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Analysing the influence that macroeconomic factors have on the returns of South African real estate investment trusts
(2022) Taylor, Jane
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have become a popular investment vehicle for investors seeking to gain exposure to the real estate market. The South African REIT regime came into effect on 1 May 2013 and since then, the South African REIT market has been characterised by notable return volatility. This raises the question as to whether changes in key macroeconomic factors influence South African REIT returns, and if so, to what extent do changes in macroeconomic factors have on the returns of South African REITs. Notably, limited empirical research has been conducted to analyse the impact that macroeconomic factors have on South African REIT returns. As such, the aim of this study is to analyse the influence that economic growth, inflation, interest rates, and the stock market have on the returns of South African REITs. Particularly, the overall South African REIT market as well as the prominent REIT property subtypes in South Africa including the retail, office, and industrial sectors are investigated. To estimate and evaluate the relationships between the stated macroeconomic factors and South African REIT returns, vector autoregression models and vector error correction models are employed. The results reveal that South African REIT returns are significantly positively associated with economic growth, inflation, and stock market returns whereas they are significantly negatively related to interest rates. However, changes in these macroeconomic factors only explain a small percentage of the variability in REIT returns. Importantly, the findings of this study are consistent with what has been observed in other global REIT markets except for inflation in which a negative association has generally been reported. The results of this study strengthens the field of REIT research by adding to the existing body of knowledge of what is currently known about South African REITs. From a practical standpoint, this additional insight may assist REIT asset managers, real estate collective investment scheme fund managers, and investors with portfolio construction and risk management decisions.
Analysis of the determinants of foreign exchange reserves in sub-Saharan Africa
(2022) Thabana, Gaone
Abundant literature has risen sharply over the years with regards to determinants of foreign exchange reserves and motives for holding the foreign exchange reserves due to the financial and currency crises that the world has experienced. This study examines the determinants of foreign exchange reserves using 19 Sub-Saharan Africa countries over the period 2000-2019 and applies the panel autoregressive distributed lag methodology. The empirical discussion is enriched by extending the Worrell (1976) framework of optimal foreign exchange reserves considering the role of the institutions and its effect on the flow of foreign exchange reserves across the selected countries. Results from the empirical analysis indicate that the main determinants of foreign exchange reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa are trade openness, broad money to GDP, inflation and exchange rate. With regards to the role of institutions, political stability and absence of terrorism, government effectiveness, control of corruption and voice and accountability affect reserves in the long run, while control of corruption and regulatory quality negatively affect reserves in the short run. Countries should therefore observe the above-mentioned macroeconomic indicators and quality of their institutions to increase their reserves and for the development of their economies.
Assessing the acceptability of biometrics in HIV prevention programme by Hillbrow sex workers
(2019) Nyamhuno, Shepherd
Sex workers face several challenges in Hillbrow which include the risks of HIV and STI infection, stigma and discrimination in public health facilities, arrests and exploitation from the police as well as violence from the clients. Sex workers do not always bring their identity documents to the clinic and they are frequently changing their names thereby creating many multiple accounts for an individual. The biometrics have the potential to solve the problems of unique identifiers for Esselen Street Clinic. This study undertook to find out if the biometrics were acceptable to the sex workers. A mixed-methods approach made up of questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews for employees was employed. A sample of 120 questionnaires found out that 64.6% accepted the biometrics when used at Esselen Street Clinic. Moreover, 79% had a positive perception of biometrics. The focus group discussion showed that although the sex workers trusted the clinic staff, they had problems with fear of the unknown including someone hacking the system and the data ending up in the hand of future prospective employees. Sex workers also cited that they were using biometrics in other platforms such as the Department of Home Affairs, banks and SASSA. This gave them the confidence to accept them if they were to be placed at the clinic. In order to understand the acceptance of the biometrics by the sex workers, in-depth interviews with employees were carried out. It emerged from the in-depth interviews with the staff members that the clinic had invested much in tailor-made services, which are very convenient for sex workers. Moreover, the continual capacity building in sex worker sensitisation and the quality improvement programme has yielded better outcomes and quality services that are attractive to sex workers. The non-judgemental attitudes of the employees gave the sex workers confidence to accept the biometrics. It was interesting to note that migrant sex workers were more sceptical and fearful of biometrics than local ones due to illegal immigrant status and experience of harassment at the hands of the police. The study concluded that a sex worker-friendly clinic, like Esselen Street Clinic, could perhaps have a better acceptance rate than a public health facility would. With intense lobbying and education, there are higher chances of getting an even higher acceptance rate of the biometrics.
