Human capital constraints in South Africa

This paper examines human capital constraints in the South African economy, and the austerity of these constraints on firms in the country. The two key human capital constraints explored in this article are the inadequately educated workforce and labour market distortions. Regression analysis was applied to examine determinants of increased labour productivity in manufacturing firms. Education and labour market distortions were found to have a varying influence on output per worker. Principal Component Analysis (pca) of the explanatory variables achieved similar results. This study found that the highest percentage of the total variance is explained by latent variables that incorporate education, training, compensation, region and Sector Education Training Authority (seta) support and effectiveness

The quality of human capital in South Africa: evidence from a firm survey

This paper examines the restrictive nature of human capital in the South African economy, and the impact it has on productivity in the manufacturing sector. These restrictions include an inadequately educated workforce and inflexible labour regulations. Survey analysis along with regression and factor analysis examine the most likely causes of productivity increases. Factor analysis revealed that productivity is driven by three underlying dimensions, namely human capital development, management’s competitiveness and location. Human capital development was also shown to be inadequate in small and medium-sized establishments.http://dx.doi.org/10.5897/AJBM11.2959http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380902010_Kleynhans%20and%20Labuschagne.pd