Publications

Peer-reviewed

Bridging the 20-Year Literacy Divide: African Language Reading Progress in South Africa
Mohohlwane, N., Mtsatse, N., Courtney, P
2023
Book chapter in Tracking Changes in South African Reading Literacy Achievement: A Developing Context Perspective, Brill, Edited by Van Staden, S. and Combrinck, C

Mathematical Stunting in South Africa: An Analysis of Grade 5 Mathematics Outcomes in TIMSS 2015 and 2019
Spaull, N., Courtney, P, Qvist, J.
2022
Book chapter in Early Grade Mathematics in South Africa, Oxford University Press, Edited by H. Venkat, N. Roberts

Working papers

Rationalising micro, multigrade, & under-subscribed schools in South Africa: A pathway to fiscal efficiency and educational equity
Courtney, P
December 2024
TDD Research Note 19

Education, inclusive growth, and fiscal consolidation
Courtney, P
2025
SA-TIED Working Paper 247, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)

Inclusive development in South Africa: Elements of a structural reform strategy
Donaldson, A. R., Guma, N., McKenna, L., van Reenen, N., Ryan, G., Courtney, P, Janari, S.
Forthcoming
SA-TIED Working Paper, United Nations University (UNU-WIDER)
Invisible Borders – Persisting Scars: How the Apartheid Homelands Define Contemporary South Africa
Courtney, P
2021
MSc Thesis, Wageningen University & Research

Comment, blog, op-ed, & acknowledged contribution

Education and Growth – Some Ideas on How to Improve Results
Courtney, P
2025
Bureau for Economic Research (BER)

Missing Mathematicians — Why SA Must Back Bright, Black Learners
Courtney, P and Claire Bisseker
2025
Business Daily

How to Fix a Country
Havemann, Roy (Research assistant: Courtney, P)
2024
Jonathan Ball Publishers (Book and Research Contribution)

South Africa’s Irrational Covid Policy
Courtney, P
2024
The Maximin Substack

Land value tax is SA’s best shot at land reform
Courtney, P
2023
News24 Business

How to Give Back ALL the Land
Courtney, P
2023
The Maximin Substack

Why a just energy transition requires seismic surveying
Courtney, P
2022
Mail & Guardian

Akrasia
Courtney, P
2022
The Maximin Substack

Our Children for the World
Courtney, P
2022
The Maximin Substack

An Economic History of the Homelands
Courtney, P
2022
The Maximin Substack

The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering for an Ethical Vegan
Courtney, P
2022
The Maximin Substack

Coping with Climate Shocks: The Complex Role of Livestock Portfolios
Acosta, A., Nicolli, F., Karfakis, P (Research assistant: Courtney, P)
2021
World Development

News coverage

SETA students cost more than university grads — with little to show for it
Paton, C.
July 2025
News24

Why South Africa’s universities are in trouble
Bisseker, C.
June 2025
Business Live