The role of export diversification on economic growth in South Africa: 1980 - 2010 - CORE Reader

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• According toDu Plessis and Smit (2005), South Africa’s economic growth is affected by a lot of factors that include,among others, the role of demand side policy intervention by the government, capital and human accumulation, monetary and fiscal policy and technological chan

• e study suggested that the positive relationship that exists between export diversification and economic growth

• In thestudy on export diversification and specialisation in South Africa,Matthee and Naudé (2007)

• The study employed the OLSregression method with economic growth as a dependent variable. I

• measure of export diversification, the authors used four measures of export diversification which included the HI, the absolute index, the Normalised-Hirschmann Index(NHI)and the index that ranks exports in terms of their implied productivity.

• n the same note the authors concludedthat export diversification was positively related to real GDP per capita

• indication that rich regions exported products that were of better quality.

• d be the possible reason why a country with increasing exports may fail to reduce income inequality among districts.

• uthors concluded that vertical integration in South Africa was not a significant source of economic growthin the South African context. Horizontal diversification (into manufacturing exports), however, was associated with larger growth

• it was not important to merely diversify exports from primary to secondary products, but the typ

• and diversity of secondary products produced and exported were also essential for growth

• Petersson (2005) concluded that exports diversification have continuously assumed greater significance in the growth of the economy.

• looked at export diversification and intra-industry tradein South Africac

• in relation to other

• SADC countriesand utilised the linear regression method

• study observed that manufacturing export

• relatively divers

• ut were affec

• ed by minor short-term fluctuations

• in macroeconomic