Wpływ bezpośrednich inwestycji zagranicznych na nierówności w Republice Południowej Afryki z uwzględnieniem struktury rasowej
The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Inequality in South Africa with a Focus on Racial Structure

Summary/Abstract: South Africa remains one of the most stratified countries in the world accord-ing to almost all available measures of inequality. This is despite the fact that thesystem of racial segregation known as apartheid, which economically and politi-cally discriminated against the non-white population, collapsed three decadesago. Moreover, inequality persists, reinforcing South Africa’s economic struc-ture and economically marginalizing the Black population. At the same time,South Africa’s economy has many assets, such as raw material deposits, a largemarket, and a solid industrial base, and is generally seen as an investment gate-way to the African continent. Despite its deteriorating economic outlook, it hasbeen receiving the most foreign direct investment (FDI) of any African countryfor years. After the political transition, FDI was viewed as the engine of develop-ment and the key to solving South Africa’s problems, including extreme inequal-ity and unemployment. It is therefore reasonable to reflect on the impact of FDIon inequality in South Africa. The FDI-inequality nexus has been addressed byrelatively few studies, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies spe-cifically dedicated to South Africa exist. Furthermore, the results of studies usingwidely varying methodologies are inconclusive, which is not surprising given thehigh complexity of the relationship between FDI inflows and inequality. This article examines the relationship between FDI inflows and inequality in SouthAfrica. It reviews the relevant literature to conceptualize the research, identifythe mechanisms of FDI’s impact on inequality, and map the key variables deter-mining this causal relationship.

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