Trust Gangaidzo
PHD Student
Trust Gangaidzo holds BSc Honours Economics and MSc Economics Degrees from the University of Zimbabwe. During his Master’s degree studies (2014-2016), Trust was a teaching assistant for undergraduate applied statistics and macroeconomics. Before enrolling for his PhD, Trust worked on a short-term contract for the African Capacity Building Foundation (the African Union’s Specialized Agency for Capacity Development). Trust is currently a DAAD scholarship holder and doing his PhD at Stellenbosch University. His PhD thesis focuses on the socioeconomic perspective of stressful life events and hypertension in developing countries. His main research interests are development economics and health economics.
Repetition and dropout in South Africa before, during and after COVID-19
In this research report, Gabrielle Wills and Jess Qvist collate existing and new evidence on grade repetition and school dropout in South Africa before, during…
January 15, 2024 PDF
COVID-19 and inequality in reading outcomes in South Africa: PIRLS 2016 and 2021
In this Covid-Generation working paper, Bianca Böhmer and Gabrielle Wills contribute new evidence on pandemic effects on reading scores and inequalities in reading in South…
December 23, 2023 PDF
Early Grade Repetition in South Africa: Implications for Reading
As part of the Covid-Generation project, Gabrielle Wills examines early grade repetition patterns in South Africa and the effects of early grade repetition on the…
November 15, 2023 PDF
The Impact of Agricultural Minimum Wages on Worker Flows in South Africa
This paper is the first to estimate the impact of minimum wages on worker flows and employment growth rates in a developing country with scarce…
November 14, 2023 PDF
How Well Have Full-Service Schools Been Prepared for Disability-Inclusion?
Ultimately, learners with disabilities should be accommodated at schools in their neighbourhood, where they should have access to all programmes of support (Screening, Identification, Assessment…
September 11, 2023 PDF
What we know about Covid-19 and the South African labour market
Tim Köhler provides an overview of the South African labour market during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
August 29, 2023 PDF
The Teacher Demographic Dividend (TDD) project
The Teacher Demographic Dividend (TDD) project looks at the challenge of replacing older teachers, but it also offers the opportunity to renew the teaching workforce.…
July 26, 2023 PDF
Teacher demographic dividend provincial spotlight dialogue
On 25 May 2023, the Teacher Demographic Dividend (TDD) project hosted its first Provincial Spotlight Dialogue at The Blades, Pretoria. The dialogue was organised with…
June 2, 2023 PDF
COVID-19 and the South African curriculum policy response
In this note by Ursula Hoadley, she tracks curriculum and assessment policy changes over three years (2020 to 2023) in South Africa in response to…
May 16, 2023 PDF
Educational issues and the impact of COVID-19: what education data reveal
COVID-19 caused disruptions to schooling on an unprecedented scale. Emerging evidence indicate sthat these disruptions impacted schooling in South Africa in many ways, from shortened…
February 2, 2023 PDF
New Research on Teacher Demographics
A group of 16 RESEP researchers is currently engaged in a 3-year project focusing on the incoming wave of teacher retirements.
December 1, 2022 PDF
COVID-19 disruptions and learning in South Africa: two years of evidence
The evidence discussed in this brief confirms that learning losses in South Africa have been large. Covid-19 has disrupted South African education in significant ways,…
November 3, 2022 PDF
RESEP researchers launch Roots & Shoots study
RESEP researchers Heleen Hofmeyr and Nic Spaull recently launched the Roots & Shoots study, a longitudinal research study funded by the Mr Price Foundation that…
October 13, 2022 PDF
Breaking into spring with the 2022 Quantitative Education Research Conference: An overview
RESEP was again privileged to host its annual QER conference at STIAS from 31 August to 1 September 2022. There is much value in bringing…
September 12, 2022 PDF
School catch-up programmes are urgently needed
A recent RESEP report, Learning Losses from COVID-19 in the Western Cape has received significant media attention, including features in Rapport, CityPress, SABC, News24, eNCA…
May 25, 2022 PDF
The health impact of free access to antiretroviral therapy in South Africa
Since 2004 the South African government has rolled out free antiretroviral therapy (ART) at public health care facilities nationwide. No prior studies have estimated the impact of the ART…
April 22, 2022 PDF
Stressful life events, neighbourhood characteristics, and systolic blood pressure in South Africa.
In press
April 22, 2022 PDF
RESEP co-hosted a public lecture by Max Roser
What do you need to know to make the world a better place? This is the topic that Max Roser, founder and director of the…
April 11, 2022 PDF
Looming crisis of teacher shortages
A new study by RESEP researchers Servaas van der Berg, Martin Gustafsson and Cobus Burger for the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on…
March 13, 2022 PDF
New foundations: Strengthening ECCE provisioning in South Africa after COVID-19
Events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to undo 20 years of sustained expansion in access to early childhood care and education (ECCE) in South Africa.…
March 2, 2022 PDF
How satisfied are school principals with support and compliance visits by district officials?
Introduction As a positive relationship between schools and education districts can help to secure school improvement and learning outcomes, we have explored the accountability arrangements…
February 17, 2022 PDF
How the pandemic is affecting women and the women who are making the difference
RESEP research associate, Tia Linda Zuze recently wrote an opinion article that was published on the news site News24. The piece details the essential contributions…
February 15, 2022 PDF
Better Performing NGOs Do Report More Accurately: Evidence from Investigating Ugandan NGO Financial Accounts
We use Benford’s Law to investigate inaccurate financial reports of a representative sample of Ugandan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We find that 25% of the sample…
December 22, 2021 PDF
South African School System Performance: An Interactive Map
To illustrate the performance of South Africa’s public school system, RESEP developed the below interactive map with the assistance of the Centre for Geographic Analysis…
December 2, 2021 PDF
Supply-side and demand-side approaches to financing early childhood care and education in South Africa
A PART OF THE ECD WORKING PAPER SERIES BETWEEN ILIFA LABANTWANA & RESEP. NO. ECD WP 003/2021
November 23, 2021 PDF
Are protests replacing voting as mechanism to hold government accountable?
Prospects of low voter turnout and ongoing protest about the quality of service delivery should be no surprise, according to a new study. Tina Fransman,…
October 28, 2021 PDF
Voting and protest tendencies associated with changes in service delivery.
Citizens ought to hold the state accountable for service delivery. This is usually done through the power of the vote. Literature on democratic governance suggests…
October 27, 2021 PDF
COVID-19 learning losses: Early grade reading in South Africa
Using three different studies on early grade reading from no-fee schools across in South Africa, this paper establishes short-term learning losses in reading for grade…
October 18, 2021 PDF
A spatial analysis of out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Malawi
In this paper, we investigate the existence of geographical correlations in OOP health expenditures by employing a spatial Durbin model on data from 778 clusters…
September 22, 2021 PDF
RESEP early career researchers publish in highly ranked health journal
A paper composed by early career researchers at RESEP, Martin Mwale and Dr Martina Mchenga, and their co-author Dr Gowokani Chirwa, has recently been published…
September 22, 2021 PDF
Learner flows through schools: Using high quality administrative data to understand education system performance
The report analyses school flows, repetition, and dropout using a novel analysis of school-based assessments, and how well these predict future performance and learner flows.…
September 17, 2021 PDF
A teacher retirement wave is about to hit South Africa: what it means for class size
Teacher supply and demand is a complex matter. The ultimate aim is to have a teacher in front of every class, now and for the…
September 13, 2021 PDF
Infographic: Only one matric pass produced for every ten years of high school in SA
September 10, 2021 PDF
Gustafsson reviews policies and research on carbon tax and emissions reductions in SA while on fellowship
As Visiting Fellow with the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University, Martin Gustafsson recently produced a policy and literature review titled…
September 8, 2021 PDF
New paper published on COVID-19 learning losses in South Africa
A new paper on COVID-19 learning losses in South Africa has been published in the International Journal of Educational Development.
August 18, 2021 PDF
A ‘Free’ Labour Force: The Labour Mobility of Emancipated Slaves at the Cape Colony, 1833-1891
STIAS, Stellenbosch 30 June 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Education and skills for the economy and links to labour markets in South Africa – Presentation made by RESEP to the National Planning Commission
STIAS, Stellenbosch 23 June 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Highlights from Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 9 June 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Coerced indigenous labour and effort in pastoral agriculture: Lessons learnt from the nineteenth century Cape frontier
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 May 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
A discussion of key issues in South Africa’s basic education sector during the COVID-19 pandemic
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 May 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Climate, Weather and Development: Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 May 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Out of control: Mending the broken feedback loops of water and electricity expenses at schools
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 May 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Labor Markets and Institutions in Postemancipation South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 April 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
A century later: Lessons from the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 April 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Modelling COVID-19’s spread, severity and ICU capacity in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 14 April 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Perseverance, Passion and Poverty: Examining the association between grit and reading achievement in high-poverty schools
STIAS, Stellenbosch 7 April 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Overview of Funda Wande and Bala Wande RCTs in EC and LP and collaborations with RESEP
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 March 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in mathematics in South Africa and its moderating factors
STIAS, Stellenbosch 10 March 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Generosity and Gift Giving as Sources of Motivation for Health WorkersGenerosity and Gift Giving as Sources of Motivation for Health Workers
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 March 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Does Class Size Matter in South African Secondary Schools? It Depends
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 February 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Long-term effects of childhood exposure to war on domestic violence: Evidence from the Nigerian Civil War
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 February 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Challenges faced by individuals who have initiated TB treatment in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces: a mixed method approach
STIAS, Stellenbosch 11 February 2020
August 11, 2021 PDF
Roots and wings: Improved quality in subsidised housing
This project is a collaboration between Stellenbosch University, Theewaterskloof municipality and Western Cape Department of Human Settlements. The aim is to use upward and downward…
August 11, 2021 PDF
Benchmarking oral reading fluency in the early grades in Nguni languages
To prevent children from falling behind in the developmental sequence of reading, a shared vision of what reading success looks like is required. This paper…
July 18, 2021 PDF
How basic education has improved in the Western Cape in the past six years
Repetition is a serious problem in South Africa, and the Western Cape is no exception. In any given year between 2007 and 2019, repetition has…
June 28, 2021 PDF
Resilience key to improving your circumstances
When meeting Dumisani Hompashe and listening to his story, the word “resilience" automatically comes to mind. Because resilience is the silver thread running through his…
May 20, 2021 PDF
Perseverance, passion and poverty: Examining the association between grit and reading achievement in high-poverty schools in South Africa
This paper examines whether school characteristics moderate the association between grit and reading achievement in a sample of Grade 6 learners in high-poverty contexts. The…
May 18, 2021 PDF
Grit matters when a child is learning to read, even in poor South African schools
School quality is important in determining children’s success at school. But individual characteristics of the child also play a role. In particular, researchers and teachers…
May 10, 2021 PDF
Health and education: the building blocks of a thriving economy
Improving education outcomes and producing a skills revolution, as well as ensuring a healthy nation, are two of the key priorities of the sixth administration,…
April 19, 2021 PDF
Recent RESEP PhD graduates
Three RESEP doctoral candidates were capped at a recent Stellenbosch University (SU) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences graduation ceremony for PhDs. Congratulations to Joel…
April 7, 2021 PDF
A new report looks into the effects of the COVID-19 on global indicators of early-grade learning proficiency
Martin Gustafsson has recently published a report titled "Pandemic-related disruptions to schooling and impacts on learning proficiency indicators in which he has modelled the possible…
April 6, 2021 PDF
RESEP researchers produce Second-chance Matriculation technical report for Youth Capital
A new Youth Capital report, Matrics 'on the Fringe': a Review of the Second Chance Programme, has recently been released. The report draws from the findings…
March 11, 2021 PDF
The missing poor: Data blind spots perpetuate social injustice
Household surveys systematically exclude or undercount vulnerable populations and these exclusions and underestimations will materially affect estimates of need such as access to clean water…
February 22, 2021 PDF
RESEP contributes to a BER study assessing progress with the NDP.
RESEP's Servaas van der Berg and Ronelle Burger recently contributed to a Bureau for Economic Development (BER) report tracking the progress of the National Development…
February 22, 2021 PDF
Benchmarking early grade reading literacy skills in Nguni languages
To prevent children from falling behind in the developmental sequence of reading, a shared vision of what reading success looks like at each step is…
February 16, 2021 PDF
RESEP contributes to ground-breaking NIDS-CRAM project
With the announced hard-lockdown in March 2020, and as with most other non-essential activities, all fieldwork at Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) was shutdown. However, researchers…
February 12, 2021 PDF
Congratulations to Nic Spaull for receiving highest post-doctoral research rating
Dr Nic Spaull from Stellenbosch University's Economics Department was this week awarded a P-rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the highest rating possible for…
February 12, 2021 PDF
Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Economics – One-year Appointment with Possible Extension to 2 Years
Quantitative analysis of education in South Africa and southern Africa. Analysis of education data sets, particularly international educational evaluations (SACMEQ, TIMSS, PIRLS, PISA-D). The focus…
December 1, 2020 PDF
Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Economics – One-year Appointment with Possible Extension to 2 Years
Research on labour markets and education in Southern Africa. Analysis of household data sets and educational evaluation data such as SACMEQ, PIRLS or TIMSS, with…
December 1, 2020 PDF
SUMMARY REPORT: Benchmarking early grade reading skills in Nguni languages
This is a summary report that presents the key findings and approach used in identifying early grade reading benchmarks and thresholds in three Nguni languages:…
November 5, 2020 PDF
TECHNICAL REPORT: Benchmarking early grade reading skills in Nguni languages
This report presents the key findings and approach used in identifying early grade reading benchmarks and thresholds in three Nguni languages: isiZulu, isiXhosa and siSwati.