Assessing the effect of the COVID-19 SRD grant on recipients' mental health
(2022) Morwane, Keletso
The South African government responded to the Covid-19 global pandemic by implementing containment measures (in the form of lockdowns) to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 virus. This has devastated the economy, put a strain on an already fragile labour market, and deteriorated mental health and poverty. Consequently, the government put together social protection measures and expanded their social grant programme to cover unemployed adults. This study investigates the impact that the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant – a measure aimed at reducing the pandemic-induced financial shock on households – has on recipients’ mental health. Using the PSM estimation approach, the ATT is assessed over time by analysing waves 2, 3 and 5 of NIDS-CRAM as separate cross sections. Since socioeconomic issues cause depression, the study is compelled to ascertain whether receipt of the grant lowers depressive symptoms. The study is further motivated by literature that highlights the increase in poor mental health that is induced by a range of factors brought on by the pandemic. The results for waves 3 and 5 are statistically insignificant thereby creating difficulty in highlighting their implications. Wave 2’s results indicate that receipt of the grant lowers the likelihood of displaying depressive symptoms and the result is significant. This positive impact obliges the study to suggest that the government should consider making the policy permanent
Assessing the role of public transport-oriented development in promoting investment: the case of Johannesburg's Rea Vaya and the Louis Botha corridor of freedom
(2019) Ngidi, Zinhle Sinenhlanhla
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in practice dates back to the 1880s. The definition and concept were more recently coined by urban practitioner, Peter Calthorpe in the 1980s. The concept has evolved over time, however, the fundamentals remain universally accepted. TOD is a multidisciplinary tool that can be used for the achievement of social, economic and environmental benefits. It has been observed that the popularity of TOD as an urban transformation tool has increased internationally. The outcomes on the other hand have been varied depending on the unique features of the location where it is implemented. Johannesburg is one of South Africa’s pilot metropolitan areas for TOD. The Corridors of Freedom (CoF) initiative among other things aims to crowd in private sector investment into areas that are in much need of urban renewal. This paper probes the progress that has been made in achieving private sector investment in property development in the CoF between 2013 and 2017. Theories incorporating geographic and economic thought aid the contextualisation of TOD within the greater body of work within the field of development. Results show that there is private participation in the development of high-density, mixed use buildings. It is however argued that developments that have taken place so far rely heavily on the principles of property development as opposed to TOD principles.
Capital flight: the nexus with external debt and institutional quality in SADC
(2022) Kamupira, Faith
The relationship between capital flight and external debt has been described as bi-directional and it has attracted a lot of attention from researchers and policymakers. Due to the observed incidence of high capital flight and external debt in SADC, the study’s main objective is to establish the mechanism through which capital flight manifests with special interest on political institutions and external debt. The study employs the panel autoregressive distributive lag model (ARDL) approach to investigate both long-run and short-run relationships among the variables. Furthermore, the granger causality test is employed in order to attest the level of causality between capital flight, external debt and institutional quality. The study finds a long-run causal relationship between external debt and capital flight, concluding the existence of flight-driven external debt phenomenon. The results reveal that resource-endowed economies with relatively poor quality institutions drive capital flight in the SADC region resulting in countries accumulating debt to offset the loss of domestic savings associated with capital flight. The results obtained herein further shows that capital flight persist overtime, thus if capital flight remains unabated, it will continue to lead to massive capital flight in the region. Thus there is need for authorities to set up powerful legal frameworks on transparent and responsible management of natural resources so as to abate trade mis-invoicing and other forms of illegal capital flight. Moreso, policies that lead to repatriation of capital flight need to be implemented, to ensure adequacy of capital resources required for sustainable growth in the long-run.
