Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/277754 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 223/2023
Publisher: 
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper uses the automobile industry and the clothing and textile industry as lenses to examine the impact of the Covid pandemic on globalization. We focus on the case of South Africa, where both sectors have a long history. In the early decades of neoliberal globalization the country's clothing and textile industry declined rapidly and the automobile industry expanded dramatically. The Covid crisis has had an overall negative effect on the economy of South Africa, but in certain respects the trends of these two key manufacturing sectors have reversed. The Automobile sector in the country is stagnating and both firms and government seem unable to take significant action to address the situation. The clothing and textiles industry has stabilized, and even begun to grow, after decades of decline from the 1980s to the 2000s. The pandemic period has seen renewed energy and engagement between firms and government. We analyze the background and Covid experiences of both industries to make sense of the explanation for and implications of this contrast.
Subjects: 
Covid-19
South Africa
Globalization
Automobile Industry
Clothing and Textile Industry
JEL: 
L16
L52
O55
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.