November 5, 2020 PDF
Schools in the time of COVID-19: impacts of the pandemic on curriculum
This working paper presents the findings of research into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the curriculum in South Africa. Four research questions frame…
November 3, 2020 PDF
Reading and socio-emotional skills in challenging school contexts: Evidence from South African primary schools
This project is linked to the Early Learning Programme (ELP) and uses data from the Readership and Literacy project but is also supplemented by others…
October 22, 2020 PDF
Early Learning Programme (ELP)
A portion of this project includes reanalysing WCED CEMIS and Systemic Tests to determine how early learning performance affects progressions, dropout, and matric results. The…
October 22, 2020 PDF
What SA_SAMS/Data Driven Districts data reveal about South African School Education
Using longitudinal data components and disability statistics, this project aims to investigate school-based assessments. Funds have been received from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.…
October 21, 2020 PDF
The gendered effects of the ongoing lockdown and school closures in South Africa: Evidence from NIDS-CRAM Waves 1 and 2
The data from Wave 1 of NIDS-CRAM showed that women were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the first month of the lockdown period…
October 11, 2020 PDF
Navigating COVID in the post lockdown period: Shifting risk perceptions and compliance with preventative measures
A report stemming from NIDS-CRAM wave 1, a project consisting of work by a national consortium of 30 social science researchers from five South African…
October 5, 2020 PDF
Household resource flows and food poverty during South Africa’s lockdown: Short-term policy implications for three channels of social protection.
A report stemming from NIDS-CRAM wave 1, a project consisting of work by a national consortium of 30 social science researchers from five South African…
October 5, 2020 PDF
Using international comparisons to inform debates on salaries for publicly paid educators in South Africa
This brief replicates UNESCO’s calculations, to determine whether South African teachers’ wages are comparable with those in Denmark. The level of teacher wages so determined…
October 1, 2020 PDF
The impact of the Coronavirus and lockdown on children’s welfare in South Africa
A report stemming from NIDS-CRAM wave 1, a project consisting of work by a national consortium of 30 social science researchers from five South African…
September 30, 2020 PDF
NIDS-CRAM Wave 1 Synthesis Report: Overview and Findings.
The overview and findings of NIDS-CRAM wave 1, consisting of work by a national consortium of 30 social science researchers from five South African universities.…
September 29, 2020 PDF
School Leadership and Local Learning Contexts in South Africa
International research has shown that the quality of school leadership and management (SLM) is important for teaching and learning, particularly in schools where there is…
September 17, 2020 PDF
Hunger in South Africa during 2020: Results from Wave 2 of NIDS-CRAM
The first wave of the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDSCRAM) provided strong evidence that there had been a drastic increase…
September 12, 2020 PDF
RESEP women researchers in the spotlight this Women’s Month
It is said that Women's Month is a celebration of women's achievements and the important (and often under-recognised) role that they play in South African…
August 28, 2020 PDF
Navigating COVID in the postlockdown period: Shifting risk perceptions and compliance with preventative measures
South Africa’s lockdown in March and April has saved lives by containing the spread of COVID-19 but it has done so at a tremendous social…
August 12, 2020 PDF
A Sector Hanging in the Balance: ECD and Lockdown in South Africa
New evidence suggests that over four months after the closure of early childhood development (ECD) programmes on 18 March 2020, the ECD sector is likely…
August 12, 2020 PDF
RESEP researcher recent Oped in News24: Opportunities for girls to excel few and far between
RESEP researcher recent Oped in News24: Opportunities for girls to excel few and far between RESEP researcher, Linda Zuze, recently wrote an article for News…
August 5, 2020 PDF
Recently in the Press: Four Contributions by RESEP Researchers
In an effort to provide expert opinions, as well as assist in guiding public discussions around socio-economic policy, such as education, and issues related to…
July 29, 2020 PDF
Om die Riebeek-berge te versit
In April this year, 24-year-old Lunga Swelindawo received his Master's degree in Economics. This Swartlander knew from a young age that he was different: He…
July 10, 2020 PDF
Floor effects and the comparability of developing country student test scores
The report serves as a background paper to UNESCO’s 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report (GEMR).
June 26, 2020 PDF
The Race Between Teacher Wages and the Budget
This report determines how the real resources available to the average child in South Africa have changed over the period 2008 to 2018.
June 19, 2020 PDF
Counting the Cost: COVID-19 School Closures in South Africa & its Impact on Children
Van der Berg, S & Spaull, N. (2020). Counting the Cost: COVID-19 school closures in South Africa & its impacts on children. Research on Socioeconomic…
June 16, 2020 PDF
Call for Comment on Report: Education and Skills for the Economy and Links to Labour Markets in South Africa
A report by RESEP's Servaas van der Berg, Martin Gustafsson, and Kholekile Malindi titled Education and Skills for the Economy and Links to Labour Markets in…
June 9, 2020 PDF
Opportunity Gaps Among South African Girls
This policy brief compares educational progress among South African girls across the socioeconomic spectrum to shed some light on which girls are actually succeeding academically…
June 7, 2020 PDF
Recently Published Work
Gabrielle Wills and Servaas van der Berg explore the development and trial of new metrics to quantify school leadership and management practices and/or processes considered…
May 27, 2020 PDF
Measuring School Leadership and Management and Linkages with Literacy: Evidence from Rural and Township Primary Schools in South Africa
Wills, G. and van der Berg, S., 2020. Measuring school leadership and management and linkages with literacy: Evidence from rural and township primary schools in…
May 26, 2020 PDF
Common Questions about South Africa’s Covid-19 Response Answered using the International OxCGRT Dataset
I use the latest (16 May) version of the OxCGRT dataset to answer three fairly common questions about COVID-19 in the South African context. The…
May 20, 2020 PDF
How Many Commercial Farms are there Really in South Africa and are Most of them ‘Large’?
Good policymaking requires reliable, comparable statistics over time. Despite there being an annual survey of agricultural firms in South Africa, confusion exists about the number…
May 19, 2020 PDF
Separating Employment Effects into Job Destruction and Job Creation
This paper presents new evidence on the employment effects of a large increase in agricultural minimum wages in South Africa using anonymized tax data.
May 18, 2020 PDF
Wealth Inequality and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from South African Tax and Survey Records
Von Fintel, D. and Orthofer, A., 2020. Wealth inequality and financial inclusion: Evidence from South African tax and survey records. Economic Modelling.
May 18, 2020 PDF
Sectoral Minimum Wages in South Africa: Disemployment by Firm Size and Trade Exposure
Piek, M. and von Fintel, D., 2020. Sectoral minimum wages in South Africa: Disemployment by firm size and trade exposure. Development Southern Africa, 37(3), pp.462-482.
May 18, 2020 PDF
What the Shifting Evidence on the Coronavirus means for School Re-openings in South Africa
It is critical that the debates leading up to the re-opening of South Africa’s schools, and the actual process of re-opening, which will almost certainly…
May 12, 2020 PDF
Who should go Back to School First in South Africa?
Who should go back to school first in South Africa? Children under 10 are least susceptible to COVID-19, they should go back first. Spaull,…
May 10, 2020 PDF
Poverty rises, inequality shifts as Covid-19 impact continues unabated
Many have to fall back on that familiar South African last resort, the extended family. It will take some time before the full effect of…
May 9, 2020 PDF
SU Researchers Lead Multi-university study to track Economic Impacts of COVID-19
This week researchers at Stellenbosch University launched the Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (CRAM), a collaborative research project across five universities which will track the social…
May 8, 2020 PDF
International Tests: What are they and why should South Africa Participate?
International Tests: What are they and why should South Africa participate? South Africa takes part in three major international assessments: TIMSS, PIRLS and SEACMEQ. This…
May 6, 2020 PDF
Mother-tongue Instruction or Straight-for-English? The Primary Education Policy Dilemma
Language-in-education policy has a powerful influence on social and economic relations, with complex dimensions in multilingual and unequal societies such as South Africa.
May 6, 2020 PDF
Perseverance, Passion, and Poverty: Examining the association between grit and reading achievement in high-poverty schools
This paper examines whether school characteristics moderate the association between grit and reading achievement in a sample of Grade 6 learners in high-poverty contexts.
April 20, 2020 PDF
New RESEP Working Paper Assesses SA’s approach to COVID-19 Compared with the Rest of the World
Using a dataset known as the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), RESEP's Martin Gustafsson assesses the South African response to COVID-19 relative to that of 139…
April 17, 2020 PDF
How does South Africa’s Covid-19 Response Compare Globally? A Preliminary Analysis using the new OxCGRT Dataset
How does South Africa’s Covid-19 response compare globally? A preliminary analysis using the new OxCGRT dataset A 19 May 2020 update of aspects of…
April 17, 2020 PDF
Education in a Time of School Closures
President Ramaphosa announced on 15 March that schools would close within days for just over three weeks, as opposed to the originally planned one week…
March 25, 2020 PDF
With Schools Shut, Kids Go Hungry (BD Article)
The coronavirus pandemic working its way through South African society will have many knock-on effects, one of them will be hunger and malnutrition as 9-million…
March 23, 2020 PDF
COVID-19 in South Africa: Navigating Social Solidarity in a Time of Social Distancing
RESEP's Ronelle Burger today published an article in the Daily Maverick calling for South African's to stand together and adhere to the President's recent announcements…
March 19, 2020 PDF
RESEP hosts researchers from the UK, India, and Nepal at a two-day workshop on education research
On the 20th and 21st of February 2020, RESEP convened a workshop on education research with participation from academics from the University of Bristol (UK),…
March 19, 2020 PDF
RESEP researcher Cobus Burger builds winning model for Uber Movement SANRAL Cape Town Challenge
Competing against some 738 data scientists from around the globe, RESEP’s Cobus Burger recently won the Uber Movement SANRAL Cape Town Challenge. Burger's model was…
March 11, 2020 PDF
Study shows standardised reference letters increase employment prospects
A cost-effective intervention that is easy to implement – this is how researchers describe the standardised reference letter that was developed to assist unemployed South…
March 9, 2020 PDF
Revised results confirm large improvements in South Africa’s reading outcomes, albeit from a low base
A recent paper by Martin Gustafsson shows that there have been significant improvements in reading in South Africa in recent years.
March 4, 2020 PDF
A revised PIRLS 2011 to 2016 trend for South Africa and the importance of analysing the underlying microdata
Given South Africa’s weak performance in international testing programmes, there is a strong interest in gauging improvements within these programmes.
February 21, 2020 PDF
Correspondence between mathematics and mathematical literacy scores: an analysis from 2010 to 2018
This paper estimates correspondence curves between mathematics and mathematical literacy scores for South African Matric Students from 2010 to 2018.
February 20, 2020 PDF
Workshops, Conferences and Training Events of 2019
This small workshop largely involved RESEP researchers and people from the policymaking world. It was held at STIAS in July and funded from RESEP's own…
February 5, 2020 PDF
New Projects for 2020
This two-year project for the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will involve a number of researchers from outside RESEP, including Elizabeth (Lilly) Pretorius…
February 5, 2020 PDF
Completed and Ongoing Projects of 2019-2020
This project for the Department of Higher Education and Training involved writing this report on DHET’s behalf, analysing their own data.
February 5, 2020 PDF
Understanding healthcare from the perspective of the client
In the last ten years, RESEP has expanded its health policy expertise to the point where it has built up substantial expertise and experience in…
February 5, 2020 PDF
Trends in performance in international evaluations of reading and mathematics
Two recent papers by RESEP's Martin Gustafsson look into, firstly, the historical trends between nations in children's reading and mathematics performance and, secondly, their future…
February 4, 2020 PDF
Socioeconomic Status and Class Size in South African Secondary Schools
The reduction of class size is frequently argued to be a relatively simple, cost-effective way to improve learner outcomes in a wide array of contexts.…
January 21, 2020 PDF
The period effect: the effect of menstruation on absenteeism of school girls in Limpopo
This paper will aim to answer three questions: (1) Are girls absent from school during their periods? (2) If so, how large is the effect…
December 21, 2019 PDF
Performance Beyond Expectations: Academic Resilience in South Africa
Socio-economic status and educational outcomes are strongly linked across countries and education systems. However, a growing body of research documents the existence of students from…
December 20, 2019 PDF
The promise of SA-SAMS & DDD data for tracking progression, repetition and drop-out
This paper analyses the SA-SAMS school administration data that the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in partnership with the Department of Basic Education collects quarterly…
December 19, 2019 PDF
Reading research recognised by The Impact Initiative
Over the period 2016 to 2018, RESEP were engaged in a study titled "Leadership for Literacy" funded by the ESRC/DFID. The project resulted in the…
November 29, 2019 PDF
RESEP runs an introductory training course on quantitative data analysis
RESEP led an introductory training course on quantitative data analysis for researchers in education in Stellenbosch from 11 to 15 November. The course was attended…
November 28, 2019 PDF
Remittances and Household Welfare: Evidence from Zambia
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 November 2019
November 26, 2019 PDF
School leadership and management: Identifying linkages with learning and structural inequalities
Wills, G., 2019. School leadership and management: Identifying linkages with learning and structural inequalities. In South African Schooling: The Enigma of Inequality (pp. 301-320). Springer, Cham.
