Research
Seminars
Monday 10 February 2025 12:00-13:00Mr Zakhele Ngeobo: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Determinants and Effects of Mental Health on the Economy"
Venue: CGW Schumann_221
'An evaluation of the determinants and effects of the mental health crisis in South Africa
Dr Sonja Keller: Executive Director & Chief Economist At Jp Morgan
Topic: "Beyond Your Economics Degree: Essentials for the Job Market"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
'The presentation entails the following topics: Career path options (PhD, IMF, private sector); Real-world roles of economists; Essential skills for graduates; Career insights and guidance; Job market opportunities and application strategies
Mr Joshua de Jager: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "A BRIDGE BETWEEN A FINANCIAL CRISIS AND A PANDEMIC: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF MONETARY POLICY IN JAPAN BETWEEN 2008 AND 2019"
Venue: CGW Schumann_221
'The research examines a bridge between a financial crisis and a pandemic with a critical evaluation of monetary policy in Japan between 2008 and 2019.'
Prof Andreas Freytag (Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany)
Topic: "Populist Walking Sticks: Redefining Growth Stories in Populist Economies"
Venue: CGW Schumann Building, Second floor, Room 221
Mr Jan-Hendrik Pretorius: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Inequality and the Persistence of Family Wealth: Evidence from South African Genealogies"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
'This thesis provides new insights into wealth mobility in the Cape Colony, South Africa, by examining inter- and multigenerational wealth persistence from the late 17th to mid-19th century, focusing on the Rossouw family, French Huguenots who settled in the colony in the late 1600s. Using genealogical records, tax census data, and auction results, the study explores how wealth was accumulated, transmitted across generations, and how marriage played a crucial role in maintaining elite status.'
Mr Hywel George: Director At Old Mutual Alternative Investments
Topic: "Trump 2.0 Geopolitics & Macro Markets outlook"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Dr Dan Kaliski: Birkbeck, University Of London
Topic: "The Power Asymmetry in Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Designs "
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
'Regression discontinuity (RD) is a popular method to estimate the effect of endogenous treatment. In a “fuzzy” RD design, the probability of treatment jumps discontinuously when a “running variable” (R) passes a threshold (R0). Fuzzy RD estimates are obtained via a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression, where an indicator I(R > R0) plays the role of the instrument. Recently, Keane and Neal (2023, 2024) showed that 2SLS t-tests suffer from a “power asymmetry” problem: 2SLS standard errors are spuriously precise (imprecise) when the 2SLS estimate is close to (far from) the OLS estimate. One consequence is that the t-test has little power to detect true negative effects when the OLS bias is positive. This problem exists even if the instrument is very strong. Here we show that the same problem arises in fuzzy RD designs. A simple way to avoid this problem is to instead rely on the reduced form (or intent to treat) regression, which in this case is a sharp RD of the outcome on I(R > R0), to assess significance of the treatment effect.'
Miss Talyah Greyling: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Curvature of the Schooling-Earnings Profile and Heterogeneity of School Quality"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225 & Online via MS Teams
'Curvature of the Schooling-Earnings Profile and Heterogeneity of School Quality
Miss Katrien Smuts: Bureau Of Economic Research
Topic: "Pass-through and bias in South Africa's household inflation expectations"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225 & BER Boardroom
Prof Simon Franklin: Queen Mary University In London
Topic: "No Place Like Home? The Causal Effect of Housing Clearances in Central Addis Ababa"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Dr Dawie van Lill: South African Reserve Bank & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Revised Financial Conditions Index "
Venue: CGW SCHUMANN_225
Izak Odendaal: Old Mutual Wealth Chief Investment Strategist
Topic: "Diverging fiscal policies and what it means for markets"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Download: sa-us-fiscal-july-2025.pdf (1.2 MB)
Dr Neil Rankin: Ceo Of Predictive Insights & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Willem Boshoff: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Two competing approaches in South African competition policy: merger control and anti-cartel enforcement over the past 30 years"
Venue: CGW SCHUMANN_225
Link to ERSA working paperavailable.
Reside Reside: Department Of Finance, Republic Of The Phillipines
Topic: "Tax Expenditures and Tax Incentives: Challenges and Opportunities in the Philippines"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Dr Stephen Taylor: Director In Education & Research Fellow Stellenbosch
Topic: "TBC: Economics of Education"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Derek Yu: University Of The Western Cape
Topic: "Examining the teaching, assessment and research activities of the South African Economics Departments"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Hylton Hollander: University Of Cape Town
Topic: "Disinflation Policy in a Fiscal DSGE Model with Trend Inflation and Price Dispersion"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Euan Phimister: Stellenbosch Business School
Topic: "TBA"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Masashige Hamano: Waseda University
Topic: "Economic Growth, CO2 Emissions, and the Green Transition"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Dr Friedrich Kreuser: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "Allocative Efficiency, Labour Shares, and Corporate Lobbying in European Manufacturing"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
Prof Johan Fourie: Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBA"
Venue: CGW Schumann_225
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31 Oct 2025 FREE WEEKLY REVIEW | NUMBER 42 | 31 OCTOBER 2025This report covers the key domestic and international data releases over the past week. The more comprehensive BER Weekly Review (Enhanced Version) includes a detailed discussion on the main economic events and developments over the past week, a summary of upcoming data (the week ahead) and the BER’s forecast for key economic indicators. The full Weekly...
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BER Weekly
31 Oct 2025 FREE WEEKLY REVIEW | NUMBER 42 | 31 OCTOBER 2025This report covers the key domestic and international data releases over the past week. The more comprehensive BER Weekly Review (Enhanced Version) includes a detailed discussion on the main economic events and developments over the past week, a summary of upcoming data (the week ahead) and the BER’s forecast for key economic indicators. The full Weekly...
Read the full issue