Collective intelligence and social sensitivity amongst students at the University of the Witwatersrand
(2019) Van Staden, Jason Gary
The study of groups and their ability to solve problems is referred to as collective intelligence. Woolley, Chabris, Pentland, Hashmi and Malone (2010) demonstrated that measuring a group’s intelligence is similar to the way an individual’s intelligence is measured. This is done by establishing the emergence of a factor referred to as ‘c’, like the factor ‘g’ that emerges at an individual level. This factor predicts the performance of a group in future tasks. It appears from literature that social sensitivity is the most predictive variable of the collective intelligence factor. However, little is known about what determines a person’s social sensitivity. This research investigates social sensitivity to guide and inform academia and practitioners on how to improve collective intelligence. The most popular measure used in current research for measuring social sensitivity in adults is the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ test (RMET). This is a test that requires respondents to choose the correct mental state of a person by viewing static stimuli of their eye region. Previous research, however, shows lower scores for cultures that are not Caucasian. It has been suggested that this is due to the stimuli being exclusively Caucasian in the current RMET. This research creates and tests two new RMET instruments, one containing African stimuli, the other, diverse Asian stimuli. Along with culture, gender has shown variations in performance on the RMET. Women tend to score higher than men on the RMET. This research extends literature by assessing gender RMET differences across cultures and different cultural instruments. This serves as Study 1 in the present research. A by-product of Study 1 is valid mental state items that is used to create a shortened multicultural RMET instrument. The new multicultural instrument avoids cultural biases and allows for the efficient measurement of social sensitivity. Study 2 investigates determinants of social sensitivity by using the multicultural instrument developed in Study 1. The determinants are trait emotional intelligence, personality and individual contextual factors such as culture, gender and family background. Along with direct relationships, mediation and moderation relationships are also tested. A post-hoc investigation, Study 3, assesses social sensitivity’s importance to collective intelligence in an African context. This is also the first attempt in an African context to validate the emergence of the collective intelligence factor when applied to an African sample. Together, these three studies further academic knowledge of social sensitivity and collective intelligence. Using a quantitative methodology, the research consists of two designs. The first uses a questionnaire survey administered in person. The first research design was used to create and test new social sensitivity instruments (Study 1) and investigate the predictors of social sensitivity (Study 2). The second research design implements a quasi-experimental method which is used to test for the emergence of the collective intelligence factor in groups. Study 1 tested a sample of 1 306 responses of University of the Witwatersrand students. Study 2 tested 427 responses, while Study 3 tested a sample of 36 students – which were dived into 13 groups. Study 1 follows precedent in literature to create the new RMET instruments and then applies analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques to assess variance across cultures and genders. Studies 2 and 3 use factor analysis, bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques to assess variables and their relationships with each other. Moderation and mediation techniques are also applied. Study 1 results produce a contextually valid 21-item African RMET, and a contextually valid 26-item diverse Asian RMET. Assessment of these new instruments plus 30 context-validated items from the original Caucasian RMET show significant cultural differences. Those self-reporting with an African culture score significantly lower on social sensitivity as measured by the RMET, regardless of the culture of the stimuli presented to them. Therefore, there appears to be no advantage in performance on the RMET tests when assessing the stimuli of an individual’s own culture, an assumption which is suggested in literature. A gender advantage, whereby women score higher on social sensitivity, is also present across all cultural instruments. Study 2 results investigate the antecedents of social sensitivity. The individual contextual factors gender and home language significantly predict social sensitivity in Study 2. Personality and trait emotional intelligence prove to be non-significant predictors of social sensitivity. Interestingly, the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and social sensitivity is moderated by home language. Those who speak an African home language display a significant negative relationship between trait emotional intelligence and social sensitivity. In contrast, those who speak English as their home language show a significant positive relationship. This finding provides insight into the cultural differences observed in the RMET. Findings suggest that those of an African culture self-report that they are more emotionally intelligent if they perform lower on the RMET. This suggests high performance in mind-reading by identifying facial cues is, potentially, not an important indicator of high emotional intelligence in African cultures. In support of this, literature suggests that less emphasis is placed on facial cues in African cultures, thus cultural norms