November 25, 2019 PDF
Addressing the ‘leadership conundrum through a mixed methods study of school leadership for literacy
Taylor, N., Wills, G. and Hoadley, U., 2019. Addressing the ‘leadership conundrum ’through a mixed methods study of school leadership for literacy. Research in Comparative and…
November 15, 2019 PDF
Teachers’ unions and industrial action in South African primary schools: Exploring their impacts on learning
Abstract: This paper investigates a disruption hypothesis that student learning is lost as a direct consequence of teacher strike action in South Africa. At face…
November 15, 2019 PDF
Use of simulated patients to assess hypertension case management at public healthcare facilities in South Africa
Burger, R., Christian, C.S., Gerdtham, U.G., Haal, K., Hompashe, D.M., Smith, A. and Schutte, A.E., 2019. Use of simulated patients to assess hypertension case management…
November 14, 2019 PDF
Abiding by the Law? Using Benford’s Law to Examine the Accuracy of Nonprofit Financial Reports
Qu, H., Steinberg, R. and Burger, R., 2019. Abiding by the Law? Using Benford’s Law to Examine the Accuracy of Nonprofit Financial Reports. Nonprofit and…
November 14, 2019 PDF
SMS Nudges as a Tool to Reduce Tuberculosis Treatment Delay and Pretreatment Loss to Follow-Up. A Randomized Controlled Trial
Wagstaff, A., van Doorslaer, E. and Burger, R., 2019. SMS nudges as a tool to reduce tuberculosis treatment delay and pretreatment loss to follow-up. A…
November 14, 2019 PDF
Examining the impact of WHO’s Focused Antenatal Care policy on early access, underutilisation and quality of antenatal care services in Malawi: a retrospective study
Mchenga, M., Burger, R. and von Fintel, D., 2019. Examining the impact of WHO’s Focused Antenatal Care policy on early access, underutilisation and quality of…
November 14, 2019 PDF
Better Performing NGOs Do Report More Accurately: Evidence from Investigating Ugandan NGO Financial Accounts
Burger, R., Dang, C.T. and Owens, T., 2017. Better performing NGOs do report more accurately: Evidence from investigating Ugandan NGO financial accounts (No. 2017-10).
November 12, 2019 PDF
Effects and determinants of tuberculosis drug stockouts in South Africa
Koomen, L.E.M., Burger, R. and van Doorslaer, E.K.A., 2019. Effects and determinants of tuberculosis drug stockouts in South Africa. BMC health services research, 19(1), p.213.
November 12, 2019 PDF
An Incentive-Based and Community Health Worker Package Intervention to Improve Early Utilization of Antenatal Care: Evidence from a Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
Rossouw, L., Burger, R.P. and Burger, R., 2019. An Incentive-Based and Community Health Worker Package Intervention to Improve Early Utilization of Antenatal Care: Evidence from…
November 12, 2019 PDF
Temporal case study of household behavioural response to Cape Town’s “Day Zero” using smart meter data
Booysen, M.J., Visser, M. and Burger, R., 2019. Temporal case study of household behavioural response to Cape Town's “Day Zero” using smart meter data. Water Research, 149,…
November 12, 2019 PDF
Assessing Early Literacy Outcomes in Burkina Faso and Senegal: Using DHS and PASEC to Combine Access and Quality
Book: Improving Early Literacy Outcomes Chapter: Assessing Early Literacy Outcomes in Burkina Faso and Senegal: Using DHS and PASEC to Combine Access and Quality Authors: Nic…
November 12, 2019 PDF
Learning to Read and Write for Meaning and Pleasure
Spaull, N. (2019). Learning to Read and Write for Meaning and Pleasure. In Spaull, N. & Comings, J. (Eds), Improving Early Literacy Outcomes. Leiden, The Netherlands:…
November 11, 2019 PDF
Still Falling at the First Hurdle: Examining Early grade Reading in South Africa
Spaull, N. & Pretorius, E. (2019). Still Falling at the First Hurdle: Examining Early grade Reading in South Africa. In Spaull, N., & Jansen, J.…
November 11, 2019 PDF
Equity: A Price Too High to Pay?
Spaull, N. (2019). Equity: A Price Too High to Pay? In Spaull, N., & Jansen, J. (Eds), South African Schooling: The Enigma of Inequality. Springer…
November 11, 2019 PDF
The Complementary Effects of Farm Input Subsidies and Health Care Quality
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 November 2019
November 9, 2019 PDF
Minimum wages and firm dynamics: Preliminary evidence from the agricultural sector using South African administrative tax data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 November 2019
November 5, 2019 PDF
Disseminating your Research and Accessing Funding
STIAS, Stellenbosch 29 October 2019
October 29, 2019 PDF
Spatial autocorrelation in the non-profit sector: The role of demand and supply
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 October 2019
October 15, 2019 PDF
Academic resilience in challenging contexts: Evidence from township and rural primary schools in South Africa
Wills, G. and Hofmeyr, H., 2019. Academic resilience in challenging contexts: Evidence from township and rural primary schools in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Research, 98,…
October 9, 2019 PDF
Determinants of Reading Ability – Investigating Non-Linear Relationships Using Generalised Structural Equation, Mediated, and Non-Parametric Modelling
STIAS, Stellenbosch 8 October 2019
October 8, 2019 PDF
#Researchforimpact: Understanding academic resilience in challenging schools
(Note: this story originally appeared on the Stellenbosch University website) Even in high-poverty contexts, some children manage to achieve consistently good academic results despite…
October 7, 2019 PDF
Quantitative Education Research Conference again a huge success
On 12 and 13 September, RESEP held its fifth Quantitative Education Research Conference at the Stias Conference Centre in Stellenbosch. As in past years, it…
October 4, 2019 PDF
Examining Child Health and Nutrition Inequality in Tanzania
STIAS, Stellenbosch 1 October 2019
October 1, 2019 PDF
Introductory training course on data analysis for education researchers
We will be hosting an introductory training course on data analysis for education researchers from 11-15 November 2019. Put your nominee in touch with us…
September 19, 2019 PDF
Segregation and Academic Achievement Gaps in the U.S.: New Evidence from Big Data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 10 September 2019
September 10, 2019 PDF
Segregation and academic achievement gaps in the U.S.: New evidence from big data
September 10, 2019 PDF
Stressful Life Events, Neighbourhood Characteristics and Hypertension in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 September 2019
September 3, 2019 PDF
Stressful Life Events, Neighbourhood Characteristics and Hypertension in South Africa
September 3, 2019 PDF
Conflict, Measurement and Welfare: Collecting Household Survey Data in South Sudan
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 August 2019
August 27, 2019 PDF
Conflict, Measurement and Welfare: Collecting Household Survey Data in South Sudan
August 27, 2019 PDF
The Effect of Menstruation on Absenteeism of School Girls in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 August 2019
August 20, 2019 PDF
The Effect of Menstruation on Absenteeism of School Girls in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 August 2019
August 20, 2019 PDF
Community Health Workers, Subsidies, and Safe Water: Evidence from Malawi
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 August 2019
August 13, 2019 PDF
Community Health Workers, Subsidies, and Safe Water: Evidence from Malawi
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 August 2019
August 13, 2019 PDF
Diversity Backlash? Migration, Ethnic Fractionalization and Violence in the Soviet Union
STIAS, Stellenbosch 6 August 2019
August 6, 2019 PDF
Diversity Backlash? Migration, Ethnic Fractionalization and Violence in the Soviet Union
STIAS, Stellenbosch 6 August 2019
August 6, 2019 PDF
Immigration and Preferences for redistribution in Europe
STIAS, Stellenbosch 30 July 2019
July 30, 2019 PDF
Reading for meaning: a common issue in President’s SONA speech and RESEP’s “Binding Constraints” report
In 2016, RESEP published the "Binding Constraints" report discussing the importance of reading for meaning by grade 3. Three years later, President Cyril Ramaphosa echoes…
July 29, 2019 PDF
Highlights from RESEP’s Early Learning Workshop (4 to 5 July 2019)
RESEP hosted a two-day workshop at STIAS from 4 to 5 July 2019, with participation from key academics and policymakers engaged in early learning research…
July 9, 2019 PDF
Strategies for Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Mixed Methods Research
STIAS, Stellenbosch 9 July 2019
July 9, 2019 PDF
Minister Tito Mboweni, experts and researchers attend RESEP workshop on the South African Labour Market in a Macro-economic Context
On 20 and 21 June 2019, the labour group within RESEP hosted a small, successful workshop on The Labour Market in a Macro-economic Context at…
June 26, 2019 PDF
Home is Where the Head is: The Spatial Relationship between Household Wealth and Early Childhood Cognitive Outcomes in the Context of a Maternal and Child Health Programme
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 June 2019
June 25, 2019 PDF
The sustainability of early education interventions: Have learning gains and improved teacher practices persisted in the Early Grade Reading Study?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 11 June 2019
June 11, 2019 PDF
Symposium on Subsidised Housing hosted by RESEP (Stellenbosch University), Bath University and WC Department of Human Settlements
On May 27, 2019, RESEP and uMama of Stellenbosch University, Bath University and the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements hosted a symposium on subsidised…
June 3, 2019 PDF
Sparking a love for reading – fidelity, impact and sustainability of Story Powered Schools (cohort one)
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 May 2019
May 28, 2019 PDF
RESEP PhD student wins 2018 Founders medal for best thesis
Congratulations to Tina Fransman, who not only starts her PhD at RESEP in 2019 but also won the 2018 Economic Society of SA (Essa) Founders’…
May 7, 2019 PDF
Examining the impact of appointment reminders for TB treatment initiation and adherence in two Cape Town clinics
STIAS, Stellenbosch 09 April 2019
April 9, 2019 PDF
Measuring inequality with grouped data: perspectives from historical records.
STIAS, Stellenbosch 02 April 2019
April 2, 2019 PDF
Demand-Side Causes and Covariates of Late Antenatal Care Access in Cape Town, South Africa
Smith, A., Burger, R. and Black, V., 2019. Demand-Side Causes and Covariates of Late Antenatal Care Access in Cape Town, South Africa. Maternal and child health…
March 29, 2019 PDF
Variance in employee engagement among public school teachers in the Western Cape Province: An exploratory study
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 March 2019
March 26, 2019 PDF
Misreporting of Intimate Partner Violence in Developing Countries: Measurement Error and New Strategies to Minimize it
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 March 2019
March 19, 2019 PDF
Patient predictors of health-seeking behaviour for persons coughing for more than two weeks in high-burden tuberculosis communities: the case of the Western Cape, South Africa
Christian, C., Burger, B., Claassens, C., Bond, V. & Burger, R. (2019). Patient predictors of health-seeking behaviour for persons coughing for more than two weeks…
March 18, 2019 PDF
RESEP PhD student, Nangamso Mtsatse, in the global spotlight for literacy research
Nangamso Mtsatse, a RESEP PhD student, has been named as one of the world's top 30 rising young leaders (under 30 years of age) in…
March 6, 2019 PDF
Applications open: 2019 Bursary award to support a registered Masters’ student with an interest in education research or the economics of education
Deadline: 19 April 2019 About the award: Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) is pleased to announce the availability of a bursary to support a currently…
March 5, 2019 PDF
The Politics & Governance of Basic Education: Applying the 2018 World Development Report to South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 February 2019
February 26, 2019 PDF
Hijacked by the urgent we neglect the important (SA Budget 2019)
RESEP researcher Nic Spaull unpacks the implications of the 2019 South African Budget, with a focus on education in particular.
February 21, 2019 PDF
Early Lead Exposure and Outcomes in Adulthood
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 February 2019
February 19, 2019 PDF
An analysis of poverty declines and dynamics in Namibia using 3 waves of cross-sectional data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 February 2019
February 12, 2019 PDF
Measuring leadership and management and their linkages with literacy in rural and township primary schools in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 February 2019
February 5, 2019 PDF
Using satellite data to assess the impact of agricultural minimum wages in South Africa
January 29, 2019 PDF
RESEP contributes to international debates on monitoring of SDG learning proficiency goals
RESEP members often collaborate in a number of ways with the international bodies that oversee policy and service delivery trends across the world. These bodies…
January 11, 2019 PDF
Sectoral minimum wages in South Africa: disemployment by firm size and trade exposure
This paper measures the impact of South African minimum wages on small and large firm employment in a sector that is exposed to international competition…
January 10, 2019 PDF
RESEP members recognised for chapter contribution on systems approach to education research
RESEP team members have been acknowledged for highlighting the value of a systems approach to education research.
January 8, 2019 PDF
Leadership for Literacy: Final Report on the Case Study Schools
Leadership for Literacy Exploring leadership practices in township and rural primary schools serving poor communities in South Africa Final Report on the Case Study Schools
January 7, 2019 PDF
School leadership and local learning contexts in South Africa
ZUZE TL & JUAN A. (2018) School leadership and local learning contexts in South Africa. Educational Management Administration & Leadership.
December 10, 2018 PDF
Bullies, victims and bully-victims in South African schools: Examining the risk factors
JUAN A, ZUZE TL, HANNAN S, GOVENDER A & REDDY V. Bullies, victims and bully-victims in South African schools: Examining the risk factors. South African Journal…
December 10, 2018 PDF
Measuring leadership and management and their linkages with literacy in rural and township primary schools in South Africa
This paper describes a rigorous process to develop and trial new metrics for measuring and codifying school leadership and management practices and processes that are…
December 4, 2018 PDF
Addressing the ‘leadership conundrum’ through a mixed methods study of school leadership for literacy
This paper explores methodological insights from a mixed methods study that aims to understand how school leaders promote literacy development in their schools.
