Ronelle Burger

Position: Researcher

Office: Schumann 417

Telephone nr: +27-21-808-3106

Journal publications, books and book chapters

• Promoting transparency in the NGO sector: Examining the availability and reliability of self-reported data. World Development [Forthcoming] With Trudy Owens. 
• Post-Apartheid South Africa: Poverty and Distribution. In Nissanke, M. and Thorbecke, E. 2010. Trends in an Era of Globalization: The Poor under Globalization in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. With Servaas van der Berg and Megan Louw. 
• Contextualising the Challenge of Social Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Poverty, Exclusion and the Potential Role of Religious Groups. 2010. In Swart, I., Rocher, H. Green, S. & Erasmus, J. (eds.) Religion and Social Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa. With Megan Louw and Carina van der Watt.
• Bridging South Africa’s deep divides: Religious networks as a resource to overcome social and economic exclusion. 2010. In Swart, I., Rocher, H., Green, S.  & Erasmus, J. (eds.) Religion and Social Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa. With Carina van der Watt.
• Socio-economic development and NGOs. In Anheier, H., Toepler, S. and List, R. 2009. International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. New York: Springer. With Trudy Owens.
• Using an asset index to assess trends in poverty in seven Sub-Saharan African countries, 2008. World Development, Volume 36(6). With Frikkie Booysen, Servaas van der Berg, Gideon du Rand and Michael von Maltitz. 
• Wealth in a poor African country: Using an index of consumer durables to investigate wealth accumulation of poor households in Ghana. 2008. In Davies, J. (eds.) Personal Wealth in a Global Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press. With Servaas van der Berg, Frikkie Booysen and Michael von Maltitz.
• How well is the South African public health care system serving its people? In Hofmeyr, J. (ed). 2008 Transformation Audit.
• Assessing NEPAD as a Growth Strategy. 2007. In Boko, S. H. & Seck, D. (eds.) NEPAD and the future of economic policy in Africa. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. With Rulof Burger and Stan du Plessis.
• Book Review of “NGO accountability: Politics, Principles and Innovations”. Journal of International Development, 19 (3) 446 – 447, 2007
• Enabling Financial Sector Development in African Countries: Case Studies in Four SADC Countries. 2006. Midrand: Southern African Development Bank. With Rulof Burger, Philipp Credé and Eduard Jordaan.
• What have we learnt from post-1994 innovations in pro-poor service delivery in South Africa: A case study based analysis. Development Southern Africa, Volume 22(4): October 2005.
• Social delivery in South Africa. In Bernstein, A & Johnston, S. 2005. The Next Decade: Perspectives on South Africa’s Growth and Development.  Johannesburg: Centre for Development and Enterprise. With Servaas van der Berg.
• Education and socio-economic differentials: A study of school performance in the Western Cape. The South African Journal of Economics, Volume 71(3): September 2003. Co-authored with Servaas van der Berg.
• Contextualising African Development. In Development Bank of Southern Africa. 2003. Financing Africa’s Development: Enhancing the role of private finance.  Midrand: Southern African Development Bank. With Mohammed Jahed, Sanusha Naidoo and Sampie Terreblanche.

Research under consideration for publication

• How pro-poor is the South African public health system? Accepted by Health Policy and Planning.
• Examining the Robustness of Competing Explanations of Slow Growth in African Countries.  With Stan du Plessis. Revised and resubmitted to Journal of African Economies.
• School effectiveness in Zambia: examining the origins of differences between rural and urban school outcomes. Submitted to Development Southern Africa.

Study Visits and Fellowships

• Visiting scholar, Institute of Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 5 – 21 January 2010
• Fellowship for Aspen Institute / ARNOVA (Association for Research on Non-profit Organizations and Voluntary Associations) doctoral seminar, Chicago, 15-16  November 2006
• Study visit to the Department of Economics, Laval University, Canada for two weeks during March 2005 to work with Louis-Marie Asselin on poverty and inequality trends in African countries.
• Study visit to the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University, UK during June and July 2004 to assist Abigail Barr and Marcel Fafchamps with work on the Ugandan survey of non-profit organisations.

 Invited seminars

• How effective is grant allocation to African NGOs? Centre for Civil Society Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 14 January 2010
• Receive Aid or Perish? Investigating the survival prospects of NGOs without grants. Faculty of Economic and Management, Makerere University, Kampala, 24 November 2009.
• Dishonesty in the charitable sector: Why do NGOs misrepresent their activities? Southern African Labour and Development Unit seminar, University of Cape Town, 1 April 2008.

Academic Background

• PhD in Economics, University of Nottingham, 2006 – 2008 (Title: Examining the effectiveness of proposed solutions to information asymmetry problems in the Ugandan NGO sector)
• MPhil in Economics, Cambridge University, 2001
  • Distinction in specialisation: Development Economics
• Honours in Economics cum laude, University of Cape Town, 1998
  • Spent first semester of Economics Honours at Princeton University and Rutgers University via informal exchange agreement
• BA Honours in Journalism, Stellenbosch University, 1997
• BA cum laude in Economics and Philosophy, Stellenbosch University, 1994 -1996

Academic Awards and Honours

• Emerging Scholar Award, 2007, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organization and Voluntary Action
• Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship, 2006
• National Research Foundation Prestigious Scholarship for doctoral studies abroad, 2006
• Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust award, 2005 & 2001
• ABSA award for best student paper at Economic Society of South Africa Conference, 2003
• Max and Lillie Sonnenberg Scholarship, 2001
• Cambridge Commonwealth Trust, 2001
• Stellenbosch 2000 bursary from the Stellenbosch University, 1997
• Merit bursaries from the Stellenbosch University, 1994-6

Referee

• Manuscripts for Development Southern Africa, Economic Development and Cultural, Change, Journal of Economic and Social Research, Journal of Human, Development and Capabilities, Journal of African Development, Financial, Accountability and Management, South African Journal of Economics
• Working Papers and proposals for Economic Research Southern Africa and the Poverty and Economic Policy Research Network, Laval University