South African Economics students. The winning students were both supervised by Prof Dieter von Fintel (pictured below with Kate Rich).

Johannes Coetsee won the prize for the best Master's Research Paper, with his paper "Inequality between whom? Geography, reference groups and protest incidence in South Africa". In this work, he investigates new aspects of the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and protest action in South Africa, such as whether people care most about the inequality they can observe in their close proximity (such as the electoral ward where they live), or whether they are also concerned about inequality further afield, and what role social media plays in this regard. Using machine learning and self-developed measure of local inequality, he confirms the main hypothesis that South African protest is increasingly responding to inequalities beyond the "local", particularly in the period after the advent of social media.

Kate Rich (recently appointed as a lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand) won the prize for the best Doctoral Thesis, entitled "Socioeconomic status, economic insecurity and the obesity transition in South Africa: generational and life course aspects". Motivated by the significant public health concerns related to very high obesity rates in South Africa, she used public domain longitudinal data to document South Africa’s progression along the obesity transition, with a particular focus on heterogeneity across generations and socioeconomic circumstance. In the first of three papers constituting the thesis, she investigates the relationship between socioeconomic status and obesity, documenting two important trends: Firstly, upward socioeconomic mobility gives initially poor households new access to energy dense foods that increase body mass, and secondly that this trend reverses with further gains in income, but only after after two generations of high socioeconomic status and sustained wealth creation, emphasising that a substantial public health challenge remains. Her second and third papers consider additional factors such as how these changes relate to historical policies such as restrictions on movement, the role of rural to urban migration, and the role of economic insecurity and body mass fluctuations. The thesis makes several important technical advances in data science, econometrics and public health economics.

SU Honorary Doctorate Recipient and Research Collaborator Awarded 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics

We congratulate Prof James Robinson, who has worked with members of the Department of Economics, and who have been awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Stellenbosch University earlier this year, on being a co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics.

Click here to read an article about this on the University's news blog.

Professor prize-winner in PSG/ERSA BigThink Competition

Johan Fourie was runner-up in the inaugural PSG/ERSA BigThink Competition. Tasked to write an essay to generate inclusive growth, Fourie turned to his field of expertise, economic history, with the essay 'Faster, stronger, together: How knowledge of our past can help us build a prosperous South Africa that works for everyone'. A shortened version is available here or on his blog, Our Long Walk.

Remembering Dr Tito Mboweni: Honorary Professor and Economic Leader

The Department of Economics notes with sadness the passing of Dr Tito Mboweni, Honorary Professor and former Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. Dr Mboweni made significant contributions to South Africa's economic policy, and his connection with the department spanned many years. His deep connection with Stellenbosch was evident not only through his honorary professorship but also through his frequent and engaging talks at our Department. He regularly shared his experience with our students, offering valuable insights into the country's economic landscape.

Dr Mboweni's career, from Minister of Labour to Minister of Finance, was marked by key reforms that shaped South Africa's fiscal and monetary systems. As Governor of the Reserve Bank, he modernised the approach to monetary policy, and his leadership during his time as Minister of Finance influenced several important economic decisions.

We extend our condolences to Dr Mboweni's family and colleagues. His legacy will endure through the policies he shaped and the many students and staff who benefited from his knowledge and experience.

Inaugural lecture: Prof Rulof Burger

Prof Rulof Burger from the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences delivered his inaugural lecture on Tuesday, 7 May 2024. The title of his lecture was “From data to discovery: the role of economists in the era of machine learning".

Click here for more on Prof Burger's and his work.

Fourth Annual Pretoria-Stellenbosch PhD Workshop in Economics

The fourth annual Pretoria-Stellenbosch PhD Workshop in Economics took place on 9 July 2024 at the University of Pretoria. Ten PhD students and postdocs from universities across the country presented their research, including a number of students from the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University. The workshop was organised by Jesse Naidoo (UP), Mamello Nchake (SU) and Marisa von Fintel (SU).

The presentations spanned a range of topics in health economics, education, trade, and labour economics, amongst others. Each student participant was paired with a discussant within their field who gave detailed feedback and comments on their research. The discussants were from universities in the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa This feedback, as well as the lively discussions between participants during the day, was highlighted by student participants as being especially valuable in providing new impetus and motivation for improving their research.