December 2, 2018 PDF
RESEP’s Dr Nic Spaull contributes to presidential roundtable discussion
Dr Nic Spaull, Senior Researcher in the Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP) group in the Department of Economics, spoke about the importance of restoring our…
November 30, 2018 PDF
Academic Resilience in Challenging Contexts: Evidence From Township and Rural Primary Schools in South Africa
Poverty is considered a risk factor that jeopardizes children’s academic performance. However, even in high-poverty contexts there are students who manage to achieve consistently good…
November 23, 2018 PDF
Global nonprofit chains and the challenges of development aid contracting
Burger, R., Owens, T. and Prakash, A., 2018, October. Global Non-Profit Chains and the Challenges of Development Aid Contracting. In Nonprofit Policy Forum (Vol. 9, No. 4).…
November 14, 2018 PDF
Explaining the Western Cape performance paradox: An econometric analysis
Wills, G., Shepherd, D., and Kotze, J. (2018). Explaining the Western Cape performance paradox: An econometric analysis, in The Politics and Governance of Basic Education: A…
November 8, 2018 PDF
Understanding language in education and grade 4 reading performance using a ‘natural experiment’ of Botswana and South Africa
Shepherd, D.L. (2018). Understanding language in education and grade 4 reading performance using a 'natural experiment' of Botswana and South Africa. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, Special Issue:…
October 8, 2018 PDF
RESEP alumni, Laura Rossouw, published in top-rated journal
RESEP PhD alumni, Laura Rossouw, has published one of her PhD chapters in the latest issue of top-rated demography journal, Demography.
October 8, 2018 PDF
Quantitative Education Research Conference 2018
RESEP's annual, two-day conference on Quantitative Applications in Education Research was held on 6 and 7 September 2018 in Stellenbosch
September 14, 2018 PDF
Measuring Quality Gaps in TB Screening in South Africa Using Standardised Patient Analysis
Christian, C., Gerdtham, U.G., Hompashe, D., Smith, A. and Burger, R., 2018. Measuring quality gaps in TB screening in South Africa using standardised patient analysis.…
September 6, 2018 PDF
RESEP website launch
It's been a while in the making, but we are very excited to announce that the day has finally arrived: RESEP's new website is now…
September 5, 2018 PDF
New policy briefs: September
RESEP's most recent policy briefs are now available for download.
September 5, 2018 PDF
Exploring how school leaders promote literacy improvements
The performance of South African learners in reading comprehension is extremely poor. The Progress in International Literacy and Reading Study (2016) highlighted that by the…
September 4, 2018 PDF
School leadership and local learning contexts in South Africa
The role of the school principal in South African schools has evolved. No longer are they only seen as managers and administrators; they are also…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Structural inequalities in school leadership and management across South African schools
In the National Development Plan strengthening the quality of school leadership and management was identified as a priority to support improvements in South African basic…
September 4, 2018 PDF
The possibility of improvements despite a lack of existing high-quality no-fee primary schools
The low quality of South African schooling has been widely confirmed through international tests of mathematics and literacy. The 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Creating reading fluency benchmarks in African languages
Learning to read for meaning is the most important skill that children learn in primary school. If a child cannot read well, then they will…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Academic resilience in challenging school contexts in South Africa
Poverty is considered a risk factor that jeopardizes children’s academic performance. Yet even in high poverty contexts there are students who manage to achieve consistently…
September 4, 2018 PDF
A survey of Early Childhood Development Centres in Namibia
Unicef Namibia and the Namibian Ministry of Gender Equity and Child Welfare engaged RESEP to conduct this study. Dr. Chris van Wyk advised and assisted…
August 11, 2018 PDF
Investment Trends Report: Financial Trends in Post-school Education and Training
In 2018, RESEP was contracted by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) via the National Skills Fund to draft an Investment Trends report.
August 1, 2018 PDF
World Bank commissioned RESEP paper now available
A paper by RESEP’s Servaas van der Berg and Heleen Hofmeyr, titled “An incomplete transition – overcoming the legacy of exclusion in South Africa”, is…
July 23, 2018 PDF
Instructional leadership and academic performance: Eastern Cape educators’ perceptions and quantitative evidence
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2018 Publication date: July 2018 Abstract: This study aims to explore the experiences and perceptions of school educators on how…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Using satellite data to track socio-economic outcomes: a case study of Namibia
Efforts to improve the livelihoods of the poor in sub-Saharan Africa are hindered by data deficiencies. Surveys on socio-economic outcomes, for example, are generally conducted…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Bridging the intention-behavior gap? The effect of plan-making prompts on job search and employment
We test the effects of plan-making on job search and employment. In a field experiment with unemployed youths, participants who complete a detailed job search…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Integrating Indicators of Education Quantity and Quality in Six Francophone African Countries
Research and policy-making in education have historically focused on quantitative measures of education when assessing the state of education across countries.
July 19, 2018 PDF
Understanding the sharp primary level enrolment increases beginning in 2011
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2018 Publication date: May 2018 Abstract: Enrolments at the primary level in South Africa increased sharply from around 2011. Over…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Does education enhance productivity in smallholder agriculture? Causal evidence from Malawi
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2018 Publication date: March 2018 Abstract: Malawi is a low-income country where the majority of the poor live and work…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Bargaining to work: the effect of female autonomy on female labour supply
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2018 Publication date: March 2018 Abstract: Female labour supply is an important outcome for measuring gender equality and is therefore…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Home background and schooling outcomes in South Africa: Insights from the National Income Dynamics Study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2018 Publication date: January 2018 Abstract: Patterns of poverty and inequality in South Africa are largely sustained by differential educational…
July 19, 2018 PDF
The ‘Martha Effect’: The compounding female advantage in South African higher education
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2017 Publication date: November 2017 Abstract: In this paper we use population-wide panel data to follow every South African student…
July 16, 2018 PDF
The effect of old age pensions on child deprivation: revisiting the role of gender
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2017 Publication date: October 2017 Abstract: Existing work suggests that the South African state old age pension, through, increasing female…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Gender, Self-concept and Mathematics and Science Performance of South African Grade 9 Students
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2017 Publication date: October 2017 Abstract: Despite improvements over the past decade, South African women continue to be underrepresented in…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Migration and gender in South Africa: following bright lights and the fortunes of others?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2017 Publication date: September 2017 Abstract: Internal migration in South Africa has a strong gender dimension. Historically, the apartheid-era migrant…
July 16, 2018 PDF
The effect of neighbourhoods and school quality on education and labour market outcomes in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2017 Publication date: September 2017 Abstract: This study evaluates the relative importance of family, neighbourhood and school quality in explaining…
July 16, 2018 PDF
The value of reference letters
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06/2017 Publication date: June 2017 Abstract: We show that reference letters from former employers alleviate information asymmetries about workers’ skills…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Succeeding against the odds: A quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of IkamvaYouth
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2017 Publication date: June 2017 Abstract: The work presented here is essentially an update to the previous evaluation conducted by…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Building bridges or deepening divides: Resources and formal volunteering in post-apartheid South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2017 Publication date: May 2017 Abstract: This study investigates volunteering in a highly unequal society. It uses post-apartheid South Africa…
July 16, 2018 PDF
What do you mean by ‘good’? The search for exceptional primary schools in South Africa’s no-fee school system
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP16/2017 Publication date: December 2017 Abstract: This paper describes a rigorous data collection process to find and verify the quality…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Rotten apples or just apples and pears? Understanding patterns consistent with cheating in international test data
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2017 Publication date: December 2017 Abstract: The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) programme has succeeded…
July 16, 2018 PDF
RESEP’s Short Course Training
The Department of Higher Education Training (DHET) course is funded by UNICEF. The course, which is a Stellenbosch University accredited short course, typically lasts two…
July 16, 2018 PDF
Access to learning in Francophone Africa: Combining measures of schooling access and quality for comparable estimates across countries and over time
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 June 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
Exposure to international trade, private standards and labour law compliance: the case of agricultural minimum wages in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenboach 19 June 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
Understanding the effects of Land Reform in Data Scarce Context
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 June 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
Expropriation with compensation: The 1834 slave emancipation and intergenerational outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 22 MAY, 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
Poverty dynamics and life trajectories in urban South Africa: A mixed methods investigation
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 May 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
Measurement of earnings: Comparing South African tax and survey data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 April 2018
July 12, 2018 PDF
RESEP’s Prof. van der Berg undertakes new work for World Bank in Lesotho
Servaas van der Berg has recently undertaken some work for the World Bank in Lesotho as part of a Public Expenditure Review.
July 9, 2018 PDF
The long walk: Considering the enduring spatial and racial dimensions of deprivation two decades after the fall of apartheid
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2015 Abstract: This study examines the enduring spatial and racial dimensions of poverty and deprivation in South Africa to assess…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Principal leadership changes in South Africa: Investigating their consequences for school performance
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2016 Abstract: A rising number of school leadership changes have been occurring in South African schools as a large proportion…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Teacher supply and the quality of schooling in South Africa. Patterns over space and time
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2016 Abstract: The paper addresses policy questions in South Africa’s education system using a newly merged 1999 to 2013 panel…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Treating schools to a new administration: Evidence from South Africa of the impact of better practices in the system-level administration of schools
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2016 Abstract: School examination results are far from ideal measures of progress in schooling systems, yet if analysed with sufficient…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Institutional wage-setting, labour demand and labour supply: causal estimates from a South African pseudo-panel
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2016 Abstract: Unemployment in South Africa has been attributed to multiple causes. Wages have grown faster than productivity to reduce…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Graduate unemployment and Higher Education Institutions in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2016 Abstract: The emerging consensus regarding high and rising levels of graduate unemployment in South Africa in recent years has…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Wage flexibility in a high unemployment regime: spatial heterogeneity and the size of local labour markets
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2016 Abstract: Whereas some previous microeconometric evidence suggests that wage setters in South Africa are highly responsive to external local…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Interrogating a Paradox of Performance in the WCED: A Provincial and Regional Comparison of Student Learning
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2016 Abstract: The Western Cape, one of South Africa’s better performing provinces in terms of educational outcomes, has a relatively…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Higher Education Access and Outcomes for the 2008 National Matric Cohort
This study uses a unique dataset to investigate university access, throughput, and dropout for the 2008 national matric cohort. The findings show that university access…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Disentangling the language effect in South African schools: Measuring the impact of ‘language of assessment’ in grade 3 literacy and numeracy
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP19/2016 Abstract: The aim of this paper is to exploit an unusual occurrence whereby a large group of South African…
July 4, 2018 PDF
Funda Wande: Teaching Reading for Meaning
The “Funda Wande: Teaching Reading for Meaning” project aims to help address the fact that most (58%) South African children don't read for meaning, by developing a…
July 2, 2018 PDF
UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) commissions RESEP’s Chris van Wyk
In 2017, RESEP's Chris van Wyk was commissioned by UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), as the lead consultant to develop training materials and methodological tools…
June 25, 2018 PDF
Treating schools to a new administration: Evidence of the impact of better practices in the system-level administration of schools
Gustafsson, M. and Taylor, S., 2018. Treating Schools to a New Administration: Evidence of the Impact of Better Practices in the System-Level Administration of Schools.…
May 7, 2018 PDF
Behavioural responses of taxpayers to Voluntary Disclosure Programmes: the case of South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 March 2018
April 30, 2018 PDF
A structural approach to modelling employment transitioning in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 6 March 2018
April 30, 2018 PDF
Bargaining to work: the effect of female autonomy on female labour supply
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 February 2018
April 30, 2018 PDF
Social class wage penalties and education: Cross-sectional evidence and its implications for policy
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 December 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
TB mystery patient work and user-based measures
STIAS, Stellenbosch 7 November 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Interdisciplinary/Transdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience of Poverty: Research Gaps in Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 October 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Informal settlements and social mobility in post-apartheid South Africa: a longitudinal perspective in a low-growth environment
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 October 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Who went to the Clinic? Lessons from Mission Hospital Patient Registers in Uganda, 1908-70
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 October 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Migration and gender in South Africa: following bright lights and the fortunes of others?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 October 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Labour market outcomes and sexual orientation: An analysis of the South African labour market
STIAS, Stellenbosch 22 August 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
The effect of old age pensions on child depravation: revisiting the role of gender
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 August 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Firms & Skills Constraints: Evidence from eThekwini
STIAS, Stellenbosch 8 August 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Evaluating the quality of TB screening in South Africa: preliminary pilot results
STIAS, Stellenbosch 1 August 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
What role can curriculum and language play in performance differences in maths and science?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 July 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Is Matric still Matric? Generational shifts in labour market earnings
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 June 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Bridging the Learning Gaps in South Africa’s Public Education System – The Role of School Funding
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 June 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Are female farmers more vulnerable to climate change? Evidence from Ghana
STIAS, Stellenbosch 6 June 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Imperfect information and the wage-gap for South African men: statistical discrimination, employer learning and labour market signalling
STIAS, Stellenbosch 30 May 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Examining rural development through qualitative-quantitative integrated livelihoods-analysis in the Eastern Cape
STIAS, Stellenbosch 23 May 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
The use of satellite data to measure socio-economic outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 9 May 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
South African employment trends: how reliable are the different data sources?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 May 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Focused antenatal care and low birth-weight deliveries in Malawi
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 April 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Who makes it into PISA? Understanding the impact of PISA sample eligibility using Turkey as a case study (PISA 2003 – PISA 2012)
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 April 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Using Remote Sensing Data to Estimate the Effects of Land Reform in Developing Countries: Evidence from Zimbabwe
STIAS, Stellenbosch 4 April 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
A public expenditure review of school education in Namibia
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 March 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
An Econometric Method for Estimating Population Parameters from Non-Random Samples: An Application to Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Testing Data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 14 March 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Non-profit accountability in a disconnected and divided South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 February 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
It’s only a cough: exploring the health-seeking behaviour of persons who cough for more than two weeks
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 February 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
The effect of plan-making prompts on job search and employment: Evidence from a South African randomised control trial
STIAS, Stellenbosch 14 February 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
The short- and medium-term impacts of the Roving Caregivers Programme in St Lucia on early childhood cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 7 February 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
Unequal households, unequal schools, and the consequences for education outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 31 January 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
How context matters: hierarchical, patronage and horizontal governance of basic education in the Western and Eastern Cape
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 January 2017
April 30, 2018 PDF
The relationship between hospital accreditation scores and health outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 December 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Economic Evaluation in a clinical trial to reduce transmission of MDR-TB in paediatric patients in South Africa (TB Champs): proposed approach and identified challenges
STIAS, Stellenbosch 1 November 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Home background and educational outcomes: An analysis using NIDS
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 October 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Estimating the wage returns to experience and tenure for South African workers
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 October 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Instructional leadership in South African schools: Educators’ perceptions
STIAS, Stellenbosch 4 October 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Political culture and participation in South Africa: The role of socio-economic factors
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 September 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Cooperation, transaction cost and heterogeneous saving-consumption response: Evidence from a natural experiment
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 September 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
From Matric into and through university: Higher Education access and outcomes in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 16 September 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Negative household events and depressive symptoms: Evidence from an unequal developing country
STIAS, Stellenbosch 30 August 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Reference Letters and Youth Unemployment: Evidence from a Randomised Control Trial
STIAS, Stellenbosch 23 August 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Gender-specific costs and benefits to internal migration: a spatially filtered zero-inflated gravity model
STIAS, Stellenbosch 16 August 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Assessing mental health and disorder in cultural context: some
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 August 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Access to the counselling & testing services: comparing non-governmental community based and public Primary Healthcare services in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 July 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Interrogating the paradox of performance in the WCED: Provincial and regional comparisons of student learning
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 July 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Focused antenatal care in Malawi: How did the policy affect antenatal care utilization among pregnant women
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 June 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
The Prevalence of Cheating in National Standardised Assessments in South African Schools / Applying the Jacob and Levitt (2003) method to the Annual National Assessments of 2013
STIAS, Stellenbosch 14 June 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
The curious incident of a positive health shock: measuring the impact of ARV rollout on health improvements in South Africa, 2006 – 2012”
STIAS, Stellenbosch 7 June 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Can we Measure changes in Social Welfare from Outer Space? Nightlights luminosity vs Surface Reflectance Data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 31 May 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
The effect of neighbourhoods and school quality on education performance and wages in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 10 May 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Health-related quality of life and its association with medication adherence in tuberculosis – an integrative patient-centred outcomes approach
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 May 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Understanding the GBV in SDG 5: what is GBV and why is it so important to address?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 March 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Minimum wages in a tradable sector: are small firms more vulnerable?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 April 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
Evaluating the benefits of a dialogic shared reading intervention as a way of improving early child development and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals
STIAS, Stellenbosch 29 March 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
School functionality: Finding Ways to Make Schools Work & The wage path of South African men under labour market uncertainty and employer learning
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 March 2016
April 30, 2018 PDF
The rise and fall of mortality inequality in South Africa in the HIV era
Haal, K., Smith, A. and van Doorslaer, E., 2018. The rise and fall of mortality inequality in South Africa in the HIV era. SSM-population health, 5, pp.239-248.
