Afrique du Sud
Using panel data for Indonesia, Malawi, Peru and South Africa, this paper investigates the relationship between transitions to formal employment and workers’ labour income. It shows that transiting from informal to formal employment increases the probability of improving workers’ labour income in both absolute and relative terms. However, income gains from formalisation do not accrue to all workers equally. Switching to formal employment has the greatest potential to improve the labour income of the richest workers. The chances of improving the labour income of the poorest workers through formalisation are slim. Transitions between formal and informal employment affect income gains and losses differently for men and women, older and younger workers, and workers with different levels of schooling. The effects of labour market transitions on income changes are considerably greater in magnitude than other life events such as a births, separation, or death of a partner or spouse.
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This dataset comprises statistics on different transactions and balances to get from the GDP to the net lending/borrowing. It includes national disposable income (gross and net), consumption of fixed capital as well as net savings. It also includes transaction components such as net current transfers and net capital transfers. Data are expressed in millions of national currency as well as US dollars and available in both current and constant prices. Data are provided from 1950 onwards.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of final goods and services produced by a country during a period minus the value of imports. This subset of Aggregate National Accounts comprises comprehensive statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) by presenting the three different approaches of its measure of GDP: output based GDP, expenditure based GDP and income based GDP. These three different measures of gross domestic product (GDP) are further detailed by transactions whereby: the output approach includes gross value added at basic prices, taxes less subsidies, statistical discrepancy; the expenditure approach includes domestic demand, gross capital formation, external balance of goods and services; and the income approach includes variables such as compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, taxes and production and imports. Gross domestic product (GDP) data are measured in national currency and are available in current prices, constant prices and per capita starting from 1950 onwards.
The Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the already deteriorating fiscal situation in South Africa. The current consolidation strategy, based on spending cuts and reprioritisation of spending items, has reached its limits and is insufficient to stabilise the debt ratio in the medium term and fund unmet public services needs. The tax-benefit system needs to be redesigned to create fiscal space in the years to come to finance growth-enhancing reforms and to reduce inequalities. The challenge is to generate additional revenues without generating inefficiencies or exacerbating inequality. Income taxes represent around half of total tax revenues, but are levied on small tax bases, partly reflecting the unequal distribution of income. Only the value-added tax has a relatively broad basis combined with a moderate tax rate. There is some scope to raise revenues further while reducing existing tax distortions, notably by broadening the base of corporate and personal income taxes, as well as consumption taxes. Taxes with a less harmful impact on growth, such as property taxes, are limited by the inefficient municipal rates system. There remains scope to further increase environmentally-related taxes.
Productivity growth has been falling for a decade, hindering improvements in living standards. Low productivity reflects, firstly, poor infrastructure in telecommunications and transport. Secondly, the regulatory environment is not always business-friendly and often raises obstacles to firm entry, exit and expansion. Combined with weak competition in important sectors, this has led to lower private investment levels, particularly, business R&D. Finally, the educational and health care systems have been unable to supply adequately skilled workers across the country. To improve productivity, public investment needs to become more effective, notably by strengthening the selection process for large infrastructure projects. A more pro-competitive business environment would let productive firms grow and foster innovation. Widening and reducing inequalities in access to education and health care would reduce skill shortages.
This paper aims at quantifying the macroeconomic and distributional impacts of product market reforms and additional public investment using a DSGE model. The model reflects specific features of the South African economy. Tradable and non-tradable product markets are modelled separately, and a segmented labour market is designed to reproduce the labour market duality in South Africa between skilled and unskilled workers. The role of public investment on total factor productivity and its financing modality are taken into allowing the quantification of the net benefits of reforms.
Our results show that enhancing competition in the non-tradable sector has a short run recessionary impact while deregulating the tradable sector is expansionary. Overall, the latter has a bigger impact on GDP. From a distributional perspective, a product market reform in both sectors benefits all income deciles. Finally, additional public infrastructure investment, either financed by raising VAT or capital income tax, increases GDP in the short-term less than product market reform in the tradable sector but is more expansionary in the long run, so a combination of both reforms would boost living standards.
This publication contains the 2022 Second Round Combined Peer Review on the Exchange of Information on Request for South Africa.
La crise provoquée par le COVID-19 a affaibli une économie sud-africaine fragilisée par une décennie de croissance en berne, avec un PIB par habitant qui était déjà inférieur en 2019 à celui de 2008. Le taux de chômage reste élevé, à quelque 35 %, et le chômage des jeunes est même supérieur à 50 %. Parallèlement, les tensions sur les dépenses augmentent puisqu'il faut combler des déficits de financement dans la santé, les infrastructures et l’enseignement supérieur. Pour financer ces besoins tout en replaçant les finances publiques sur une trajectoire plus durable, clé du rétablissement de la confiance, il faudrait améliorer l’efficience des dépenses publiques et dans le même temps accroître les recettes fiscales des administrations publiques. Par ailleurs, il faudrait mobiliser encore davantage le système fiscal pour réduire les inégalités de revenu et de patrimoine. À plus long terme, il est indispensable de redynamiser la croissance de la productivité pour relever les niveaux de vie. Stimuler la productivité implique de renforcer les infrastructures de transport (routières, portuaires et ferroviaires), de stabiliser la production d’électricité, d'augmenter la qualité des réseaux de télécommunications, d’élargir l'accès à l’enseignement supérieur et d’améliorer plus généralement le climat des affaires.
