Structural Transformation in South Africa: The Challenges of Inclusive Industrial Development in a Middle-Income Country

Taking South Africa as an important case study of the challenges of structural transformation, Structural Transformation in South Africa offers a new micro-meso level framework and evidence linking country-specific and global dynamics of change, with a focus on the current challenges and opportunities faced by middle-income countries. Detailed analyses of industry groupings and interests in South Africa reveal the complex set of interlocking country-specific factors which have hampered structural transformation over several decades, but also the emerging productive areas and opportunities for structural change. The structural transformation trajectory of South Africa presents a unique country case, given its industrial structure, concentration and highly internationalized economy, as well as the objective of black economic empowerment.

Structural Transformation in South Africa links these micro-meso dynamics to global forces driving economic, institutional and social change. This include digital industrialization, global value chain consolidation, financialization, environmental and other sustainability challenges, which are reshaping structural transformation dynamics across middle-income countries like South Africa. While these new drivers of change are disrupting existing industries and interests in some areas, in others they are reinforcing existing trends and configurations of power. The book analyses the ways in which both the domestic and global drivers of structural transformation shape-and, in some cases, are shaped by-a country's political settlement and its evolution. By focusing on the political economy of structural transformation, the book disentangles the specific dynamics underlying the South African experience of the middle-income country conundrum. In so doing, it brings to light the broader challenges faced by similar countries in achieving structural transformation via industrial policies.

Antonio Andreoni, Associate Professor of Industrial Economics, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London, UK; Pamela Mondliwa, Research Associate, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg, and Senior Managing Consultant, Berkeley Research Group; Simon Roberts, Professor of Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Fiona Tregenna, DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChI Industrial Development) and Professor of Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Antonio Andreoni is Associate Professor of Industrial Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. He is Visiting Associate Professor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg. Antonio has researched and published extensively on production, technological change, and innovation dynamics; structural change, global value chains and industrial development; financialisation and corruption; governance and political economy of industrial policy. Antonio is an Editor of The European Journal of Development Research. He consults to various international organisations such as UNIDO, UNCTAD, UNDP, ILO, World Bank and OECD.

Pamela Mondliwa is a Senior Managing Consultant at Berkeley Research Group (BRG) and a Research Associate at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), University of Johannesburg. She has worked across consulting, academia, and policy on issues related to competition, economic regulation, industrial development, and regional economic development. Pamela has provided research support to various government departments in South Africa as well as international organisations. She advises competition authorities and private clients on competition and economic regulation cases. Prior to joining BRG, she was a Senior Researcher at CCRED and an Economist at the Competition Commission of South Africa.

Simon Roberts is a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg, where he founded the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), and a visiting Professor at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. He has worked extensively on issues of industrial development, trade, regional and global value chains, competition, and economic regulation in Southern and East Africa, advising governments, competition authorities and regulators. He was an Economics Director at the UK Competition and Markets Authority (2019 to 2020) and Chief Economist at the Competition Commission of South Africa from 2006 to 2012.

Fiona Tregenna holds the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Industrial Development and is a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Fiona is a part-time Member of the Competition Tribunal where she adjudicates competition (anti-trust) cases, and serves on a number of boards, advisory panels and councils, including the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. She consults to various research institutes and international organisations such as UNIDO, UNCTAD and the ILO. Her primary research interest is in issues of structural change, deindustrialization, and industrial development.