Robert Hill

Robert is a Junior Research Fellow in the DPRU, having taken up this position in June 2018. He holds a M.Com in Applied Economics (conferred in 2019, with an average above 75%), with an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics (both majors with distinction) and an Honours degree in Economics (in the first class), all from UCT. Robert is currently registered for his PhD in Economics, under the supervision of Professors Corné van Walbeek and Justine Burns. His research focusses on the impact of curriculum change on prosocial behaviours, academic intervention and throughput in the economics discipline.

Robert is actively involved in both research pursuits and teaching for the School of Economics at UCT. He has lectured courses ranging from introductory microeconomics to Honours-level mathematics and labour economics courses. Robert was also involved in the rollout of the CORE Curriculum at UCT in 2019, leading the development of the game theory, experimental economics, and labour market sections of the curriculum.

Expertise:

• Labour economics, education and behavioural economics, all with a focus on econometric application

Journal Articles

• Köhler, T. and Hill, R. 2022. Wage subsidies and COVID-19: The distribution and dynamics of South Africa’s TERS policy. Development Southern Africa, DOI: 10.1080/0376835X.2022.2057927.
• Hill, R. and Köhler, T. [Conditionally accepted, pending revisions]. Mind the gap: The distributional effects of COVID-19 on gender wage inequality in South Africa. Feminist Economics.

Book Chapters

• Köhler, T., Bhorat, H., Hill R. and Stanwix, B. (2022). ‘The short-term labour market effects of South Africa’s national COVID-19 lockdown’, in Building Economic and Social Resilience in Crisis Times (working title, forthcoming). Palgrave: IPE Series.

Selected Working Papers

• Köhler, T. and Hill, R. 2021.The distribution and dynamics of South Arica’s TERS policy: Results from NIDSCRAM Waves 1-5. National Income Dynamics Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) Working Paper, Wave 5(7).
• Köhler, T., Bhorat, H., Hill, R. and Stanwix, B. 2021. COVID-19 and the labour market: Estimating the employment effects of South Africa’s national lockdown. Development Policy Research Unit Working Paper 202107. DPRU, University of Cape Town.
• Allen Whitehead, C. Bhorat, H., Hill, R., Köhler, T. and Steenkamp, F. 2021. The Potential Employment Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: The Case of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector. Development Policy Research Unit Working Paper 202106. DPRU, University of Cape Town.
• Van Walbeek, C., Hill, R., Filby, S., van der Zee, K. 2021. Market impact of the COVID-19 national cigarette sales ban in South Africa. National Income Dynamics Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) Working Paper, Wave 3(11).
• Allen, C., Asmal, Z., Bhorat, H., Hill, R., Monnakgotla, J. Oosthuizen, M. and Rooney, C. 2021. Employment creation potential, labor skills requirements, and skills gaps for young people: A South African case study. Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings. AGI Working Paper 26.