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UCT RESEARCH REPORT 2012
Africa; International competitiveness of firms and sectors;
Clusters and learning networks; China's economic impact
on Africa; Regulatory frameworks for trade, services and
sectors; the distributional gains of industrial growth.
David Kaplan has been appointed to the Board of the
Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) – the government
agency responsible for bridging the chasm between new
knowledge and commercial application.
Research Unit in Behavioural
Economics and Neuroeconomics
(RUBEN)
RUBEN’s interdisciplinary team of experimental economics
researchers seek to understand the way in which people in
developing economies assess risk and make decisions. They
do this through quantitatively analyzed laboratory and field
experiments with people earning real monetary rewards
for performing experimental tasks. RUBEN researchers
especially focus on trust - the essential basis of business
relationships – and people’s attitudes to risk, uncertainty and
time. This knowledge is crucial to innovative product design
in insurance, banking and retail asset management. For
certain studies, RUBEN researchers also have the technology
and expertise to conduct brain imaging studies, of the kind
needed for neuroeconomics and neuromarketing. In 2012,
RUBEN was directed by Associate Professor Justine Burns,
and includes researchers from other Departments at UCT
and international associates. Members within the School of
Economics are Andre Hofmeyr, Harold Kincaid, Don Ross,
Mare Sarr, Martine Visser and Honorary Professor George
Ainslie. In 2013, Professor Harold Kincaid is set to direct
RUBEN.
Current RUBEN research projects underway include
experimental and neuroimaging studies of addictive
consumption and illegal gambling; a study of the risk and
time preferences of Western Cape fruit farmers that can
inform the design and pricing of new insurance products
to support innovation for export promotion; a study of the
consistency of choices under risk among South Africans living
in disadvantaged communities; a study of the prevalence
and determinants of pathological gambling among Informal
gamblers In a township; a study of a new initiative to deliver
early childhood education in Cape Town townships; and a
Portfolios of the Poor - Atlanta and Cape Town project about
the financial lives and attitudes of the poor.
Departmental Statistics
Permanent and long term contract staff
Professors
11
Associate Professors
10
Senior Lecturers
8
Lecturers
5
Research Staff
22
Administrative staff
14
Total
70
Students
Doctoral
62
Master’s
56
Honours
188
Undergraduate*
8000+
Total
8306
*Number of students enrolled for economics courses.
Students can take a number of courses in one year.
Research Fields and Staff
Permanent teaching staff
Professor Haim Abraham
Finance; futures and derivatives; monetary economics in a
general equilibrium context.
Professor Haroon Bhorat
Director of the DPRU; labour markets and labour market
policy; poverty and income distribution.
Professor Anthony Black
Development economics, trade and industrial policy;
automotive industry, garment industry, foreign direct
investment, regional integration; global location of
manufacturing and services; employment.
Associate Prof Justine Burns
Head of RUBEN; Microeconomics; labour; poverty and
income distribution; rural development; institutional
economics.
Dr Beatrice Conradie
Farm labour markets; women in agriculture; wine industry
mechanisation; irrigation farming; human animal conflicts.
Mr Reza C Daniels
Econometric analysis with missing data; analyses of surveys
undertaken at UCT; applied development and labour
microeconomics; public policy and benefit incidence
analyses; geography and uneven development.