April 29, 2018 PDF
Human resources for health planning and National Health Insurance: the urgency and the opportunity
Smith, A., Ranchod, S., Strugnell, D. and Wishnia, J., 2018. Human resources for health planning and National Health Insurance: the urgency and the opportunity. South African…
April 29, 2018 PDF
Using mystery patients to measure quality of healthcare in the Western Cape
STIAS, Stellenbosch 16 February 2016
April 25, 2018 PDF
The Big Push Toward Universal Health Coverage: Metrics, Data, and Impact
STIAS, Stellenbosch 9 February 2016
April 25, 2018 PDF
It depends which side you are on: understanding the role that language in education plays in Grade 4 reading performance using a “natural experiment” of Botswana and South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 February 2016
April 25, 2018 PDF
Developing and testing interventions to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes: initial results from the Thula Baba Box experiment
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 January 2016
April 25, 2018 PDF
Provincial administrations, post provisioning and small school questions
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 January 2016
April 25, 2018 PDF
Significant others: The effects of cash transfers on reciprocal relations in Ghana
STIAS, Stellenbosch 8 December 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Multidimensional poverty in South Africa between 2008 and 2012
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 November 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Multidimensional transfer trouble: an overview
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 November 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
“Do Education and Income Really Explain Inequalities in Health? Applying a Twin Design”
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 November 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Spatial location and education outcome in Cape Town – a cohort analysis
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 October 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Education Intervention: Estimating the Effectiveness of Ikamva Youth
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 October 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Affirmative action policies and the South African racial wage gap
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 October 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Does insurance affect health care utilisation if the health system is polarised? Evidence from a South African marginal treatment effect analysis
STIAS, Stellenbosch 29 September 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Exploring Public Spending on Education Patterns: What Does the Contemporary Literature Tell Us about the Role of Macroeconomic Factors
STIAS, Stellenbosch 22 September 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Institutional wage-setting, labour demand and labour supply: estimates from a South African pseudo-panel
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 September 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
An analysis of learner performance using the Western Cape CEMIS data
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 August 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Measuring financial vulnerability amongst NGOs: An empirical study of Ugandan organisations
STIAS, Stellenbosch 11 August 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
A comparable yardstick: Adjusting for vulnerability bias in self-reported user satisfaction scores for health facility visits
STIAS, Stellenbosch 4 August 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Not worth the paper it’s written on: Self-reported information and the pursuit of improved governance and accountability
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 July 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
A Profile of the Labour Market for School Principals in South Africa: Evidence to Inform Policy
April 25, 2018 PDF
The effects of short vs long term unemployment on subjective well-being in South Africa – De Waal I feel good! The relationship between emotional well-being and health for poor individuals in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 23 June 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Getting a Job: A study of South African Graduate Job Search Strategies
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 June 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Month of birth and later outcomes: Evidence from South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 May 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Estimating true multi-drug resistant tuberculosis prevalence rates: new results from a simulated maximum likelihood estimator
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 May 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Measuring economic mobility in Namibia using repeated cross-sections
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 May 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Agricultural minimum wages: an update after the 2012 farmworker strikes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 5 May 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Which factors drive the location of microfinance institutions? Evidence from Peru
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 April 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
The effect of neighbourhood on wage and school outcomes where it matters
STIAS, Stellenbosch 14 April 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
The impact of language on learning in primary schools: some preliminary results
STIAS, Stellenbosch 31 March 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Ramadan Induced School Holidays as a Natural Experiment: Impacts of Seasonality on School Enrollment Rates in Bangladesh
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 March 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Labour law and the economy: Views from the other side of Ryneveld Street
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 March 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
The impact of the agricultural minimum wage on farmworker employment in South Africa: A fixed effects approach.
STIAS, Stellenbosch 10 March 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Teacher graduate production in South Africa: Insights from HEMIS
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 March 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Examining the impact of insurance on health care utilisation and provider choice using a natural experiment in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 24 February 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
How to stimulate single mothers on welfare to find a job; evidence from a natural experiment
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 February 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
I did not know I was pregnant: late access to antenatal care in metropolitan Cape Town
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 May 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Small-scale farming and hunger: the enabling role of social assistance programmes in South Africa’s former homelands
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 February 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
Discrimination in the Informal Sector: Evidence from Online Labor Markets in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 January 2015
April 25, 2018 PDF
The Thula Baba Box Project: Evaluating the impact of health resources and community health worker support on antenatal behaviour and health knowledge
STIAS, Stellenbosch 9 December 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
South Africa’s changing space economy and migration patterns: Implications for the new National Spatial Framework
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 November 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Education, Skills and Inequality in the Labor Market
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 November 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Quantifying educational inequality: an application of Finite Mixture Modeling using TIMSS 2011 / Janet Graaff: Governance of South African No-Fee Schools: preliminary insights to be gained from qualitative and quantitative analysis
STIAS, Stellenbosch 13 November 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Motherhood and Female Labour Force Participation: new evidence on Agüero and Marks
STIAS, Stellenbosch 4 November 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Poverty and place in South Africa between 2001 and 2011
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 October 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
A socio-economic analysis of the determinants of settler fertility: New evidence from South Africa, 1700-1910
STIAS, Stellenbosch 30 September 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Teacher qualification outputs at South African Universities
STIAS, Stellenbosch 23 September 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Incentives for qualified teachers in Namibia’s remote schools
STIAS, Stellenbosch 2 September 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Convenience samples, front-row forwards and the puzzle of English military recruits in the Anglo-Boer War
STIAS, Stellenbosch 26 August 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Assessing lack of common support in causal inference using Bayesian Nonparametric: application for the effect of attending a historically advantaged school
STIAS, Stellenbosch 19 August 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Understanding, measuring and exploring unpaid care work
STIAS, Stellenbosch 12 August 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
South Africa’s Principal Labour Market: Principal Transitions and their Effects on Secondary School Outcomes
STIAS, Stellenbosch 29 July 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Spatial comparisons of multidimensional poverty and inequality in Malawi
STIAS, Stellenbosch 22 July 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
The impact of teacher characteristics on student performance: an analysis using hierarchical linear modelling
STIAS, Stellenbosch 17 June 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Returns to education in agricultural productivity in Malawi – An instrumental variable approach
STIAS, Stellenbosch 10 June 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Testing Numeric: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial of a computer based mathematics intervention in Cape Town High Schools
STIAS, Stellenbosch 3 June 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Jobs come and Go, but the Family will always be there
STIAS, Stellenbosch 27 May 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Have workers been winners or losers since the end of apartheid?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 May 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Economic mobility and measurement error in South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 6 May 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Health perceptions in South Africa: testing for racial reporting heterogeneity in self-assessed health measures
STIAS, Stellenbosch 15 April 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Explaining employment trends through job creation and job destruction
STIAS, Stellenbosch 25 March 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
HIV-related discrimination among Grade Six pupils in nine Southern African countries
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 March 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
How binding are family bonds? Estimating models of intra-household bargaining for South Africa
STIAS, Stellenbosch 11 March 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Learning what mattes: a boosted regression tree approach to school production modelling
STIAS, Stelelnbosch 25 February 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Regional Perspectives of Multidimensional Poverty
STIAS, Stellenbosch 18 February 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Subsistence Agriculture and Education in Malawi: Preliminary findings
STIAS, Stellenbosch 11 February 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
Rising inequalities in income and health in China: Who is left behind?
STIAS, Stellenbosch 28 January 2014
April 25, 2018 PDF
PSPPD (Programme to Support Pro-poor Policy Development) Workshop
STIAS, Stellenbosch 21 November 2016
April 16, 2018 PDF
Long-run spatial inequality in South Africa: early settlement patterns and separate development
Von Fintel, D.P., 2018. Long-run spatial inequality in South Africa: early settlement patterns and separate development. Studies in Economics and Econometrics, 42(2), pp.81-102.
April 16, 2018 PDF
Who makes it into PISA? Understanding the impact of sample eligibility using Turkey as a case study (PISA 2003- PISA 2012)
Spaull, N. (2017) Who makes it into PISA? Understanding the impact of sample eligibility using Turkey as a case study (PISA 2003- PISA 2012). OECD…
March 13, 2018 PDF
RISE-RESEP Workshop
RESEP hosted researchers from Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) for the Africa RISE–RESEP Conference on Education Research at Stellenbosch University. Over the two day conference,…
March 1, 2018 PDF
Investigating the Comprehension Iceberg: Developing empirical benchmarks for early grade reading in agglutinating African languages
RESEP Working Paper Series No.WP01/2018 Publication date: February 2018 Abstract: The importance of learning to read in mother-tongue is widely acknowledged in the linguistics literature yet…
February 22, 2018 PDF
Leading for literacy: A review of the research
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No.WP03/2018 Publication date: December 2018 Abstract: A significant body of literature converges on the notion that school leadership and management practices…
February 7, 2018 PDF
RESEP Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity
Research on development issues in an African context. Analysis of household data sets, with a particular focus on poverty and labour market outcomes.
