Structural Transformation in South Africa The Challenges of Inclusive Industrial Development in a Middle-Income Country

Taking South Africa as an important case study of the challenges of structural transformation, Structural Transformation in South Africa offers a new micro-meso level framework and evidence linking country-specific and global dynamics of change, with a focus on the current challenges and opportunities faced by middle-income countries. Detailed analyses of industry groupings and interests in South Africa reveal the complex set of interlocking country-specific factors which have hampered structural transformation over several decades, but also the emerging productive areas and opportunities for structural change. The structural transformation trajectory of South Africa presents a unique country case, given its industrial structure, concentration and highly internationalized economy, as well as the objective of black economic empowerment.

Structural Transformation in South Africa links these micro-meso dynamics to global forces driving economic, institutional and social change. This include digital industrialization, global value chain consolidation, financialization, environmental and other sustainability challenges, which are reshaping structural transformation dynamics across middle-income countries like South Africa. While these new drivers of change are disrupting existing industries and interests in some areas, in others they are reinforcing existing trends and configurations of power. The book analyses the ways in which both the domestic and global drivers of structural transformation shape-and, in some cases, are shaped by-a country's political settlement and its evolution. By focusing on the political economy of structural transformation, the book disentangles the specific dynamics underlying the South African experience of the middle-income country conundrum. In so doing, it brings to light the broader challenges faced by similar countries in achieving structural transformation via industrial policies.

Antonio Andreoni, Associate Professor of Industrial Economics, Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London, UK,Pamela Mondliwa, Research Associate, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg, and Senior Managing Consultant, Berkeley Research Group,Simon Robert, Professor of Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa,Fiona Tregenna, DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development (SARChi) and Professor of Economic, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Antonio Andreoni is Associate Professor of Industrial Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. He is Visiting Associate Professor in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg. His research on industrial dynamics, development and policy has appeared in leading journals including Cambridge Journal of Economics, Development and Change, Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, European Journal of Development Research and Energy Policy. Antonio holds a PhD from Cambridge University and is Life Member of Clare Hall.

Pamela Mondliwa is a senior managing consultant at Berkeley Research Group (BRG) and a research associate at the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED), University of Johannesburg. Prior to joining BRG, she was a senior researcher at CCRED. Pamela's research experience is on issues related to competition, economic regulation, industrial development, and regional economic development. She has provided research support to various government departments in South Africa and advises competition authorities in the Southern Africa region.


Simon Roberts is a professor of economics at the University of Johannesburg, where he founded the Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development (CCRED). He has worked extensively on issues of industrial development, trade, regional and global value chains, competition, and economic regulation in Southern and East Africa, advising governments, competition authorities and regulators. He was an economics director at the UK Competition and Markets Authority (2019 to 2020) and Chief Economist at the Competition Commission of South Africa from 2006 to 2012. He was an associate professor in economics at the University of Witwatersrand, from 2002 to 2006.

Fiona Tregenna holds the DST/NRF South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Industrial Development and is a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Fiona is a part-time Member of the Competition Tribunal where she adjudicates competition (anti-trust) cases, and serves on a number of boards, advisory panels and councils, including the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. She consults to various research institutes and international organisations such as UNIDO, UNCTAD and the ILO. Her primary research interest is in issues of structural change, deindustrialization, and industrial development.

1. Framing structural transformation in South Africa and beyond, Antonio Andreoni, Pamela Mondliwa, Simon Roberts, and Fiona Tregenna
2. Structural change in South Africa: a sectoral historical perspective, Nimrod Zalk
3. Metals, machinery, and mining equipment industries in South Africa: the relationship between power, governance, and technological capabilities, Antonio Andreoni, Lauralyn Kaziboni, and Simon Roberts
4. Leveraging linkages for developing plastic products: an assessment of backward input linkages from polymers and forward output linkages to the automotive industry, Jason Bell, Lorenza Monaco, and Pamela Mondliwa
5. Government policy in multinational-dominated global value chains: structural transformation within the South African automotive industry, Justin Barnes, Anthony Black, and Lorenza Monaco
6. The industrialization of freshness and structural transformation in South African fruit exports, Christopher Cramer and Shingie Chisoro-Dube
7. Sustainability and green capital accumulation: lessons from the South African wine value chain, Stefano Ponte
8. Structural transformation, economic power, and inequality in South Africa, Sumayya Goga and Pamela Mondliwa
9. Black economic empowerment, barriers to entry, and economic transformation in South Africa, Thando Vilakazi and Teboho Bosiu
10. Profitability without investment: how financialization undermines structural transformation in South Africa, Antonio Andreoni, Nishal Robb, and Sophie van Huellen
11. The middle-income trap and premature deindustrialization in South Africa, Antonio Andreoni and Fiona Tregenna
12. Digitalization, industrialization, and skills development: opportunities and challenges for middle-income countries, Antonio Andreoni, Justin Barnes, Anthony Black, and Timothy Sturgeon
13. Global value chains, 'in-out-in' industrialization, and the global patterns of sectoral value addition, Antonio Andreoni, Keun Lee, and Sofia Torreggiani
14. The political economy of structural transformation: political settlements and industrial policy in South Africa, Pamela Mondliwa and Simon Roberts
15. Towards a new industrial policy for structural transformation, Antonio Andreoni, Pamela Mondliwa, Simon Roberts, and Fiona Tregenna