An Assessment of the Investment Climate in South Africa
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
Most aspects of South Africa's investment climate—the location-specific factors that shape opportunities and incentives for firms to invest productively, create jobs, and grow—are favorable. The majority of large, registered firms believe that the legal system is able to protect their property rights. Infrastructure is reliable. Tax rates are relatively low. The burden of regulation is comparable to other middle-income countrries. Few firms pay bribes. And most firms have adequate access to credit. In many dimensions, South Africa has a good investment climate.
Consistent with this, large South African firms are very productive. Labor productivity is far higher than in the most productive low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and compares favorably with other middle-income countries such as Brazil, Lithuania, Malaysia, and Poland. And although labor productivity in South Africa is slightly lower than in the most productive cities in China, it is over three times higher than in China as a whole.
So, why hasn't South Africa been growing faster? As this title explores, while the investment climate is generally favorable, some problems remain. Firms appear to be particularly concerned about four areas: difficulty hiring skilled and educated workers, rigid labor regulations, exchange rate instability, and crime. Using rigorous statistical information on these and related topics, the book aims to assist policy makers and private sector stakeholders in developing reforms that will improve firm performance and growth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The gradual awakening of a teenager whose mom protects him with a fanciful story reveals an unnecessarily cruel world. Josiah grows up believing, as his mother tells him, that he is the product of an alien abduction from the planet Parnuckle, whose inhabitants eat chocolate, never sleep, and don't need to bathe. But when he and his mother move in with her new boyfriend, Johnson Davis, Johnson grows concerned about Josiah's abnormal development particularly after his daughter Bree, a rebellious teenager, crawls into bed with Josiah and begins to figure in his fantasies, to the alarm of both parents. Josiah clings to the story of Parnuckle, now a place to which he and Bree plan to escape, even as his new stepfather tries to convince him that the planet isn't real. Tantalizing hints surrounding Josiah's mother's background aside, her absence as a complete character her name is never even revealed makes her stories that much more puzzling. Her inability to take responsibility for her son's problems tears the family apart more permanently than Josiah's bad behavior.
More Books Like This