November 23, 2017 PDF
RESEP report on flows from matric to, and through, university enriching debate around student fees
Recent research looking at “higher education access and outcomes for the 2008 national matric cohort”, by Hendrik van Broekhuizen, Servaas van der Berg and Heleen…
November 6, 2017 PDF
A review of the research literature on teaching and learning in the foundation phase in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05.2016 Abstract: This document reports the findings of a review of research on teaching and learning at the Foundation Phase…
October 18, 2017 PDF
An Analysis of the Grade 3 Department of Basic Education workbooks as curriculum tools
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06.2016 Abstract: Since 2011 the Department of Basic Education (DBE), has provided all Grade 1 to 6 learners in public…
October 18, 2017 PDF
Language and Grade 4 reading literacy achievement in prePIRLS 2011
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07.2016 Abstract: The aim of this paper is to illustrate South African Grade 4 learner reading literacy achievement by utilising…
October 18, 2017 PDF
Governance in the Poorer Public Schools in South Africa from the Perspective of the Parent Governor
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08.2016 Abstract: Elected parent governors constitute the majority on the school governing bodies in South Africa’s public schools, yet their…
October 18, 2017 PDF
Issues in South African Social Security
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2002 Abstract: This paper, originally written at the time of the political transition, provides an overview of social security issues…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Earnings functions, labour market discrimination and quality of education in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP02/2002 Abstract: Education is a key determinant of earnings, as several South African studies have confirmed. Years of schooling completed,…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Changing Patterns of South African income distribution: Towards time series estimates of distribution and poverty
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP02/2003 Abstract: Research on income distribution in South Africa has, for obvious reasons, focused on inter-racial (inter-group) income distribution. Quite…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Household Formation, Poverty and Unemployment – The Case of Rural Households in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2004 Abstract: The paper examines household formation and composition decisions within the context of risk reduction and risk mitigation strategies…
October 17, 2017 PDF
A Multidimensional Analysis of Poverty in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2004 Abstract: This paper sets out the reasoning behind the fuzzy set approach to poverty measurement as a means to…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Trends in poverty and inequality since the political transition
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2005 Abstract: Using a constructed data series and another data series based on AMPS (the All Media and Products Survey),…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Examining the Robustness of Competing Explanations of Slow Growth in African Countries
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2006 Abstract: This research challenges previous findings regarding the robustness of the African growth dummy by expanding the list of…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Returns to Race: Labour Market Discrimination in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2006 Abstract: This paper empirically assesses the impact of post-1994 policy making on racial discrimination in the South African labour…
October 17, 2017 PDF
How effective are poor schools? Poverty and educational outcomes in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06/2006 Abstract: Massive differentials on achievement tests and examinations reflect South Africa’s divided past. Improving the distribution of educational outcomes…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Earnings bracket obstacles in household surveys – How sharp are the tools in the shed?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2006 Abstract: Earnings functions form the basis of numerous labour market analyses. Non-response (particularly among higher earners) may, however, lead…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Educational attainment and intergenerational social mobility in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2006 Abstract: To a large degree, the notoriously high levels of income inequality in South Africa have their roots in…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Wage trends in post-apartheid South Africa: Constructing an earnings series from household survey data
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP10/2006 Abstract: This paper examines South African wage earnings trends using all the available post-1994 household survey datasets. This allows…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The South African poor white problem in the early 20th century: Lessons for poverty today
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2006 Abstract: The causes of the poor white problem, first noted at a Dutch Reformed Church Synod in 1886, were…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Using the hierarchical linear model to understand school production in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2007 Abstract: The emphasis placed in the existing South African school production function literature on better skilled teachers and better…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Consumption patterns and the black middle class: The role of assets
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP02/2007 Abstract: Black consumption patterns differ from those of whites, even when considering income levels and household size. This applies…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Poverty and inequality effects of a high growth scenario in South Africa: A dynamic microsimulation CGE analysis
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2007 Abstract: The debate about the consequences of economic growth on poverty and welfare was recently rekindled in South Africa…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The changing face of public funding of higher education, with special reference to South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2007 Abstract: Higher education displays characteristics of both private and public goods and there is a trend worldwide to expect…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Post-transition poverty trends based on an alternative data source
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2007 Abstract: This paper analyses a previously unused source of data – the All Media and Product Survey (AMPS) –…
October 17, 2017 PDF
A series of national accounts-consistent estimates of poverty and inequality in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2007 Abstract: This paper makes a unique contribution to the South African literature in combining data from an alternative source…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Lessons learnt from SACMEQII: South African student performance in regional context
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP16/2007 Abstract: In regional context, South African students benefit from above average levels of public and private education resources. However,…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The comparability of the Statistics South Africa October Household Surveys and Labour Force Surveys
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2007 Abstract: Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been collecting labour market data with household surveys and in a fairly…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The South African informal sector (1997 – 2006)
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2008 Abstract: According to the 2006 September Labour Force Survey, approximately 22% of the employed (excluding domestic workers and agricultural…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Poverty in South Africa: A profile based on recent household surveys
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2008 Abstract: This paper provides a non-technical, snapshot-like profile of poverty in South Africa based on two surveys recently conducted…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The South African labour market: 1995 – 2006
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2008 Abstract: Given the importance of the labour market to economic activity in any country, it is important to correctly…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Post-Apartheid Trends in Gender Discrimination in South Africa: Analysis through Decomposition Techniques
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06/2008 Abstract: Using appropriate econometric methods and 11 representative household surveys, this paper empirically assesses the extent and evolution of…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The comparability of Income and Expenditure Surveys 1995, 2000 and 2005/2006
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2008 Abstract: The Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) between September 2005 and August…
October 17, 2017 PDF
How invariant is South African child poverty to the choice of equivalence scale or poverty measure?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2008 Abstract: This paper offers evidence on the sensitivity of child poverty in South Africa to changes in the Adult…
October 17, 2017 PDF
What we can learn from a comparison of the schooling systems of South Africa and Argentina
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2008 Abstract: An existing accounting framework to describe an education system is elaborated and used as a framework for understanding…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Sample selection bias and the South African wage function
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP18/2008 Abstract: Conventional wage analyses suffers from a debilitating ailment: since there are no observable market wages for individuals who…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Alternative definitions of informal sector employment in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP21/2008 Abstract: Before the introduction of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Effect of changes in state funding of higher education on higher education output in South Africa: 1986-2007
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP24/2008 Abstract: During the last two decades state funding of higher education in South Africa has decreased substantially (especially if…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The importance of socio-economic status in determining educational achievement in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2009 Abstract: The needs to find ways of lifting people out of poverty and to transform the existing patterns of…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Teacher pay in South Africa: How attractive is the teaching profession?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2009 Abstract: Educational quality is a challenged facing the South African schooling system. It is widely acknowledged that teachers play…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The impact of teacher characteristics on student performance: An analysis using hierarchical linear modelling
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2009 Abstract: More than a decade after South Africa’s transition from apartheid, the racially delineated picture of education in the…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The comparability of Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS)
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2009 Abstract: Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been collecting labour market data since 1993 with the October Household Survey…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Fiscal incidence of social spending in South Africa, 2006
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP10/2009 Abstract: Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been collecting labour market data since 1993 with the October Household Survey…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The fiscal incidence of provision of free basic water
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2009 Abstract: A policy of free basic services (water, sanitation and electricity) was introduced by the government in 2000 to…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Main Findings on Free Basic Services from National Treasury Fiscal Incidence Report
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2009 Abstract: This study analyses the extent to which the poor benefit from Free Basic Services (FBS), which include free…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Poverty, Inequality and the Role of Social Grants: An Analysis using Decomposition Techniques
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15/2009 Abstract: Despite South Africa’s transition from apartheid in 1994, the social landscape is still fragmented along racial lines. However,…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Poverty trends since the transition: What we know
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP19/2009 Abstract: Using alternative data sources on income and poverty with a shorter time lag makes it possible to discern…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The comparability of Census 1996, Census 2001 and Community Survey 2007
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP21/2009 Abstract: Census 1996 and Census 2001 are the only all-inclusive censuses conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) under…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Determining the Causes of the Rising South African Unemployment Rate: An Age, Period and Generational Analysis
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP24/2009 Abstract: This paper takes advantage of the wealth of cross-sectional household surveys conducted after South Africa’s political transition, in…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Measuring the impact of social cash transfers on poverty and inequality in Namibia
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP25/2009 Abstract: This paper reviews the system for social cash transfers in Namibia, a middle-income country with a long experience…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Managing the teacher pay system: What the local and international data are telling us
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP26/2009 Abstract: A review of a few input-output models indicates the importance of teacher ability, which may be independent of…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Who Responds to Voluntary Cognitive Tests in Household Surveys? The Role of Labour Market Status, Respondent Confidence, Motivation and a Culture of Learning in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP27/2010 Abstract: Both South Africa’s labour market and education system were directly influenced by the separate development policies of the…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Signalling performance: Continuous assessment and matriculation examination marks in South African schools
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP28/2010 Abstract: Economists regard information and feedback as important ways for self-correction in a system. This study analyses one aspect…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Poverty and inequality trends in South Africa using different survey data
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2010 Abstract: There is an abundance of literature adopting the monetary approach (i.e., using per capita income or expenditure variables)…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Policy note on pre-primary schooling: An empirical contribution to the 2009 Medium Term Strategic Framework
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2010 Abstract: Various data analysis approaches are used to gauge recent pre-primary enrolment trends in South Africa and the level…
October 17, 2017 PDF
South Africa’s economics of education: A stocktaking and an agenda for the way forward
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06/2010 Abstract: The paper reviews some of the existing economics of education literature from the perspective of South Africa’s education…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Defining and measuring informal employment in South Africa: A review of recent approaches
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2010 Abstract: This paper reviews the Stats SA methodologies to measure informal employment before and after the introduction of the…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The impact of the international economic crisis on child poverty in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2010 Abstract: This paper reports on a study to provide insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the…
October 17, 2017 PDF
The costs of illiteracy in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP14/2010 Abstract: In South Africa, there has been a surge in publicly funded adult literacy education in recent years. There…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Efficiency and equity effects of social grants in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15/2010 Abstract: This paper discusses the nature and effects of social grants programmes in South Africa against the backdrop of…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Human Resource Inputs and Educational Outcomes in Botswana’s Schools: Evidence from SACMEQ and TIMMS
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP16/2010 Abstract: This study explores the important relationship between policy variables that represent a school’s human resources and product variables…
October 17, 2017 PDF
Social assistance reform during a period of fiscal stress
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP17/2010 Abstract: This paper reflects on the current state and likely future of the South African social assistance system, focusing…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Identifying Binding Constraints in Education
Synthesis Report for the Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD) This research report provides an overview of a large research project undertaken by a…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Current poverty and income distribution in the context of South African history
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP22/2010 Abstract: This paper describes and analyses current poverty and income distribution in South Africa, with a central concern the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
When the remedy is worse than the disease: Adjusting survey income data for price differentials, with special reference to Mozambique
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP24/2010 Abstract: In using survey data for money metric analysis of poverty and well-being, it is customary to adjust either…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Teacher pay in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP26/2010 Abstract: The role of teachers in achieving good quality education is universally acknowledged. What is less clear is what…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Constraints to school effectiveness: what prevents poor schools from delivering results?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2011 Abstract: The poor state of quality education in South Africa is confirmed by the weak performance of South African…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Quantitative and qualitative aspects of education in South Africa: An analysis using the National Income Dynamic Study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP06/2011 Abstract: Based on a graphical and statistical analysis of the National Income Dynamic Study (NIDS), this paper provides a…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Quality of education and the labour market: A conceptual and literature overview
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2011 Abstract: In South Africa earnings inequality between races still persists despite the convergence of educational attainment between races. There…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The performance of South African schools: Implications for economic development
Abstract: At the time of South Africa‟s transition to democracy the school system was envisaged to be a powerful vehicle for nation-building and transformation. The…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Modelling cognitive skills, ability and school quality to explain labour market earnings differentials
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2011 Abstract: Attempts to explain wage differences between race groups in South Africa are constrained by the fact that quality…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The when and how of leaving school: The policy implications of new evidence on secondary schooling in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2011 Abstract: South African and international household and education datasets are analysed to characterise patterns of dropping out, grade repetition,…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Uncovering indicators of effective school management in South Africa using the National School Effectiveness Study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP10/2011 Abstract: For many poor South African children, who are predominantly located in the historically disadvantaged part of the school…
October 16, 2017 PDF
A Preliminary Analysis of SACMEQ III South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2011 Abstract: The many and varied links between student socio-economic status and educational outcomes have been well documented in the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Numeric competence, confidence and school quality in the South African wage function: towards understanding pre-labour market discrimination
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP12/2011 Abstract: Highly convex estimates of average returns to education commonly found in South Africa are usually rationalised as being…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Using household surveys for deriving labour market, poverty and inequality trends in South Africa
Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: In order to evaluate the extent…
October 16, 2017 PDF
How well do South African schools convert grade 8 achievement into matric outcomes?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2011 Abstract: School retention in South Africa and performance in the major school-leaving matric examination are characterised by significant inequalities…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Finding the Benefits: Estimating the Impact of the South African Child Support Grant
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP16/2011 Abstract: The paper estimates the impact of the South African Child Support Grant (CSG) on child health, nutrition and…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Model of NGO Regulation with an Application to Uganda
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP22/2011 Abstract: We develop a model of regulation of service-delivery NGOs, where future grants are conditional on prior spending of…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Improving the targeting of zero-rated basic foodstuffs under value added tax (VAT) in South Africa – An exploratory analysis
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2012 Abstract: VAT without any exemptions or zero-rating is regressive. Since the inception of VAT in South Africa, there has…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The unintended consequences of education policies on South African participation and unemployment
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2012 Abstract: In the late 1990s the South African Department of Education implemented two policies that were meant to reduce…
October 16, 2017 PDF
More countries, similar results. A nonlinear programming approach to normalising test scores needed for growth regressions
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP12/2012 Abstract: Analysts such as Hanushek and Woessman have brought to the fore the deceptiveness of education enrolments, or years…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Poverty & Privilege: Primary School Inequality in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2012 Abstract: Although racial segregation has been abolished for 18 years now, schools which served predominantly White students under apartheid…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Trends on the hours worked of the employed, 1997 – 2011
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15/2012 Abstract: This paper analyses trends in hours worked from South African household survey data for the period 1997 –…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Youths in the South African labour market since the transition: A study of changes between 1995 and 2011
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP18/2012 Abstract: The persistently high unemployment rate has always been one of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South…
October 16, 2017 PDF
“Effective enrolment” – Creating a composite measure of educational access and educational quality to accurately describe education system performance in sub-Saharan Africa.
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP21/2012 Abstract: In this paper we question the existing practice of reporting enrolment statistics that ignore quality, but also quality-statistics…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Graduate unemployment in South Africa: A much exaggerated problem.
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP22/2012 Abstract: Increasing reference in the media and public discussions to high and rising levels of graduate unemployment in the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The gap between school enrolments and population in South Africa: Analysis of the possible explanations.
