Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
School of Economic Sciences
Department of Economics
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The Department invested heavily in capacity building in the field of Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling in order to expand on its research that aims to provide a coherent framework against which environmentally-related fiscal intruments (taxes and charges) could be implemented in South Africa. On the basis of a limited survey, a database was compiled of the various taxes and charges levied by municipalities. So far it is clear that currently the major environmentally-related taxes are associated with transport fuels (mainly the general fuel levy) and vehicle taxation. Various proposals for revenues ear-marked to support certain environmental objectives are on record, notably for waste water. A major constraint is the current low profile of organisations responsible for environmental enforcement and monitoring.
In specific areas, such as waste, there appears to be considerable potential for introducing instruments with significant implications for employment generation – in materials collection, separation, reprocessing, recycling, re-use and re-manufacture. These formal and informal activities are major sources of income for many and care should be taken to ensure that existing operators are not marginalized. The development of community scale enterprises may be an important aspect of such strategies.
Contact person: Prof NJ Schoeman.
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