The students from Stellenbosch participating were Wihan Marais (Gravity and Cross-Border Influence: The Importance of Distance in Mobile Telecommunications), Bianca Bohmer (Covid-19 and Inequality in Reading Outcomes in South Africa: PIRLS 2016 and 2021), Valentine Madzudzo (Local Conflict Exposure and Gender Employment Outcomes in eThekwini and Gauteng), Cecilia Njoroge (Decentralisation, Ethnic Favouritism and Water Service Provision: Evidence from Kenya) and Timothy Ngalande (Race-Biased Technological Progress and Growth in 20th-Century Industrial South Africa).

Top 100 Dutch University awards honorary professorship to SU Dean Prof Ingrid Woolard

Ingrid Woolard, Professor in the Department of Economics and Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) was recently awarded an honorary professorship from the University of Groningen (UG) in the Netherlands.

Read the full article on the university's news blog here.

Research Revival: Intervarsity Postgraduate Research Conference 2024

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the three Western Cape Universities, namely Stellenbosch University (SU), The University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the University of Cape Town (UCT), brought postgraduate students together to showcase their Economics research. Stellenbosch hosted the conference, which was organized by two staff members from the Department of Economics, Michael J. Meyer and Kholekile Malindi. Attendance was impressive, with 140 delegates attending from the three universities, and participation was enthusiastic in terms of questions and discussions between presentations. Sessions were also chaired by students themselves.

The conference is intended to develop students' skills to communicate their research and respond to critical questioning, as well as foster collaborative relationships beyond their own institutions, which are vital for promoting research impact and furthering the careers of young researchers. This essential significance of effective communication skills in articulating research ideas, connecting with peers who share common research interests, and networking to obtain feedback from the regional community were underscored in a captivating keynote address by Professor Ada Jansen, the Departmental Chair of Economics at Stellenbosch University.

The topics in the presentations covered many diverse fields within economics. For a list of the presentations, click below.

Professors Leonard Wantchekon and James Robinson awarded honorary doctorates

Stellenbosch University awarded honorary Doctor of Commerce degrees to economic experts Professors Leonard Wantchekon and James Robinson during its March 2024 graduation ceremonies for their contributions to economics and academic collaboration in the global south, particularly Africa.

Wantchekon, a Princeton University professor recognized for his work in political economy, development economics, and economic history, expressed his commitment to enhancing academic institutions in Africa. He founded the African School of Economics in Benin to support emerging African economists and policymakers.

Robinson, associated with the University of Chicago, was honored for his research in quantitative economic history in South Africa and his involvement in projects focusing on women's political participation in sub-Saharan Africa. He emphasized the importance of his partnership with SU and his efforts to integrate PhD students into the university's innovative research initiatives.

Prof Dieter von Fintel shares insights about people, place and development at inaugural lecture

(From left: Prof Ada Jansen, Prof Stan du Plessis, Prof Dieter von Fintel, Prof Ingrid Woolard, Prof Pieter von Wielligh)

Another professorial inaugural event in the Department of Economics took place last week. At this event, it was time to honour prof Dieter von Fintel's research career and appointment as professor. His address to colleagues and guests brought together a huge number of interesting findings from his extensive and diverse research including numerous collaborations with students and academics both local and from around the world.

The topics reflected his specialisation as an econometrician, thus focusing on the use of empirical data to answer deep questions about -- as he delineated it -- people, places and development. He looked at questions like the effects of very early childhood and intergenerational transmission mechanisms affecting economic outcomes in later life, inequality, minimum wages, affirmative action, migration, institutions and many others. A pervasive and very difficult recurrent question is whether seemingly entrenched trends with deep historical roots can be reversed, a question of obvious and vital importance to the development of South Africa.

Prof Von Fintel shared thoughtful insights along the way reflecting his approach to Economics, including the values of honesty, humility, depth and rigour in research. In his words, "we need to acknowledge that there is a lot we don’t know, and that our systems are terribly imperfect to solve humanity’s pressing problems, even if we have made substantial progress at reducing poverty. Our systems fail and ideology cannot cure us of our (in)humanity. My hope is for a world less polarised, more fact-based and more human."

You can view the inaugural address online (click here).

