South African Job Creation, a Myth or Reality? The Role of Economic Injections as a Solution to the Employment Issues
South African Job Creation, a Myth or Reality? The Role of Economic Injections as a Solution to the Employment Issues

Summary/Abstract: The paper investigated the effect of economic injections components (exports, government expenditure and domestic investment) on South African employment growth. The study employed quarterly secondary data for the period 2002-2021. The ARDL, ECM and Granger causality approaches were utilized to determine the long run, short-run and causality relationships amongst variables. The results indicated that the long-run growth in both exports and government expenditure leads to employment growth whilst a rise in domestic investment reduces employment levels. Irrespective of long run results, the domestic investment significantly creates jobs in the short term. Additionally, the study results suggested a bidirectional causality between employment exports and a unidirectional from government spending towards employment. Based on the aforementioned results, the study concluded that economic injections play a crucial role in curbing unemployment growth in South Africa. Therefore, the South African government should induce and strengthen exports oriented policies and increase its spending on production-related activities rather than consumption expenditure.

• Details
• Contents