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP23/2012 Abstract: In South Africa, like in many developing countries, the differences between enrolment totals, estimated by the education authorities,…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The effects of rapidly expanding primary school access on effective learning: The case of Southern and Eastern Africa since 2000
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2013 Abstract: Have recent expansions of access to primary schooling in African countries led to deterioration in the quality of…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Some factors influencing the comparability and reliability of poverty estimates across household surveys
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP03/2013 Abstract: In order to evaluate the extent to which a country achieves the objectives of poverty and inequality reduction,…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Youth unemployment in South Africa since 2000 revisited
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2013 Abstract: One of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South African economy is high youth unemployment. Recent studies…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Chapters in Books
SPAULL NA. Schooling in South Africa: How low-quality education becomes a poverty trap. In: De Lannoy A, Swartz S, Lake L, Smith C (eds.) South…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Poverty and inequality estimates of National Income Dynamics Study revisited
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2013 Abstract: The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), introduced since 2008, has become an alternative data source for the South…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Life chances and class: Estimating inequality of opportunity in South Africa for various life stages
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2013 Abstract: This paper aims to determine the degree to which class and socio-economic background influence a child’s life chances…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Journal Articles (Non-subsidised)
CHITIGA M, DECALUWE B, MABUGU ERM, MAISONNAVE H, ROBICHAUD R, SHEPHERD DL, VAN DER BERG S, VON FINTEL D.P. A retrospective look at how well…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The first five years project – a cohort study of students awarded NSFAS loans in the first five years 2000-2004
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP11/2013 This study was commissioned by NSFAS to use available data to arrive at a picture that would reflect the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Measuring the option value of education
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15/2013 Abstract: Many recent descriptive studies find convex schooling-earnings profiles in developing countries. In these countries forward-looking students should attach…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Estimating the benefits of linking ties in a deeply divided society: considering the relationship between domestic workers and their employers in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP18/2013 Abstract: In South Africa social exclusion remains a problem due to the multiple and overlapping divisions in post-apartheid society…
October 16, 2017 PDF
A question of efficiency: decomposing South African reading test scores using PIRLS 2006
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP20/2013 Abstract The "bimodal" pattern of performance observed in South Africa illustrates the persistence with which learners of former Black…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The success of learnerships? Lessons from South Africa’s training and education programme
UNU-WIDER Working Paper Series No. WP2014/068 Abstract: Vocational training programmes, like South Africa’s learnership programme, which combine classroom learning and on-the-job training seem like the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Journal Articles
BURGER R, DASGUPTA I, OWENS T. A Model of non-governmental organization regulation with an application to Uganda. Economic Development and Cultural Change 2015; 64(1):71-111. BURGER…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa: Evidence from a randomised control trial
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP02/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: • Youth unemployment in South Africa is high, differs substantially by race group and is…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The effect of schooling on worker productivity: Evidence from a South African industry panel
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP04/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: Schooling is typically found to be highly correlated with individual earnings in African countries. However,…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Why pay NGOs to involve the community?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: We examine the case for donors providing financial incentives to NGOs to increase community participation.…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Teacher incentives in South Africa: a theoretical investigation of the possibilities
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: This paper investigates different theoretical models of incentives for teachers in education. It highlights key…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Income Convergence in South Africa: Fact or Measurement Error?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP10/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: This paper asks whether income mobility in South Africa over the last decade has indeed…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Teacher Wages in South Africa: How Attractive is the Teaching Profession
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2014 Abstract: This paper investigates the state of teacher pay in the South African labour market by comparing the remuneration…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The Effects of Teacher Strike Activity on Student Learning in South African Primary Schools
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: This paper investigates whether teacher strikes affect student achievement at the primary school level in…
October 16, 2017 PDF
What do we know about primary teachers’ mathematical content knowledge in South Africa? An analysis of SACMEQ 2007
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2014 Publication date: 2014 Abstract: Primary school mathematics teachers should, at the most basic level, have mastery of the content…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Learn to teach, teach to learn: A within-pupil across-subject approach to estimating the impact of teacher subject knowledge on South African grade 6 performance
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of teacher subject knowledge on student performance using a nationally…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The dynamics of child poverty in South Africa Between 2008 and 2012: An analysis using the National Income Dynamics Study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: The aim of this study is to use data from three waves of the National…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Teacher Supply in South Africa: A Focus on Initial Teacher Education Graduate Production
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP07.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: IIt is commonly recognized that South Africa has a severe shortage of adequately qualified and…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Examining oral reading fluency among grade 5 rural English Second Language (ESL) learners in South Africa: An analysis of NEEDU 2013
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: The ability to read for meaning and pleasure is arguably the most important skill children…
October 16, 2017 PDF
A profile of the labour market for school principals in South Africa: Evidence to inform policy
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP12.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: In the past decade there has been a notable shift in South African education policy…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The impact of study guides on “matric” performance: Evidence from a randomised experiment
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: Most international literature on the impact of textbooks on educational achievement suggests that this is…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The readiness of the South African education system for a pre-Grade R year
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP15.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: Investment in early childhood development (ECD) has the prospect of cultivating potential within individuals and…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The Capability Threshold: Re-examining the definition of the middle class in an unequal developing country
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP16.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: In a polarised and highly unequal country such as South Africa, it is unlikely that…
October 16, 2017 PDF
What the Annual National Assessments can tell us about learning deficits over the education system and the school career year
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP18.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: Much hope is placed on education systems to reduce socio-economic learning gaps. However, in South…
October 16, 2017 PDF
An overview of education data in South Africa: an inventory approach
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP19.2015 Publication date: 2015 Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the various datasets pertaining to education in South Africa…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The performance of low fee independent schools in South Africa – What can available data tell?
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2017 Publication date: January 2017 Abstract: This study uses a unique dataset to investigate university access, throughput, and dropout for…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The DBE’s workbooks as a curriculum tool
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 01/2016 Abstract: The Department of Basic Education’s workbooks are an impressive and most welcome recent intervention in our education system. Creating…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Adding randomised control trials (RCTs) to the education research toolkit
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 02/2016 Abstract: The performance of learners in South Africa has been consistently poor, as measured by several national and international assessments:…
October 16, 2017 PDF
What the ANAs tell us about socioeconomic learning gaps in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 03/2016 Abstract: The South African school system is under pressure to develop children’s potential irrespective of home background. But currently the…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Learning to read and reading to learn
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 04/2016 Abstract: Reading for meaning and pleasure is arguably the most important skill children learn in primary school. Since almost all…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Excessive class sizes in the Foundation Phase
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 05/2016 Abstract: In previous research we have stressed the importance of learning to read by the end of Grade 3 (see…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Building an evidence base for inclusive education in South Africa: Focusing on learners with disabilities
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 06/2016 Abstract: To make rational decisions that will lead to good education for all, policymakers need reliable information and solid evidence.…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Limited support for the foundation phase: A misallocation of district resources
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 07/2016 Abstract: To realise improvements in the South African education system and overcome substantial inequalities in learning that exist, prioritisation must…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Improving the calibre of school leadership in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 01/2015 Abstract: School principals matter for children’s learning – both anecdotal and international quantitative evidence support this. But policy makers often…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Is school based assessment in matric achieving its potential?
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 02/2015 Abstract: Matriculation results are vital for learners. Young people’s options for university entry, bursaries, career choice and labour market prospects…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Rethinking pre-grade R
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 03/2015 Abstract: Across all research disciplines there is now widespread agreement that investment in early childhood development (ECD) brings high returns…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Education datasets in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 04/2015 Abstract: The working paper on which this policy brief is based reviews education datasets available in South Africa, mostly from…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Increasing the supply of teacher graduates
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 05/2015 Abstract: The findings in this policy brief are based on a working paper in which I analysed initial teacher training…
October 16, 2017 PDF
SA learners perform poorly relative to local and regional standards
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 01/2012 Abstract: Despite positive trends in completion rates and Grade R enrolment, staggering numbers of South African learners continue to lack…
October 16, 2017 PDF
New evidence in the case for improving the quality of secondary school learning outcomes
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 01/2011 Abstract: A recent paper, based on new household survey data, finds that pre-final year completion rates in South African secondary…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The vital role of good school management in improving primary school outcomes
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 02/2011 Abstract: It is popular to assume that poorer primary school learners struggle to perform due to their socio-economic status and…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Identifying policy priorities to improve outcomes for poor primary school learners
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 03/2011 Abstract: Socio-economic status has a significant impact on primary school learner performance. Poorer learners often suffer poor educational outcomes: They…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The role of educational attainment and quality schooling in reducing racial earnings inequality
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 04/2011 Abstract: The removal of racially biased labour market policies and regulations has been a logical move given the discriminatory nature…
October 16, 2017 PDF
The role of inter-personal interactions in South African education
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09.2016 Abstract: Previous studies of the South African education system have emphasised its bimodal performance, with the weaker part of…
October 16, 2017 PDF
For richer, for poorer? Can lessons learnt from wealthy schools be applied to help poor schools deliver better results?
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 05/2011 Abstract: There are large disparities in educational performance amongst South African schools, with historically white schools significantly outperforming historically black…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Recent patterns in the extent and quality of pre-primary education in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 02/2010 Abstract: A recent paper, using new household data, indicates that the percentage of Grade 1 learners who have experienced pre-primary…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Rising unemployment amongst South Africa’s new generation
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 04/2010 Abstract: The policy brief studies unemployment between 1995 and 2007. The analysis is unique because it uses a pooled version…
October 16, 2017 PDF
Learner flow through patterns in the Western Cape using CEMIS datasets from 2007 to 2014: A longitudinal cohort analysis
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP02/2017 Publication date: January 2017 Abstract: The aim of the study was to track learners as a group or cohort…
October 12, 2017 PDF
RESEP hosts its third Quantitative Applications in Education Research Conference, 28 & 29 September 2017
RESEP held its third annual "Quantitative Applications in Education Research" conference at STIAS in Stellenbosch from 28 – 29 September 2017.
