A comparative analysis of the level of competitiveness of the South African Clothing and Textile Industry

Abstract

The aim of the article is to perform a comparative competitor benchmark analysis of the level of competitiveness of the South African clothing and textile industry (CAT industry). The article employs both Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indices and fixed-effect panel data estimates in order to perform an analysis of the level of competitiveness of the South African CAT industry. The study includes export data from 1990-2013 for 18 sample emerging markets. The RCA indices indicate that the South African CAT industry has comparative disadvantages in both the clothing and textile sectors. Asian CAT industries are inclined towards a more dominant comparative advantage when compared to other emerging markets in both the clothing and textile sectors. The indices indicate a large and widening gap between the levels of competitiveness of the South African CAT industry and the CAT industries of sample countries (especially India and China). The fixed-effect panel data estimates suggest that increasing unit labour costs and declining export shares can be viewed as major determinants of the increasing lack of competitiveness of the South African CAT industry. The results of this article point to a mounting crisis in the South African CAT industry, most especially in terms of job losses and declining exports markets. Proper policy responses from the government, industrialist, retailers, labour unions and other stakeholders within the economy (such as banks and development finance institutions) are required.

Keywords

• South African clothing and textile industry
• emerging markets
• low-cost competitors
• revealed comparative advantage indices (RCA)
• fixed-effect panel data estimation
• labour unit cost
• real effective exchange rate
• exports-share