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Higher education, employment and economic growth: exploring the interactions

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The purpose of this report is to interrogate the impact and nature of South Africa's post-apartheid economic growth performance through the lens of human-capital investment with a particular emphasis on higher education. The neoclassical theory of endogenous growth suggests that education has a profound impact on an economy's growth trajectory that may result in a derived labour-demand appetite for skilled labour. This pattern, in turn, becomes crucial in defining and characterising the returns to households and their members on the basis of their human capital attributes. Understanding the relationship and impact between education and growth at both levels is thus a vital lesson for making informed policy decisions about growth and welfare distribution.

Source: Human Science Research Council SA

DOI: 10.14749/32384973

Author: Human Sciences Research Council

Language: English

Topic: Economic Growth and Productivity

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Quality education

Open Access status: green

Funder: Human Sciences Research Council

OpenAlex ID: W7162193245

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