Summary Economics: A Southern African Context, 3e - EKN110 - Chapter 9

, South Africa's Labour Market


Blue + white-collar workers

- Professional ppl (lawyers
NOTE : 'Labour' refers to
-
-
> owners of small businesses




· After 1994 ,
SA had to address racial inequalities ·
LRA -
labour relations act

·
BCEA-basic conditions of employment act

P
employment equity act
EEA
. -




New legislation was introduced which had a big SDA-skills developement act

impact on SA labour market




Purely Competitive labour market


this
In
sumptions
/ market
I
As




S
Numerous firms compete Individual firms + workers are
qualified workers with
w one another in
hiring specific wage takers'
,
be niether can control
type of labour identical skills supply that
the market rate
labour
wage
↳
what determines ratel
wage .




Demand +
Supply

Labour Market Equilibrium




Labour
&

Labour demand + Supply in a
demand t supply for a


purely comp .
market
single comp
. firm


Supply curve : MRC

Because market wage
is perfectly elastic ( rate is given to individ
ror,cust
Equilibrium
- firm

·
favilibrium ·
O a Demand curve = MRP

wage
cost
& The shaded area Oabc :




&
= firms total revenue
um's
total costs



C
nee



6 sum of MRPs
!
.
!
Equilibrium determined by
Equilibrium determined by
. =
= where ·


Wage cost (QcXWC)
demand MRC = MRP
+
supply
non-labour cost
·




- If firm

MRPs
employs 3 units of labour
(firms total cost -

cost
S
with of R24
,
R23 , R2 wage

.. TR = 24 + 23 + 22 = 69