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Faculty of Commerce
Since 1999 SALDRU has run the annual UCT Summer
Programme in Social Science Research Using Survey
Data. Currently this programme trains over 100 Southern
African researchers per year. It was funded by the Mellon
Foundation for the first decade and, in 2011 was endowed
by large grants from Kresge, Ford and Mellon Foundations
and Statistics South Africa as well as smaller grants from
10 of South Africa’s universities. In addition, SALDRU runs
Winter Workshops in the analysis of panel data and in
programme evaluation.
Development Policy Research Unit
(DPRU)
The Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) has been
actively engaged in policy-relevant research since 1990,
establishing itself as one of South Africa’s premier research
institutions in the fields of labour markets, poverty and
inequality. The Unit’s research feeds into policy decisions
and pronouncements at the highest level, including Cabinet
memoranda, State of the Nation Addresses and legislation,
while our research findings are regularly featured in the
print and electronic media.
Much of the DPRU’s work derives from government
departments at national and provincial level, while theDPRU
also receives funding from international and multilateral
agencies. In particular, the DPRU has completed numerous
research projects at the national level for National Treasury,
the Presidency, and the Departments of Labour, Social
Development, Education and Trade and Industry, as well
as for various departments in the Western Cape Provincial
Government.
As part of our engagement in the policy arena, the
DPRU has hosted highly successful conferences aimed
at fostering greater interaction between researchers and
policymakers. The DPRU publishes a Working Paper and
a Policy Brief series, both of which are freely available on
our website. DPRU staff members also undertake limited
teaching and graduate supervision.
Apart from its research and capacity building
activities, the DPRU is engaged in managing the
Employment Promotion Programme (EPP), an initiative
of the UK Government’s Department for International
Development (DFID), aimed at providing an enabling
policy environment in South Africa foremployment
creation and poverty reduction in South Africa. Bringing
business, labour and government representatives
together, the Programme has been able to commission
a wide range of research that has had high level policy
impact.
The DPRU is also the selected South African partner
institution of the African Growth Initiative (AGI), in
partnership with the Brookings Institute in the United
States. This partnership ensures the DPRU’s research reach
a broader international policymaking audience.
The DPRU’s Director, Professor Haroon Bhorat, holds the
NRF Research Chair in Economic Growth, Poverty and
Inequality. This has facilitated the awarding of postgraduate
bursaries and fellowships broadly within the DPRU’s main
areas of interest to Economics students at the University.
Current and recently completed projects undertaken by
the DPRU include:
•
Africa Growth Initiative (AGI) Programme
•
Understanding enforcement of minimum wage laws
•
Monitoring the impact of the economic downturn on
the SA labour market
•
Enhancing access to information: An analysis of
collective bargaining and sectoral determination
wage data
•
Labour market dynamics in the Western Cape
•
South African country case study on economic
transformation
•
Labour Market Intelligence Partnership Project
•
The Pursuit of Inclusive Growth in South Africa
Policy Research on International
Services and Manufacturing
(PRISM)
Policy Research in International Services and
Manufacturing (PRISM) is a research and policy unit
located within the School of Economics. PRISM provides
a lens to focus research and policy work broadly on
issues of globalization, trade and industrialization. It
is home to a number of related research activities,
projects and programmes concerned with issues of
globalization, global value chains, industrialization
paths, international trade, foreign investment, the
defence industry, policy governance, infrastructure
development, the role of knowledge intensive services,
innovation, and international competitiveness. Another
feature of PRISM’s work has been its applied focus,
responding to economic policy questions issues in
South Africa, the rest of Africa and beyond. PRISM is
managed by a Steering Committee consisting of Mike
Morris (Head), David Kaplan and Anthony Black.
PRISM research and policy activities are focused around
the following issues: Globalisation and industrialization
development; International trade and foreign investment;
Governance and economic policy; Commodities and
resource based linkage industrialization; Innovation and
upgrading in developing countries; Industrial policy and
development; Employment intensive growth in South