Click here for more information on Prof von Fintel on the university news blog.

Prof Ada Jansen: South Africa can still improve its revenue-raising capabilities

(Picture: Profs Estian Calitz, Stan du Plessis, Ada Jansen, Nico Koopman, Ingrid Woolard and Michael Graham)

Prof Ada Jansen, chair of the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, recently delivered her inaugural professorial address to an audience of academics and guests at a function celebrating this important academic milestone. The topic of her address was "Tax revenue and development in South Africa: two sides of the same coin?"

Prof Jansen reiterated the important link between adequate fiscal resources for government to achieve essential developmental objectives including reduction in inequality and poverty, good health services and quality education, before asking whether South Africa, despite its favourable tax collection performance, is raising revenues as efficiently as possible. This question is especially pertinent given the current unfavourable economic and fiscal outlook. The answer is that there are still important gaps that can be addressed that could boost revenue without necessarily increasing tax rates. She continued by discussing policy reform options such as reducing or eliminating tax expenditures that that do not generate plausible social benefits (arguing for a comprehensive reconsideration of the merits of tax incentives), altering the tax treatment of retirement fund contributions, reconsidering VAT zero-rating and further improvements in tax administration.

An important caveat is that revenue reforms unaccompanied by appropriate choices on the expenditure side of the state’s budget, coupled with the institutional and administrative capacity to execute them, is unlikely to promote development effectively. In conclusion, Prof Jansen referenced preliminary research results from a behavioural perspective suggesting that willingness to contribute is not lacking, which bodes well for the future.

Click here to read more about Prof Ada Jansen on the University's news blog

Stellenbosch Hosts Third Pretoria-Stellenbosch PhD Workshop in Economics

Thamsanqa Nhlapo (University of Pretoria) presenting his paper “Minerals, Sectoral Linkages and Structural Transformation in a Small Open Economy”.

A very successful PhD Economics workshop, the third in a series organized jointly by the Departments of Economics at Pretoria and Stellenbosch, was recently hosted by Stellenbosch University on its campus.

The workshop managed to attract close to 30 paper submissions by PhD students and postdocs from universities across the country, of which eight were accepted for the workshop programme. Papers were presented on topics ranging from health economics, macroeconomics, finance to labour economics. (Click here to download the programme.)

Prof Rachel Jafta discusses AI in the World of Business

Prof Rachel Jafta will be a panellist on a forum that discusses the transformative power of artificial intelligence in the World of Business. See below the invitation to join the discussion.

Dr Nchake a panelist on Leader's Angle

The current situation in South Africa feels more and more like the 1980s: growing social division, high levels of tension and violence, even claims of terrorism and calls for a state of emergency. And undoubtedly, the situation of the poor has not changed commensurately with the promises of our new Constitution.

As we look forward to Freedom Day on the 27th of April and Workers Day on the 1st of May, the question becomes: “Is there still room to navigate an economic transition without ever-increasing destructive conflict and violence? And if so, how?”

As in the 1980s, we can probably predict that simply hoping government will change is an insufficient strategy, and that the rest of us will have to commit to an active role in collaborative action...

Book now to join the Leader’s Angle Series event where Prof Brian Ganson will lead a discussion with esteemed speakers Mr Jay Naidoo, Dr Theuns Eloff, Mrs Lesego Serolong Holzapfel and Dr Mamello Nchake that explores solutions towards peaceful economic transformation in South Africa.

Christian Franken awarded 2nd place in Budget Speech Competition

Once again, a student in the Department did very well in the Nedbank and Old Mutual Budget Speech Competition. Christian Franken, who completed an Honours degree in Economics last year, was awarded the first runner-up place in the postgraduate category of the 2022 competition. Franken won this achievement for his essay entry on the topic, "Evaluate the impact of public infrastructure investment on economic growth based on South Africa’s post-2000 experience. Discuss the impact of this on the prospects for economic growth in the medium term."

Asked about his achievement, Franken expressed pride and indicated that the competition was fierce, with a lot of exceptional young economists competing. As part of the process, finalists got to meet executives and senior-level managers at Nedbank and Old Mutual, as well as the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana at a gala dinner and Franken also indicated the great value in meeting and interacting with the other finalists. Thanks are due to Hylton Hollander from the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University for motivation, giving tips and making the experience "less daunting and genuinely enjoyable".

