The Department
Neil Rankin
Contact details
Email: neilrankin[at]sun.ac.za
Phone: +27(0)21 808-2678
Room 404
Schumann building
Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602
Twitter: NeilRankinZA
Research
Recent published papers
“Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Consumer Prices in South Africa: Evidence from Micro-Data,” with Janine Aron, Kenneth Creamer and John Muellbauer, Journal of Development Studies, forthcoming
"Accessing the First Job in a Slack Labour Market: Job Matching in South Africa," with Gareth A. Roberts and Volker Schöer, Journal of International Development, vol. 26(1), pages 1-22, January 2014.
"Accessing the First Job in a Slack Labour Market: Job Matching in South Africa," with Gareth A. Roberts and Volker Schöer, Journal of International Development, vol. 26(1), pages 1-22, January 2014.
"Export Destination, Product Quality and Wages in a Middle-Income Country. The Case of South Africa," with Volker Schöer, Review of Development Economics, vol. 17(1), pages 64-73, February 2013.
Recent working papers
“The success of learnerships? Lessons from South Africa’s training and education programme,” with Gareth Roberts and Volker Schöer, UNU-WIDER Working Paper, March 2014
“Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa: Evidence from a randomised control trial,” with James Levinsohn, Gareth Roberts and Volker Schöer, Stellenbosch Economic Working Paper, 02/14, January 2014
"Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Consumer Prices in South Africa: Evidence from Micro-Data," with Janine Aron, Kenneth Creamer and John Muellbauer, Discussion paper 9735, Centre for Economic Policy Research, November 2013.
“Education and Employment in Zambia: Evidence from a Scoping Exercise,” with Herryman Moono, International Growth Centre Working Paper, August 2013
“Wage subsidies and youth employment in South Africa: Evidence from a randomised control trial,” with James Levinsohn, Gareth Roberts and Volker Schöer, Stellenbosch Economic Working Paper, 02/14, January 2014
"Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Consumer Prices in South Africa: Evidence from Micro-Data," with Janine Aron, Kenneth Creamer and John Muellbauer, Discussion paper 9735, Centre for Economic Policy Research, November 2013.
“Education and Employment in Zambia: Evidence from a Scoping Exercise,” with Herryman Moono, International Growth Centre Working Paper, August 2013
"Is Africa Integrating? Evidence from Product Markets," with Lawrence Edwards, Working Paper 292, Economic Research Southern Africa, June 2012
Recent other research
“The financial crisis and its enduring legacy for youth employment,” with Gareth Roberts, Volker Schöer and Debra Shepherd, in Jan Hofmeyr (ed) The Youth Dividend. Unlocking the potential of young South Africans, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, 2012
“Networks and the employment of African youth: Challenges to matching firms with workers,” with Gareth Roberts and Volker Schöer, in Jan Hofmeyr (ed) Vision or vacuum? Governing the South African economy, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, 2011
Data
South African Labour Market Entry Survey (LMES)
This is a panel dataset of four years (2009-2012) which follows young South Africans, aged 20-24 in the first round, as they transition into the labour market. Participants in a randomised control trial of a wage subsidy voucher were drawn from this data. For a subset of the individuals information was collected from the firms which they worked for. In addition to this linked data, a broader sample of randomly chosen firms were interviewed (these firms have no link to the LMES dataset).
Citation: Rankin, Neil A., Gareth A. Roberts, and Volker Schӧer. (2014). South African Labour Market Entry Survey (version 0.1)
Do file which produces the tables for the 3ie final report
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Upcoming Seminars
Monday 26 May 202512:00-13:00
Prof Simon Franklin: Queen Mary University In London
Topic: "No Place Like Home? The Causal Effect of Housing Clearances in Central Addis Ababa"
12:00-13:00
Dr Dawie van Lill: South African Reserve Bank & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
12:00-13:00
Prof Hylton Hollander: University Of Cape Town
Topic: "TBC"
BER Weekly
16 May 2025 Trade truce lifts markets, SA braces for winter load-shedding and budget reckoningThis week, data showed that South Africa’s unemployment rate rose in 2025Q1, with net job losses compared to 2024Q4. Meanwhile, mining output improved in March but declined overall for the quarter. In the US, inflation eased to a four-year low, while Germany’s economic sentiment rebounded sharply. The UK economy posted impressive growth in Q1; however,...
Read the full issue
Upcoming Seminars
Monday 26 May 202512:00-13:00
Prof Simon Franklin: Queen Mary University In London
Topic: "No Place Like Home? The Causal Effect of Housing Clearances in Central Addis Ababa"
12:00-13:00
Dr Dawie van Lill: South African Reserve Bank & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
12:00-13:00
Prof Hylton Hollander: University Of Cape Town
Topic: "TBC"
BER Weekly
16 May 2025 Trade truce lifts markets, SA braces for winter load-shedding and budget reckoningThis week, data showed that South Africa’s unemployment rate rose in 2025Q1, with net job losses compared to 2024Q4. Meanwhile, mining output improved in March but declined overall for the quarter. In the US, inflation eased to a four-year low, while Germany’s economic sentiment rebounded sharply. The UK economy posted impressive growth in Q1; however,...
Read the full issue