Working papers

Price discrimination in merger reviews in South Africa: The implications of a recent case precedent.
Author: Rahma Leuner

Working Paper | Number 71
February 2025

Mergers have the potential to give firms access to more data from which to draw insights about consumers. This may help firms to better discern which consumers are price insensitive or captive, or exhibit behavioural biases, that they can exploit by charging them higher prices or nudging them towards higher priced options.

The Inequality Financial Markets Nexus: Implications for Developing Metrics for Voluntary Disclosures

Authors: Khan Zoheb, Theobald Stuart, Ewinyu Arabo K, Francis David, Mogale Etumeleng, and Valodia Imraan

SCIS Working paper | Number 61

January 2024

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? These are some of the questions considered in this paper that carefully considers the relationship between financial markets and inequality.

Shareholder value orientation, corporate cash piles and the myth of financial accumulation

Author: Niall Reddy

SCIS Working paper | Number 46
March 2023

Financialization theories claim shareholder pressure has forced non-financial corporations into a “turn to finance” – an attempt to generate revenue from financial activities rather than production. This paper critiques this theory, showing that the main evidence in its favor – increasing financial portfolios – stems from factors not related to shareholder based governance.

Enabling inclusive economic ecosystems in Africa: A role for city governments?

Author: Mamokete Lijane

SCIS Working Paper | Number 44
November 2022

This paper assesses the impact of sovereign debt on efforts to address global inequality and development.

Towards a Tracking System to Enforce Competition Law in the southern and east African Region

Authors: Earnest Manjengwa, Karissa Moothoo Padayachie, Grace Nsomba, Ntombifuthi Tshabalala and Thando Vilakazi

SCIS Working Paper | Number 43
November 2022

The paper explores the role of market power in exacerbating inequality by looking at the effects of competition on income and wealth distribution. It argues that the conceptual framework, proposed in the paper, can be used to better understand market power and inequality in various African countries in order to develop appropriate responses.

 
Characterising the Relationship Between Market Power and Inequality in Southern and East Africa. Why It Matters?

Authors: Karissa Moothoo Padayachie and Thando Vilakazi

SCIS Working Paper | Number 42

This paper focuses on competition in the southern and east Africa region where there is a range of large firms with significant market power operating across political borders. This paper provides preliminary reflections on what we know about that relationship, and details reasons why we need to understand it.

Ownership and inequality: Policy interventions in South Africa and possible ways forward

Authors:  Sha'ista Goga and Imraan Valodia

SCIS Working Paper | Number 41
November 2022

This paper reviews some of the policies that have been introduced to address ownership diversity and broadening ownership. Policies like B-BBEE have gone some way towards doing this but not far enough.
 

Competition and Inequality in Developing Countries

Author: Sha'ista Goga

SCIS Working Paper | Number 40
November 2022

This paper examines the link between competition policy and inequality, with a specific focus on the impact on inequality of concentration and competitive abuses by firms. In particular, the paper focuses on the role that concentration and a lack of competition have on inequality more generally and specifically within the context of developing countries.