Market Institutions and the future course of the SA Property Market

1. Market Institutions and the future course of the SA Property Market ( Prof) Francois Viruly School of construction Economics and Management – Johannesburg ERES CONFERENCE 2009 STOCKHOLM

2. The research focus; • The application of the principles of institutional economics to explain the course transformation in the South African property sector. • An analysis of how public sector interventions have attempted to influence the path of institutional change. • The success and failure of the policy approach adopted in South Africa.

3. The Theoretical background; • The institutional approach ( North 1990) • That market transaction occur within an institutional framework; • Institutions ( or the rules of the game ) are of a formal and informal nature; • Economic institutions result in certain market outcomes and behaviour; • The Path of institutional change has been explained in numerous ways ( Mahoney 2000); • Utility/ Increasing Returns explanations ( North 1990) • The functional Approach – system approach • The Power centered approach

4. The theoretical background – the policy perspective • Policy makers need to understand that the path to institutional change is influenced by • Path Dependence • Institutional “ Lock in” • The interest to retain a particular institutional arrangement ( that may be inefficient) can have economic as well as political dimensions • Changing the path of institutional change can be difficult and requires interventions at different levels of the institutional hierarchy. • It is equally important to understand the linkages that exist between institutions.

5. Institutional Explanation of Property Development( Keoch and D’arcy 1999) • The Institutional Environment • - political institutions - social institutions • - legal institutions - economic institutions • The Property Market as Institution • market (and non-market aspects) - decentralised and informal • legal and conventional aspects of - legal and conventional property rights aspects of land use and development • Property Market Organisations • users - investors • specialist developers constructors - property service providers • - financial services providers - professional bodies • - governmental and non-governmental agencies

6. The Historical Back ground to Black economic Empowerment and Institutions in the SA Property Market • Apartheid Years and Institutions • Volkskapitalism • Legislation was used to provide opportunities for whites and the exclusion of blacks ( 1913 land Act , Group areas Act 1958) • By the 1980 , A breaking point is reached and the utility , functional and power centered basis for the existing institutional arrangements is weakened. • The Post Apartheid Period; • By 1994 the ANC initiates its transformation policies with GEAR / RDP policies • This is followed in 2001 with the BEE commission and the 2003 BBBEE Act - this sets for the mandate of sectoral transformation charters • More recently the shift has moved to a procurement policy and supporting of organisations in the property sector.

7. BEE Institutional Hierarchy Path Dependence / Sequencing

8. BBBEE and the Property transformation charter ( PTC) • The PTC was primarily influenced by the BBBEE act , which encouraged voluntary sectoral transformation initiatives • It emphasizes that - “Despite legislative interventions , the transformation of the sector has generally been slow; • It included broad consultation within the sector; • It includes; • A charter council ( of a supervisory nature) • A scorecard incorporating certain benchmarks • These appropriate code of good practice has now been adopted by the department of trade and Industry and are being proposed as a norm for future charters and the benchmark that government departments should use in their procurement activities

9. Property Sector Score Card

10. Property Sector Score Card

11. Property Sector Score Card Source: Property Sector Transformation charter (2007)

12. The more recent developments… • Dissatisfaction with the pace of process; • There is a growing sentiment that the sector is not transforming at an acceptable rate • Government is starting to become more aggressive with its procurement ( length of leases , property management and facility management) • The creation of the property transformation coalition. • The creation of a South African National Property empowerment Company.

13. The policy Dimension of the Hierachy of institutions The Institutional Framework / Legislation The Sectoral Institutional Framework The Organisational Institutional Framework

14. Concluding remarks • The SA property market provides an interesting case study of the difficulties that arise when attempting to shift the path of institutional change. • Policies need to understand and apply policies that can address the issues that cause path dependence and institutional lack in. • Interventions primarily based on a top down approach ( starting with legislation) , may not necessary result in significant change at the institutional and organizational institutional levels. • Yet institutional change at the higher echelons of the institutional Hierarchy may be required to promote changes at different levels. • The paper illustrates that when instruments are undertaken consideration should be given to; • Sequencing • Timing • and the type of interventions. • Failure in achieving results with a top down approach; means that a bottom-up approach driven by organizations and not the state becomes significant