Weekly Webinar Series Invitation: Watts Happening to Work? The Labour Market Effects of South Africa’s Electricity Crisis

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Frequent electricity outages threaten to impede the benefits of expanded access achieved by many developing countries in recent decades. A large literature documents these negative effects, however almost none consider labour market effects. These are of particular interest given the labour market’s central role in determining socio-economic wellbeing, especially in high-unemployment contexts like South Africa where decent job creation is key to achieving meaningful poverty alleviation.

This week’s webinar is on a thought-provoking Southern Africa Toward Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme Working Paper by Professor Haroon Bhorat and Mr Timothy Köhler, which merges labour force survey microdata with high-frequency electricity supply and demand data to provide the first estimates of the relationships between scheduled electricity outages (load shedding) and labour market outcomes in South Africa.