October 11, 2017 PDF
Social Gradients, Early Childhood Education and Schools Performing Above the Demographic Expectation: Empirical Insights into Educational Issues
Candidate: Janeli Kotzé Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: This dissertation exploits the wide variety…
August 14, 2017 PDF
SA data shows large and unexpected increase in births around 2004
This article originally appeared on the Business Day website as a partially edited version, which can be found here. For the original article, please read…
July 17, 2017 PDF
The extension of existing data and methods to measure poverty and mobility in data-poor, agrarian sub-Saharan Africa
Candidate: Thomas Ferreira Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Co-supervisor: Doctor Dieter von Fintel Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract:…
July 17, 2017 PDF
Institutional wage-setting, labour demand and labour supply: causal estimates from a South African pseudo-panel
Abstract Unemployment in South Africa has multiple causes. This article uses a district pseudo-panel to estimate the elasticity of labour demand, labour supply and…
May 16, 2017 PDF
Impoverishing effects of catastrophic health expenditures in Malawi
Abstract Out of pocket (OOP) health spending can potentially expose households to risk of incurring large medical bills, and this may impact on their…
May 10, 2017 PDF
These are not luxuries, it is essential for access to life: Disability related out-of pocket costs as a driver of economic vulnerability
Abstract With the dawn of the new sustainable development goals, we face not only a world that has seen great successes in alleviating poverty…
May 10, 2017 PDF
A comparable yardstick: adjusting for education bias in South African health system responsiveness ratings
Abstract Health-system responsiveness (HSR) measures the experience of health-system users in terms of the non-clinical aspects of the health system. This has been operationalized…
April 29, 2017 PDF
South Africa’s hospital sector: old divisions and new developments
Abstract The hospital sector in South Africa mirrors deep inequalities in the country as a whole. The private, for-profit hospital sector is well resourced…
April 29, 2017 PDF
Financial self-efficacy: a determinant of financial inclusion
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial self-efficacy (FSE) and financial inclusion (FI) among individual financial consumers in…
April 23, 2017 PDF
Migration and gender in South Africa: following bright lights and the fortunes of others
Abstract Internal migration in South Africa has a strong gender dimension. Historically, the apartheid‐era migrant labour system meant that predominantly black African men moved…
April 16, 2017 PDF
RESEP launches its synthesis report entitled “A Society Divided: How Unequal Education Quality Limits Social Mobility in South Africa”
On Friday, 24 March 2017, RESEP launched its synthesis report entitled “A Society Divided: How Unequal Education Quality Limits Social Mobility in South Africa”. The…
March 28, 2017 PDF
Getting reading right: Building firm foundations
Introduction The Millennium Development Goals aimed to achieve universal access to primary education by 2015. Attendance rates in South Africa remain high, with 97% of…
March 13, 2017 PDF
Principal leadership changes and their consequences for school performance in South Africa
Abstract: School leadership changes are gaining momentum in South Africa as larger proportions of incumbent principals near retirement age. While this presents opportunities to replace…
November 15, 2016 PDF
Graduate unemployment, Higher Education access and success, and teacher production in South Africa
Candidate: Hendrik van Broekhuizen Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Co-supervisor: Doctor Rulof Burger Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: In…
October 16, 2016 PDF
Healthcare reform priorities for South Africa: Four essays on the financing, delivery and user acceptability of healthcare
Candidate: Anna Maria Smith Supervisor: Professor Ronnel Burger Co-supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: Despite…
October 16, 2016 PDF
An economic perspective on school leadership and teachers’ unions in South Africa
PhD Thesis Candidate: Gabrielle Wills Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: This dissertation…
October 16, 2016 PDF
Quantitative Applications in Education Research Conference
On the 19th and 20th of September this year, RESEP hosted the “Conference on Quantitative Applications in Education” at STIAS. The conference was attended by…
September 21, 2016 PDF
A Structural Approach to Modelling South African Labour Market Decisions
Candidate: Cobus Burger Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: Youth unemployment is high in…
August 15, 2016 PDF
The open door of learning – Access restricted: School effectiveness and efficiency across the South African education system
Candidate: Debra Shepherd Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg and Professor Chris Elbers Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: The enduring…
August 14, 2016 PDF
Measuring social and economic mobility in South Africa: New approaches to well-known survey data concerns
Candidate: Amus Zoch Supervisor: Doctor Rulof Burger Co-supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: The…
August 14, 2016 PDF
Disentangling the language effect in South African schools: Measuring the impact of ‘language of assessment’ in grade 3 literacy and numeracy
Abstract The aim of this article is to exploit an unusual occurrence whereby a large group of South African grade 3 students were tested twice,…
August 13, 2016 PDF
An empirical analysis of poverty, inequality and the labour market in Malawi
DCom Thesis Candidate: Anderson Gondwe Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract This thesis is a…
July 17, 2016 PDF
The assessment and improvement of the health status of vulnerable and low income individuals in South Africa: an analysis using quantitative and experimental methods
Candidate: Laura Rossouw Supervisor: Professor Ronelle burger Co-supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: More than…
June 19, 2016 PDF
Principal leadership changes in South Africa: Investigating their consequences for school performance
Abstract School leadership changes are gaining momentum in South Africa as larger proportions of incumbent principals near retirement age. While this presents opportunities to…
May 2, 2016 PDF
Gender bias may contribute to missed TB cases in South Africa
Abstract Eight communities with high tuberculosis (TB) prevalence, Western Cape, South Africa. Our objective was to identify sex differences in TB health-seeking behaviour and…
April 29, 2016 PDF
Strengthening the measurement of quality of public health care
Abstract There is growing recognition that access to healthcare facilities is unlikely to improve health outcomes if the quality of the care provided at…
April 29, 2016 PDF
What has variability got to do with it? Explaining gender achievement gaps among African primary school students
Abstract There has been a global increase in the number of girls studying mathematics but women still remain underrepresented in the scientific workforce. The…
April 23, 2016 PDF
Errors in recalling childhood socio-economic status: the role of anchoring and household formation in South Africa
Abstract In the absence of longitudinal data that track individuals over an extended period of time, information on childhood socio-economic status can be provided…
April 15, 2016 PDF
Exploring relationships between oral reading fluency and reading comprehension amongst English second language readers in South Africa
Abstract Most analyses of oral reading fluency (ORF) are based on L1 reading, and the norms that have been developed in English are based…
February 12, 2016 PDF
Measuring access to learning over a period of increased access to schooling: The case of Southern and Eastern Africa since 2000
Abstract This paper examines the extent to which increased access to primary schooling in ten Southern and East African countries between 2000 and 2007…
December 25, 2015 PDF
Starting behind and staying behind in South Africa: The case of insurmountable learning deficits in mathematics
Abstract This study quantifies a year’s worth of mathematics learning in South Africa (0.3 standard deviations) and uses this measure to develop empirically calibrated learning…
November 25, 2015 PDF
Teachers in the South African Education System: An Economic Perspective
Candidate: Paula Armstrong Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: Chapter 1 investigates teacher wages in…
October 16, 2015 PDF
Social Mobility and Cohesion in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Candidate: Marisa von Fintel Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Co-supervisor: Doctor Rulof Burger Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: Twenty years…
October 16, 2015 PDF
Education Quality in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa: An Economic Approach
Candidate: Nic Spaul Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: Education has always occupied a central…
October 16, 2015 PDF
Education Intervention: Estimating the Effectiveness of Ikamva Youth
STIAS, Stellenbosch 20 October 2015
October 6, 2015 PDF
Accountability and Capacity in South African Education
Abstract The aim of the study is to discuss the notion of accountability with respect to education in South Africa. Starting with an overview…
September 12, 2015 PDF
A Retrospective Look at How Well a Macro‐Micro Model Can Analyze the Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on a Developing Country
Abstract This article is a follow-up to one that looked at the impact of the economic crisis on child poverty in South Africa using…
September 9, 2015 PDF
What do we know about primary teachers’ mathematical content knowledge in South Africa? An analysis of SACMEQ 2007
Abstract There is consensus in the international mathematics teacher education literature that teachers should, at the most basic level, have mastery of the content…
July 25, 2015 PDF
Examining oral reading fluency among rural Grade 5 English Second Language (ESL) learners in South Africa: An analysis of NEEDU 2013
Abstract The ability to read for meaning and pleasure is arguably the most important skill children learn in primary school. One integral component of…
June 8, 2015 PDF
Informing principal policy reforms in South Africa through data-based evidence
Abstract In the past decade there has been a notable shift in South African education policy that raises the value of school leadership as a…
May 10, 2015 PDF
Cost-effectiveness of integrated antiretroviral therapy in HIV-tuberculosis co-infected ambulatory patients in South Africa
Abstract Initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) during tuberculosis (TB) treatment improves survival in TB-HIV coinfected patients. In patients with CD4 counts <50 cells per…
May 10, 2015 PDF
Enrolment ratios and related puzzles in developing countries: Approaches for interrogating the data drawing from the case of South Africa
Abstract Available developing country enrolment ratios are frequently inaccurate. This results in poorly informed policy discourses. Underlying data problems can undermine funding systems. The…
May 7, 2015 PDF
A Riddle Explained: Gender Disparities in East African Education
Abstract There can be little question that studying the relationship between education and inequality will benefit public investment in education. Although primary school enrollment…
April 23, 2015 PDF
Slave prices and productivity at the Cape of Good Hope from 1700 to 1725: Did everyone win from the trade?
Abstract This paper analyses the economic viability of slavery in the Cape Colony in southern Africa. It has been extensively documented that the affluence…
April 15, 2015 PDF
The unintended consequences of education policies on South African participation and unemployment
Abstract In the late 1990s, the South African Department of Education implemented two policies that were meant to reduce the large number of over‐aged…
April 15, 2015 PDF
The Impact of the International Economic Crisis on Child Poverty in South Africa
Abstract This paper reports on a study to provide insights into the magnitude of the shocks associated with the recent global economic crisis in…
March 9, 2015 PDF
Access to What? Creating a Composite Measure of Educational Quantity and Educational Quality for 11 African Countries
Abstract The aim of the current study is to create a composite statistic of educational quantity and educational quality by combining household data (Demographic and…
March 8, 2015 PDF
Reflecting on an impact evaluation of the Grade R programme: Method, results and policy responses
Abstract: This paper describes the expansion since 2001 of a public pre-school programme in South Africa known as ‘Grade R’, summarises the findings from an…
February 15, 2015 PDF
Continuous assessment and matriculation examination marks—an empirical examination
Abstract: This study analyses information and feedback from matriculation-level continuous assessment in the South African education system in 2005. Continuous assessment (CASS) at the…
February 8, 2015 PDF
Spatial Heterogeneity, Generational Change and Childhood Socioeconomic Status: Microeconomic Solutions to South African Labour Market Questions
PhD Thesis Candidate: Dieter von Fintel Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract Microeconometric techniques have…
October 16, 2014 PDF
Education and Country Growth Models
PhD Thesis Candidate: Martin Gustafsson Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract The over-arching concern…
October 16, 2014 PDF
The Gospel according to Banerjee and Duflo
Excerpt: In their latest book, Poor Economics, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee present a highly readable overview of the problems facing the world’s poor…
June 21, 2014 PDF
Settler skills and colonial development: the Huguenot wine‐makers in eighteenth‐century Dutch South Africa
Abstract The institutional literature emphasizes local conditions in explaining divergent colonial development. We posit that this view can be enriched by an important supply‐side…
June 15, 2014 PDF
The changing role of teachers in reversing poverty and inequality: evidence from Botswana
Abstract This study explores the important relationship between policy variables that represent a school's human resources and product variables in the form of student…
April 26, 2014 PDF
School resources and the gender reading literacy gap in South African schools
Abstract The importance of reading literacy as a foundation for academic success is widely acknowledged. What is less well understood is why gender patterns…
April 23, 2014 PDF
Poverty & Privilege: Primary School Inequality in South Africa
Abstract: The strong legacy of apartheid and the consequent correlation between education and wealth have meant that, generally speaking, poorer South African students perform…
October 25, 2013 PDF
The impact of the introduction of grade r on learning outcomes
In December 2012 the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) in the Presidency in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) commissioned an…
October 4, 2013 PDF
The Wealth of Cape Colony Widows: Inheritance Laws and Investment Responses Following Male Death in the 17th and 18th Centuries
Abstract Losing a household member is usually negatively associated with welfare, especially if that person is a breadwinner. Coping methods include disposal of assets…
May 15, 2013 PDF
More countries, similar results: A nonlinear programming approach to normalising test scores needed for growth regressions
Abstract Analysts such as Hanushek and Woessman have brought to the fore the deceptiveness of education enrolments, or years of schooling, in growth regressions…
May 10, 2013 PDF
Hunger in the former apartheid homelands: Determinants of converging food security 100 years after the 1913 Land Act
Abstract Just more than one hundred years after the implementation of the 1913 Land Act, the subject of land reform and rural development are…
March 15, 2013 PDF
Understanding poverty and inequality in Mozambique: the role of education and labour market status
PhD Thesis Candidate: Carlos da Maia Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract This thesis deals…
October 16, 2012 PDF
Using household surveys for deriving labour market, poverty and inequality trends in South Africa
Candidate: Kwan Cheung Derek Yu Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: In order to evaluate…
August 15, 2012 PDF
Child Poverty in South Africa and the Global Financial and Economic Crisis
Book Summary Experts from the global North and South analyse the implications of economic crises on children, with a particular focus on the emerging evidence…
July 9, 2012 PDF
Aspects of the economics of water management in urban settings in South Africa, with a focus on Cape Town
PhD Thesis Candidate: Ada Isobel Jansen Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract…
June 14, 2012 PDF
The Fruit of the Vine? An Augmented Endowments-Inequality Hypothesis and the Rise of an Elite in the Cape Colony
Abstract The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would become an extremely unequal society. Comparative analysis reveals…
June 10, 2012 PDF
South Africa’s economics of education: A stocktaking and an agenda for the way forward
Abstract The paper reviews some of the existing economics of education literature from the perspective of South Africa’s education policymaking needs. It also puts…
May 10, 2012 PDF
Management in the South African public health sector: An x-inefficiency perspective
Abstract Inefficiency in the South African public health sector contributes significantly to the country's relatively poor health outcomes, yet it is poorly understood and…
May 2, 2012 PDF
Child poverty in South Africa and the performance of the Child Support Grant programme
PhD Thesis Candidate: Judith Streak Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: One of the…
October 16, 2011 PDF
Improving the well-being of the poor through microfinance: evidence from the Small Enterprise Foundation in South Africa
PhD Thesis Candidate: Maria Albertina Kirsten Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Co-supervisor: Professor Andrie Schoombee Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics…
October 16, 2011 PDF
ʼn Ongelyke Oes: Die Franse Hugenote en die vroeë Kaapse wynbedryf
Abstract Although Van Riebeeck already produced the first wine at the Cape in 1659, the arrival of French Huguenots during 1688/89 gave considerable impetus…
May 10, 2011 PDF
Free education and social inequality in Ugandan primary schools: A step backward or a step in the right direction?
Abstract The intent of this study is to understand both direct and indirect resource effects in the context of a mass education system in…
April 26, 2011 PDF
School resources and academic performance in Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract We investigate links between students’ achievement and several resource inputs in African primary schools, using data from the 2000 Southern and Eastern Africa…
April 26, 2011 PDF
A History with Evidence: Income inequality in the Dutch Cape Colony
Abstract The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would seemingly become an extremely unequal society, with…
April 10, 2011 PDF
Residential Property Prices in a Sub-Market of South Africa: Separating Real Growth from Attribute Growth
Abstract This paper analyses the South African residential housing market using hedonic price theory. It builds and tests pooled OLS, fixed effects OLS, pseudo-panel…
May 10, 2010 PDF
The dynamics of inequality in a newly settled, pre-industrial society: The case of the Cape Colony
Abstract One reason for the relatively poor development performance of many countries around the world today may be the high levels of inequality during…
April 10, 2010 PDF
On the value of environmental pragmatism in economic decision-making: With special reference to the work of Bryan Norton
PhD Thesis Candidate: Leanne Seeliger Supervisor: Professor Johan Hattingh Co-supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of…
October 16, 2009 PDF
An analysis of continuous assessment (CASS) compared to matriculation examination results at South African schools
Abstract: This study analyses information and feedback from matriculation-level continuous assessment in the South African education system in 2005. Continuous assessment (CASS) at the time…
November 9, 2008 PDF
Dealing With Earnings Bracket Responses In Household Surveys – How Sharp Are Midpoint Imputations?
Abstract Earnings functions form the basis of numerous labour market analyses. Non-response (particularly among higher earners) may, however, lead to the exclusion of a…
June 10, 2007 PDF
The development of an education management information system from a sense making perspective and the application of quantitative methods to analyse education data sets.
PhD Thesis Candidate: Chris van Wyk Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Co-supervisor: Professor s. Berkhout Abstract: Information is a necessary resource, produced by information systems…
October 16, 2006 PDF
Undoing the apartheid legacy: Pro-poor spending shifts in the South African public school system
Abstract By using a consolidated dataset of schools derived from a range of administrative systems, it is shown that overall public spending in the schooling…
May 10, 2006 PDF
Credit demand and credit rationing in the informal financial sector in Uganda
DCom Thesis Candidate: Nathan Okurut Supervisor: Professor Servaas van der Berg Institution: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Department of Economics Abstract: This study…
October 16, 2005 PDF
School Effectiveness in 14 Sub-Saharan African Countries: Links with 6th Graders’ Reading Achievement
Abstract In this article school characteristics linked with educational effectiveness in 14 sub-Saharan African countries are identified. Effectiveness has been defined in terms of…
April 26, 2005 PDF