need to be considered. For instance, in certain African cultures direct eye contact is seen as a sign of disrespect in certain situations. These norms appear to influence African cultures’ performance on the RMET. This finding challenges assumptions in academic literature, particularly views on the differences between cultures’ RMET scores. This study provides culturally important information on different cultural views on assessing mental states. Study 3 results provide limited evidence that the collective intelligence factor emerges in an African context. However, results show that social sensitivity is correlated with the identified collective intelligence factor in the study. This research provides three new tested RMET instruments to academia (African, diverse Asian and a shortened multicultural instrument). This investigation also shows that African cultures and men perform lower on social sensitivity instruments. In addition, the research also shows African cultures who are performing higher on trait emotional intelligence have lower RMET scores, an opposite effect to English cultures, suggesting differing perspectives on the importance of this particular ability to each culture’s emotional intelligence. Such findings provide interesting implications for both academia and practitioners. Education and training of both African and other cultures will potentially allow an understanding of each culture’s social interaction norms, and what is seen as the emotionally correct response in different situations. This adjustment may help social interactions between cultures by governing the individual’s use of different emotional skills in a way that promotes cultural inclusiveness and cooperation. This research, therefore, provides resources and knowledge to help academics and practitioners hypothetically improve cross-cultural social interactions. This understanding will potentially improve collective intelligence in teams and groups.
Comparison of accounting-based financial distress prediction models of companies listed on the JSE
(2022) Khan, Sheriff
The study compared the forecasting accuracy of binary state corporate failure prediction models (multiple discriminant analysis and logit), and multistate models (multinomial and mixed logit models), to assess which models were more reliable in predicting financial distress and corporate failure from a South African context. The study used a sample of 108 firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) for the period between 2010 to 2019. The sample was sub-divided into a testing and a validation sample and the accuracy of the models was tested 5 years prior to failure, 3 years prior to failure and 1 year prior to failure. The empirical results indicate that the binary models performed relatively well up to 3 years prior to failure; but their performance dropped considerably beyond that. The multistate models produced better results overall and their performance did not materially drop as the lead time from failure increased. This study provides evidence that multistate corporate failure prediction models can be used to predict corporate failure.
Consumers' motivational drivers status consumption and life satisfaction: a case of smartphones among the Generation Y cohort in South Africa
(2019) Sithole, Titus Mutsanya
One important motivating force that influences a wide range of consumer behaviour is the desire to gain status or social prestige from the acquisition and consumption of goods. More often than not, individuals purchase expensive and luxury goods to display their social standing. In addition, individuals purchase status products to fulfill their material desires and reinforce their group identity. This is often a case with regards to youth consumers who often purchase expensive, luxury smart-phone brands to portray status and impress their peers. This behaviour seems to be trending among student communities. This study sought to investigate the consumers’ motivations for status consumption and life satisfaction for smartphone consumption in Generation Y. This study made use of a non-probability convenience sample. A self-administered questionnaire was designed, based on the scales used in previous studies. A sample of 250 students was chosen to collect the data. A series scale check analysis was made to test the reliability and validity of measures using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Also, structural equation modelling (SEM) analysed the hypothesised relationships using Amos version 25 software. The main findings of the study are that materialism has a significant influence on life satisfaction with a path coefficient value for hypothesis 1 is 0.371, which is an indication of a strong association and relationship between materialism and status consumption. Uniqueness has a positive and a significant influence on status consumption with a path coefficient value of 0.034 and the p-value of 0.847. Consumer ethnocentrism has a positive and a significant influence on status consumption with path coefficient value of 0.122 and the p-value of 0.176. Modern status orientations have a significant influence on status consumption with a path coefficient value of 0.717. Finally, status consumption has a significant influence on life satisfaction with a path coefficient value for hypothesis 5 is 0.719, which is an indication of a strong association and relationship between status consumption and life satisfaction. The insights gained from this study will help marketers to better understand youth consumers in their engagement in status consumption, and life satisfaction, which, will ultimately assist the marketing practitioners’ efforts in such a way as to appeal to this segment in an appropriate manner.
