Browsing by Author "Ewinyu, Arabo K."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Public services, government employment and the budget
    (Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2022-10) Sachs, Michael; Ewinyu, Arabo K.; Shedi, Olwethu
    This report presents independent analysis using publicly available data on budgets, audited spending outcomes, and government plans for future expenditure. Our main concern is to draw inferences about the impact of budget choices on the allocation of real resources to core public services. The quantitative nature of budget choices means that, in contrast to other forms of policy expression, trade-offs between different policy goals are made clear and explicit. The report attempts to gauge the quantitative aspect of public policy in three respects. First, we identify the trends in real spending over the last two decades. Second, we use the budgets approved by parliament and provincial legislatures to gauge the impact of budget choices on real resource allocation over the next three years. Third, we present analysis of government pay and employment trends, which are strongly concentrated in the core public services that are our interest.
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    Spending choices in Budget 2022
    (Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2022-07) Sachs, Michael; Ewinyu, Arabo K.; Shedi, Olwethu
    This paper offers an independent appraisal of expenditure choices implied by the budget 2022 numbers by presenting National Treasury budget data in a form that is accessible and policy-relevant. The analysis may not be uncontroversial or “neutral” but is balanced and grounded in evidence. The report’s focus is on spending allocated through the national budget. Other elements of public spending (such as the state-owned companies, the budgets of metropolitan municipalities and spending financed by rates, levies or user charges) are mentioned where relevant. Tax policy is dealt with in passing but future reports aim to tackle the revenue side of the budget directly. After discussing the fiscal context for expenditure choices, the report analyses the aggregate resource allocation and choices implied by the budget estimates and then considers expenditure trends in each major policy area: healthcare, education, social protection, criminal justice and defence, economic policy and community development.
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    The Inequality—Financial Markets Nexus: Implications for Developing Metrics for Voluntary Disclosures
    (Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), 2024-01-21) Khan, Zoheb; Theobald, Stuart; Ewinyu, Arabo K.; Francis, David; Mogale, Etumeleng; Valodia, Imraan
    Can a disclosure framework reduce overall socio-economic inequality, or will it shift inequality somewhere else, for example, to other firms, other regions, or out of the firm and the private sector and into households? Are there material regional variations in the perceptions of the causes and effects of socio-economic inequality? What is the appropriate level of focus for an inequality disclosure framework? Surplus generated by workers accrues to the owners of capital and, at the most basic level, is a significant contributor to socio-economic inequality. There is also inequality in income between workers within firms and sectors. Furthermore, inequality is produced by access to and changes in asset prices, and by sovereign investing activities, among other factors. The correct unit of analysis for the proposed Taskforce on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD – which since the original drafting of this paper has now converged efforts with new partners to form the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD)) deserves attention. The authors of this paper believe that regional variations mean that a one-size-fits-all disclosure framework is unlikely to be appropriate. For instance, the distribution of informal employment needs to be considered, with 61% of all global employment being informal and with as much as 90% of employment being informal in many countries in the global South. While disclosure frameworks matter for formal companies, what is often overlooked in the development of disclosure frameworks are the implications for the large number of people, particularly in the global South, who are informally employed or who work in informal enterprises. A second consideration is high unemployment given that the distribution of labour income is one of the great drivers of income inequality. Furthermore, the growth of precarious and non-standard employment, with the rise of platform work as an example, is an additional concern.