abstract: 'Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) was conceived as a

  structural intervention to fundamentally reorganise the South African

  economy and address persistent economic inequalities. South Africa has

  the world''s highest income inequality, and this is reflected by vast

  inequalities in salaries and wages both between high and low earners,

  but importantly between different race and gender groups. Despite a

  plethora of legislation aimed at addressing inequality in ownership

  (such as B-BBEE) and in the workplace (employment equity legislation),

  women and Black workers in South Africa continue to be paid less than

  men and white employees, even when doing the same work (the pay gap),

  and are more likely to work in precarious, low-paid jobs (occupational

  segregation). These factors are driven by differences in the

  characteristics of workers, and by structural discrimination in the

  economy. Conceptually, we can decompose structural discrimination into

  two forms - that which discriminates against people who do the same job,

  based on race and gender (the pay gap) - and that which discriminates

  indirectly by occupational segregation - blacks and women concentrated

  in low paying occupations. In this paper, we ask whether B-BBEE - while

  not explicitly a labour market intervention - has had any positive

  impact in reducing labour market inequalities. We review the literature

  on occupational segregation and the gender and race pay gaps in

  post-apartheid South Africa, and examine the various policy

  interventions, with a particular focus on B-BBEE, that have attempted to

  address this enduring problem.'
author: Francis, David and Valodia, Imraan
author-email: 'david.francis@wits.ac.za

  imraan.valodia@wits.ac.za'
author_list:
- family: Francis
  given: David
- family: Valodia
  given: Imraan
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1353/trn.2022.0010
eissn: 1726-1368
files: []
issn: 0258-7696
journal: TRANSFORMATION-CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SOUTHERN AFRICA
keywords: inequality; race; gender; action; labour market
language: English
number-of-cited-references: '45'
orcid-numbers: Francis, David/0000-0003-1494-9308
pages: 1-20
papis_id: f84983e2bb79542e0a0d6917985d5233
ref: Francis2022blackeconomic
tags:
- relevant
- review
times-cited: '0'
title: 'Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa: introduction and a review
  of the labour market literature'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000892146900001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '2'
volume: '109'
web-of-science-categories: Area Studies
year: '2022'