Awards ceremony recognizes top performers

The department hosted its annual Welcoming and Prize-giving function on Wednesday 1 March 2023 to welcome our new intake of postgraduate students and to award prizes to the top performing Economics students in the 2022 academic year. We are very grateful to Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) and Genesis Analytics for also sponsoring prizes. Craig Lemboe, Senior Researcher from the Bureau of Economic Research and alumnus (and prospective PhD student) from the Department of Economics was the guest speaker at the event. He gave a very inspiring talk about his journey as economist and left the audience with some very valuable food for thought.

Willem Boshoff considers whether competition policy still serves consumers' needs

On World Consumer Day, Prof Willem Boshoff reflects on competition policy and its effectiveness in the face of multiple objectives not necessarily focused on the wellbeing of consumers.

Click here to read the article on Business Day.

Prof Willem Boshoff's inaugural lecture: Competition policy in South Africa

​Prof Willem Boshoff, Co-Director of the Centre for Competition Law and Economics in the Department of Economics at Stellenbosch University, recently delivered his inaugural lecture titled “Not at the races: Competition and competition policy in South Africa".

As one of the foremost experts in industrial organization and competition policy, and having been involved as consultant in numerous cases before the competition authorities, Prof Boshoff is a unique position to give an up-to-date, practical and thoughtful perspective. In the inaugural lecture, he argued a number of simple but far-reaching points, firstly that competition is critical to economic growth, but also that competition is not something that can easily be measured by simple proxies such as firm size (which itself is difficult to guage) and associated concentration levels. Instead, what really matters is whether consumers have effective alternative options to choose from, thus indicating that a thorough understanding of the relevant market in which a firm operates is vital to understanding effective competition in each market. Another important point is that effecive competition, thus measured, is very often reduced in markets characterised by government intervention (or outright monopolization). Appropriately focused competition policy is therefore key to supporting an acceleration in investment and growth in the country.

Prof Boshoff has been a lecturer in the Department since 2006. A short interview in connection with the inaugural lecture has been published on the University's news blog.

Sampie Terreblanche's documents now online

A new website – www.sampieterreblanche.org – now provides access to many of the late professor Sampie Terreblanche's documents. The prolific writings of prof Terreblanche, a legendary professor of Economics in the department who died on 17 February, has now been electronically preserved thanks to the efforts of his family and the department. The website includes links to media articles, books and hundreds of his unpublished monographs. More items will also be added over the next few months, including class notes and photographs. Plans for a bursary in his name are also in the final stages of development.

Centre for Competition Law and Economics

The newly established Centre for Competition Law and Economics within the Department of Economics has recently launched its own website - click here to visit it.

Why you need to do a postgraduate degree in Economics at Stellenbosch University

Current students give their perspective on a postgraduate degree at Stellenbosch University.

Laboratory for the Economics of Africa's Past (LEAP) launched at Stellenbosch

​South African research into economic history has gained momentum with the launch of the Laboratory for the Economics of Africa's Past (LEAP) at Stellenbosch University on Wednesday, 27 May.

"LEAP brings together scholars and students interested in understanding and explaining the long-term economic development of Africa's diverse societies," says Dr Johan Fourie of the Department of Economics.

"Studying the historical development of an economy provides a context for existing challenges and a source of hypotheses to explain the trajectory of its evolution."

Read the full article here, visit the LEAP website, or like the LEAP Facebook page.

ReSEP website launched

The Research on Socio-Economic Policy (ReSEP) group at the Department of Economics today launched a new website which will serve as a resource for researchers and policy-makers interested in issues surrounding socio-economic development in Southern Africa.  Spearheaded by Professor Servaas van der Berg, the ReSEP group consists of members of the Department of Economics, contract research staff and graduate students, and developed around a long term research focus on issues of poverty, income distribution, social mobility, economic development and social policy. The new website contains information on ReSEP’s involvement in various research projects, provides access to downloadable working papers, policy briefs, and other research reports produced by members of the ReSEP team, and will in time also provide access to further learning and training materials for policy-makers, researchers, students and others interested in policy debates. Visit the new website at http://resep.sun.ac.za/.

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