Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa

The study examined the impact of trade openness on poverty rate in South Africa. The ARDL bounds testing approach was used with annual data covering the period from 1990 to 2021. The study estimated four models, that is, an income-based model and a consumption-based model using two measures of trade...

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Main Authors: Glenda Maluleke, Nomfundo Vacu-Nqila
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics 2024-07-01
Series:Acta Economica
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Online Access:https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/482
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author Glenda Maluleke
Nomfundo Vacu-Nqila
author_facet Glenda Maluleke
Nomfundo Vacu-Nqila
author_sort Glenda Maluleke
collection DOAJ
description The study examined the impact of trade openness on poverty rate in South Africa. The ARDL bounds testing approach was used with annual data covering the period from 1990 to 2021. The study estimated four models, that is, an income-based model and a consumption-based model using two measures of trade openness which are total trade and exports as a percentage of GDP. For the income-based model 1, the findings confirmed that trade openness has a long-run negative impact on the poverty rate, while it has no significant impact in the short run. For model 3, it was found to be insignificant in the long run while in the short run, it was found that exports lead to a decrease in poverty rates. The finding confirmed that for the consumption-based model 2, trade openness leads to a decrease in the poverty rate in the long and short run. For model 4, in which exports are used as a measure for trade openness, it was found that it leads to a decrease in household consumption in the long run. Based on the results the study recommends that governments in developing countries should engage with other countries to increase their export capacity and in turn reduce their respective poverty levels.
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issn 1512-858X
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language English
publishDate 2024-07-01
publisher University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics
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series Acta Economica
spelling doaj-art-aac76075d1234c1992c0bbf63d4a80ff2025-02-11T14:25:40ZengUniversity of Banja Luka, Faculty of EconomicsActa Economica1512-858X2232-738X2024-07-01224010.7251/ACE2440097MTrade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South AfricaGlenda Maluleke0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5234-3115Nomfundo Vacu-Nqila1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4518-7764Department of Economics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaDepartment of Economics, University of South Africa, South AfricaThe study examined the impact of trade openness on poverty rate in South Africa. The ARDL bounds testing approach was used with annual data covering the period from 1990 to 2021. The study estimated four models, that is, an income-based model and a consumption-based model using two measures of trade openness which are total trade and exports as a percentage of GDP. For the income-based model 1, the findings confirmed that trade openness has a long-run negative impact on the poverty rate, while it has no significant impact in the short run. For model 3, it was found to be insignificant in the long run while in the short run, it was found that exports lead to a decrease in poverty rates. The finding confirmed that for the consumption-based model 2, trade openness leads to a decrease in the poverty rate in the long and short run. For model 4, in which exports are used as a measure for trade openness, it was found that it leads to a decrease in household consumption in the long run. Based on the results the study recommends that governments in developing countries should engage with other countries to increase their export capacity and in turn reduce their respective poverty levels. https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/482South Africatrade opennesspoverty rateincomeconsumptionARDL
spellingShingle Glenda Maluleke
Nomfundo Vacu-Nqila
Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
Acta Economica
South Africa
trade openness
poverty rate
income
consumption
ARDL
title Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
title_full Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
title_fullStr Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
title_short Trade Openness and Poverty Reduction in South Africa
title_sort trade openness and poverty reduction in south africa
topic South Africa
trade openness
poverty rate
income
consumption
ARDL
url https://ae.ef.unibl.org/index.php/ae/article/view/482
work_keys_str_mv AT glendamaluleke tradeopennessandpovertyreductioninsouthafrica
AT nomfundovacunqila tradeopennessandpovertyreductioninsouthafrica