South Africa has been integrating into the global economy since the early 1990s through a rapid programme of trade liberalization. Its textile industry-an activity important in manufacturing value-added in most developing countries-illustrates the effects of this policy on firms and their...

The increased exploitation of renewable energy sources is central to any move towards sustainable development. However, casting renewable energy thus carries with it an inherent commitment to other basic tenets of sustainability: openness; democraticization etc.

Competition law was viewed as a key instrument under democracy to address entrenched corporate power, in the context of liberalisation. This article examines South Africa's competition law regime and the changing strategies of large firms through three industry case studies. In the industry...

A warm and adequately-lit home is considered a basic need, together with access to energy-consuming appliances ranging from a fridge to a TV. An underlying tenet of sustainable energy is that such basic needs should be affordably met. Yet low incomes, energy-inefficient housing and appliances...

Through a study of the plastics sector in South Africa, the article critically examines the globalization position that greater openness yields gains from exports and foreign direct investment. Analysis of firm-level data reveals that the depth and extent of the internationalization of...

This paper examines the responses of firms in the textile industry of South Africa to that country's rapid liberalisation of trade since the early 1990s. The data reveal that there have been increased exports accompanied by reductions in employment and contraction of production of yarns and...

Under the apartheid regime, South African business was marked by a high degree of concentration, both in terms of ownership and activities; indeed, it could be argued that this concentration was both created by and reinforced the exclusions linked to apartheid. In this paper, we identify the...

After providing some background on the evolving competition regime in South Africa, the author addresses the Commission's increased activity in the area of anticompetitive practices and cartels.