The past few months have seen members of the TRADE team share their expertise and/or present their research findings at several international events, using these opportunities to network with experts in their respective fields and explore future research possibilities.

In June 2017, Prof Anmar Pretorius and Prof Derick Blaauw travelled to Poland to deliver a joint paper on ‘The impact of trade on stock market integration of emerging markets’ at the International Trade and Finance Association’s 27th International Conference at the Poznan University of Economics and Business. Still on the emerging market theme, Dr Pretorius delivered a second paper on ‘Exports and exchange rate risk: Analysing emerging market sectoral exports’, which was the culmination of a research study that she had led, assisted by one of TRADE’s Master’s students, Heinrich Nel. 

The prevalence and damaging effects of gender inequality in business and trade were under the spotlight at two international events in June 2017. Prof Sonja Grater was invited to Divone-les-Bains in France by the ICTSD (International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development) to participate in a workshop on 13 June 2017 to establish (through the formation of a Gender Advisory Group) the parameters for assessing the work the ICTSD is doing in the gender sphere and expanding the scope of its gender-related research programme. Dr Carike Claassen presented a paper on ‘Occupational segregation in post-apartheid South Africa’ at the International Association for Feminist Economics’ 26th annual conference held from 29 June-1 July 2017 at Sungshin University in Seoul, Korea. In her paper, Dr Claassen revealed how gender segregation in South Africa’s labour market differs significantly among different racial groups.     

The future of agriculture is of critical importance in the world today, with sustainable agricultural production having major implications for food security, employment and economic growth. From 18-21 June 2017, Dr Andries Radley, a PhD student in TRADE, presented a paper (based on his thesis) on ‘Strategies implemented by South African agribusinesses to optimise profitability and growth’ at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) Conference in Miami, Florida, USA. His co-presenters were TRADE team member, Prof Ewert Kleynhans, and Dr Flippie Cloete, formerly of TRADE and now at the University of the Free State. Then, from 2-7 July 2017, Dr David Spies, Dr Ernst Idsardi and Dr Johnny van der Merwe, all agricultural specialists, attended the 21st Conference of the International Farm Management Association (IFMA) in Edinburgh, Scotland. They delivered a joint paper on ‘Performance and marketing options for informal cattle producers in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa’ which looked critically at the commercial opportunities as well as challenges facing this marginalised economic sector.