What is it about?
Cluster analyses were used to unravel the economic, demographic and entrepreneurial structures and their interrelationships of municipalities in the Free State, South Africa. The economic value addition, population size, employment creation and entrepreneurial domains are clearly linked. The agriculture, mining and fuel and chemicals sectors dominate economic value addition in some municipalities, whereas others have more balanced local economies without a single dominating economic sector. The agriculture and households sectors are significant sources of employment in all municipalities. Cluster sequence analyses of the municipalities revealed statistically significant recurring patterns of value addition, employment and entrepreneurship.
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Why is it important?
This unique study quantifies economic value addition, employment and entrepreneurial activities in municipalities of the Free State, South Africa. Cluster analyses revealed five types of municipalities: two primarily dependent on agriculture, one on mining, one on the fuels and chemicals sector and the last with well balanced economies. The observed municipal cluster sequences are not due to chance and the strong observed orderliness in the economic value addition, demographic, employment and entrepreneurial domains of the municipalities should be used in development planning.
Perspectives
Cluster analysis is a useful tool to investigate the regularities and their interrelationships of the demographic-socioeconomic-entrepreneurial nexus of human settlements.
Dr Danie Francois Toerien
University of the Free State
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Economic value addition, employment, and enterprise profiles of local authorities in the Free State, South Africa, Cogent Social Sciences, June 2015, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2015.1054610.
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