Counting and valuing women’s unpaid work in South Africa
(2022) Sebola, Koketso
Counting and valuing unpaid work provides a broader context to the inequality, poverty and gender discrimination in an economy and within households. Women all over the world spend a greater amount of time on unpaid work than men and this fact is no different for South Africa. This study undertakes to value the unpaid work performed by women in South Africa as a percentage of GDP, and their share of the contribution relative to men. This valuation is completed in a quest to figure out if we should be officially and routinely valuing the contribution of women’s unpaid work in South Africa, and to what effect. Using the 2010 Time Use Survey and the 2010 and 2019 Quarterly Labour force earnings data, this study applies the mean/median wage approach, the generalist approach and an additional valuation using the minimum wage, which has not yet been applied by other researchers in the context of South Africa. The study shows that the overall contribution of unpaid work ranges between 9.91% and 27.61% of GDP between 2010 and 2019, across all methods, with women’s share making up more than 70% of the value. This dissertation agrees that we should officially and routinely value unpaid work performed by women, so we can create impactful and relevant policies in this regard.
Differentiated workforce on strategy implementation within the insurance industry: a strategy as practice approach
(2022) Mothuloe, Vincent Barney
Within the field of strategic management research, the formulation of strategy has received considerable attention while strategy formulation has been overlooked. Although successful strategy implementation is the responsibility of all stakeholders in an organisation, most empirical research focuses on top and middle management. Consequently, there is limited knowledge regarding strategy practitioners at other levels of the organisation, and, in particular, little is known about the roles of the differentiated workforce in strategy implementation work in a developing country like South Africa. Furthermore, what people “do” when they formulate and implement strategy, needs further investigation. This study, therefore, researches the problem of strategy implementation by focusing on two companies in the insurance industry in South Africa. It also analyses the extant literature, and investigates the roles of the differentiated workforce, paying attention to their daily micro-practices which have a far-reaching impact on organisational competitiveness. The current literature also omits extensive discussion on the tools, enablers, and constraints of the differentiated workforce in implementing business strategy. The study therefore takes cognisance of these in answering the research question: What practices are utilised in strategy implementation within the insurance environment in South Africa? To address this research question, the researcher conducted a cross sectional qualitative study by following the strategy-as-practice (SAP) approach, and built a rich database, obtained through interviews of 16 participants at two insurance organisations. Following a process of thematic analysis, data were organised, categorised, interpreted, identified, synthesised and generalised, and the preparation of data for the coding process was in accordance with Saldana’s (2009) coding manual. NVivo11, a Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS), was used for more in- depth data analysis. The data revealed that strategy formulation and implementation are dispersed throughout the entire organisation, and that organisational context may affect the differentiated workforce’s strategy implementation through particular barriers and challenges. The data also show that the roles of the differentiated workforce serve as a bridge between the various strata, and provide a meaning-making platform for the entire organisation. Importantly, given the high rate of strategy implementation failures, a practical implication of this study is to help management optimise their structure, processes, practices, and strategy implementation tasks, in order to enhance organisation’s performance. The findings of the present study represent an incremental and meaningful contribution to the existing literature on SAP by creating a deeper understanding of the significance of the differentiated workforce as practitioners to delivering and driving strategy implementation that contribute to organisational competitiveness and survival. In particular, the study also provides practical implications that could assist TMT in adopting strategies that could capitalise on the differentiated workforces’ strategy making and implementation competencies and capabilities that currently are under-utilised and overlooked. The limitations and recommentations of the study provide a useful guide for future research considerations.
