Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Semester of Degree Completion
1993
Thesis Director
Lawrence W. Bates
Abstract
The collapse of rapid growth in industrialized countries in the mid-1970s has suggested to scholars that Keynesian economic management is not the ultimate way to run a viable capitalist system. What has emerged from the crisis is the recognition that different capitalist countries have for long had distinctive patterns of development and alternative patterns of economic management.
One such form of economic management is neo-corporatism. The pillars of "neo-corporatism" are found in the tri-partite alliance between centralized trade unions, centralized employers’ organizations, and the state. These institutions coordinate the levels of investment, wage, and employment in the economy to ensure structural change without high inflation or mass unemployment.
Another major form of economic management is the industrial policy approach. The supporters of industrial policy argue that the success of East Asian countries is due to centralized active role of the state in formulating a vigorous economic system which promotes capital accumulation, innovation, and productivity growth.
The recent rise of the New Institutional Economics reminds us that the market is not the only nor even the predominant way in which our economic life is organized. As a third pattern of management, it emphasizes that non-market institutions are integral parts of socio-economic life and not unfortunate "rigidities" which have to be eliminated.
In this study, I apply the new institutional economics to assess the economic development of South Africa. I critically evaluate the role of markets and states in the development process. I emphasize the need for a democratic compromise to rid South Africa of deep social, racial and ethnic divisions. I argue that a democratic compromise may allow the state space for policy effectiveness. I conclude that a policy mixture of the state, markets and institutions may take South Africa back to higher levels of economic growth.
Recommended Citation
Mondi, Lumkile, "Economic Institutions and Economic Growth in South Africa" (1993). Masters Theses. 2112.
https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/2112
