Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/243378 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2021/52
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper uses firm-level data and a news-based measure of economic policy uncertainty to provide empirical evidence that economic policy uncertainty has a negative impact on firm-level investment in South Africa. Firms' investment decisions in response to uncertainty reflect firms' heterogeneity. Medium-sized firms and, to a different extent, small firms reduce their investment by much more than large firms in response to increased policy uncertainty. The relationship between firms categorized by size and the degree of financial constraints they face implies that financially constrained firms are more sensitive to uncertainty than large, unconstrained firms.
Subjects: 
economic policy uncertainty
firm-level investment
South Africa
firm heterogeneity
JEL: 
E22
E4
E5
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-990-7
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





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