THÈMES SPÉCIFIQUES : RENFORCER LE SYSTÈME FISCAL ET STIMULER LA PRODUCTIVITÉ POUR AMÉLIORER LES NIVEAUX DE VIE
Corporate tax incentives reduce investment costs for businesses, which may affect investment and location decisions. They apply through different designs and interact with countries’ standard tax systems, often making it difficult for tax policy makers and researchers to compare their generosity and assess their impacts across countries. This paper develops a methodology to calculate forward-looking corporate effective tax rates (ETRs) summarising tax relief from investment tax incentives into comparable indicators. It presents ETR indicators for seven Sub-Saharan African countries. Empirical results show that tax incentives substantially lower corporate taxation across these countries. On average, tax incentives reduce ETRs by 30% in the food and automotive industries compared to the standard tax treatment. ETRs often differ among taxpayers in a same sector and country - by up to 55%. The most generous tax treatment is typically offered within Special Economic Zones, where tax incentives can reduce ETRs to near zero.
The COVID-19 crisis has weakened an already fragile economy. South Africa’s growth underperformed during the past decade: GDP per capita was already lower in 2019 than in 2008. Unemployment remains high, at around 35%, and youth unemployment even exceeds 50%. In the meantime, spending pressures are mounting to close the financing gap in health, infrastructure and higher education. To finance those needs while putting public finances on a more sustainable path, which is key to restore confidence, spending efficiency should improve and be accompanied with increased government tax revenues. In addition, the tax system could contribute further to reducing income and wealth inequalities. In the longer term, reviving productivity growth is key to lift living standards. Boosting productivity involves improving transport (road, port and rail) infrastructure, providing more stable electricity generation, fostering the quality of telecommunication networks, broadening access to higher education, as well as improving the business environment more generally.
SPECIAL FEATURES: STRENGTHENING THE TAX SYSTEM AND BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY TO IMPROVE LIVING STANDARDS
This dataset comprises statistics on different transactions and balances to get from the GDP to the net lending/borrowing. It includes national disposable income (gross and net), consumption of fixed capital as well as net savings. It also includes transaction components such as net current transfers and net capital transfers. Data are expressed in millions of national currency as well as US dollars and available in both current and constant prices. Data are provided from 1950 onwards.
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of final goods and services produced by a country during a period minus the value of imports. This subset of Aggregate National Accounts comprises comprehensive statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) by presenting the three different approaches of its measure of GDP: output based GDP, expenditure based GDP and income based GDP. These three different measures of gross domestic product (GDP) are further detailed by transactions whereby: the output approach includes gross value added at basic prices, taxes less subsidies, statistical discrepancy; the expenditure approach includes domestic demand, gross capital formation, external balance of goods and services; and the income approach includes variables such as compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, taxes and production and imports. Gross domestic product (GDP) data are measured in national currency and are available in current prices, constant prices and per capita starting from 1950 onwards.
Illicit financial flows (IFFs) such as tax evasion are a major policy challenge for developing and emerging economies, in particular as the COVID-19 pandemic has drained domestic resources. This report presents results from a joint project between the OECD and the National Treasury of South Africa, which assesses tax compliance and IFFs in South Africa. The report provides an overview of macroeconomic, tax and fiscal developments in South Africa since the global financial crisis. It discusses the concepts of IFFs, how they relate to the South African context and provides an overview of South Africa’s participation in multilateral initiatives to combat tax evasion. It also provides a quantitative analysis of tax compliance and IFFs over time amid a variety of tax transparency initiatives implemented in South Africa. Finally, the report examines the effectiveness of tax transparency initiatives such as voluntary disclosure programmes, and looks into income and wealth characteristics of applicants to these programmes.
Today, the global youth population is at its highest ever and still growing, with the highest proportion of youth living in Africa and Asia, and a majority of them in rural areas. Young people in rural areas face the double challenge of age-specific vulnerabilities and underdevelopment of rural areas. While agriculture absorbs the majority of rural workers in developing countries, low pay and poor working conditions make it difficult to sustain rural livelihoods. Potential job opportunities for rural youth exist in agriculture and along the agri-food value chain, however. Growing populations, urbanisation and rising incomes of the working class are increasing demand for more diverse and higher value added agricultural and food products in Africa and developing Asia. This demand will create a need for off-farm labour, especially in agribusinesses, which tends to be better paid and located in rural areas and secondary towns. It could boost job creation in the food economy provided that local food systems were mobilised to take up the challenge of higher and changing domestic demand for food.