Prof. Haroon Bhorat
Professor of Economics and Director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town
Prof. Haroon Bhorat’s work and research interest covers labor economics, poverty, and income distribution. He has co-authored and co-edited several books on labor market and poverty issues in Africa – as well as over 200 academic journal articles, book chapters, and working papers. In addition to sitting on the editorial advisory board of the World Bank Economic Review, he is also is a Board Member of the National Research Foundation (NRF), the UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), and sits on the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) Board of Directors.
He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was a Cornell University research fellow. He holds the prestigious National Research Chair under the theme of Economic Growth, Poverty and Inequality: Exploring the Interactions for South Africa. He is a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution affiliated to the Global Economy and Development Program and the Africa Growth Initiative (AGI), and a Research Fellow at IZA, the Institute for the Study of Labour in Bonn.
He has undertaken extensive work for several South African government departments, his career appointments including: being an Advisor on the South African Parliament’s High Level Panel on Acceleration of Change and Transformation; Economic advisor to two past Ministers of Finance; and Economic Advisor to former South African Presidents, formally serving on the Presidential Economic Advisory Panel. He currently sits on the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC), established by President Ramaphosa to generate new ideas for economic growth, job creation and addressing poverty.