Education and fertility rates: some evidence from Africa
(2019) Erickson, Alexander Francis
This research report aims to investigate the impact of both primary and secondary school enrolment on fertility rates. This analysis is taken across 47 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1975 to 2015. A panel time series analysis is used in this report to which fixed effects and pooled OLS models are considered. From the results, it is concluded that at lower educational levels such as primary school, fertility decision-making is scarcely affected. The results from secondary school enrolment are, however, significant and do have an impact on fertility decision-making. Based on Galor’s unified growth theory and the data analysed, it is concluded that sub-Saharan Africa is departing from the Malthusian stagnation epoch towards a modern growth regime as there is evidence of a child quality over quantity trade-off. Fertility reduction suggests that there are greater costs in bearing children, whilst, at the same time, implying greater productivity and human capital accumulation. In the long run, this results in economic growth and sustainable development. This research report, confide to sub-Saharan Africa, takes into consideration previous literature over a different time period, makes use of panel time series. This period is an interesting one, as it incorporates the change in democracy for many African nations along with a number of structural changes unfolding on the continent, both socio-economic and political. There are very few previous literature studies in the sub-Saharan African context that have exposed such findings. This research takes into consideration an identification strategy borrowed primarily from the works of Chisadza and Bittencourt, (2015) as well as Bittencourt (2016), testing the most accepted estimates from the literature. This research does not look at the causality between fertility (along with the explanatory and control variables assessed and discussed) and education, but rather at the strength of the correlations.
The effects of perceptions of corporate social performance on individual purchasing
(2019) Koech, Roselyne Chepkoech
Although some previous research has focused on consumer behaviour with respect to corporate social performance (CSP), few empirical studies have been done, especially in the African context. In particular, a highly under-researched topic is the role that corporate social performance (CSP) plays in South Africa. Due to the increasing public awareness of CSR globally, individuals in South Africa are becoming more aware of the need for companies to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and companies have realised that fulfilling social responsibilities has a positive impact on their overall performance and sustainability. In this regard, the current study examines the effects of perceptions of CSP in South Africa. Particularly, it investigates whether the perception of CSP plays a role on individual’s purchasing decisions, in enhancing reputation of a company, and the role that a company’s reputation for social responsibility plays during a corporate crisis.The study uses the exploratory model of surplus, break-even and deficit developed by Coldwell and Joosub (2014) and a modified version of Carroll and Buchholtz’s (2000) model to measure the perceived actual CSP of companies in comparison to what individuals expect a company’s CSP to be. To measure the effects of perception of CSP in relation to actual purchasing behaviour, Carroll’s CSR framework (1991), which takes economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities into account, was adopted. To explore whether CSP influences the reputation of a company, Fombrun's, Gardberg, & Sever (2000, p. 253) 20-items RQ grouped into six pillars “(emotional appeal, products & services, financial performance, vision & leadership, workplace environment, and social responsibility)” was used. Finally, to investigate whether CSR-derived reputational capital plays a role in sustaining a company during a crisis, crisis scenarios from Dean (2004) were adopted and modified to suit the study. A qualitative follow-up study, through face-to-face interviews, was carried out to clarify the quantitative findings. A mixed methods technique that combines questionnaires, interviews and content analysis was used to explore the effects of perceptions of CSP on individual purchasing behaviour, reputation capital and crisis management. A sample of 145 students at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa was used for a quantitative study, and a sample of 30 for a qualitative study. The findings show that a company that fulfils consumer expectations of social performance generates positive perceptions of CSP that not only lead to actual purchases of goods and services but also generate desirable returns through enhanced reputational capital that is seen to sustain a company during a crisis situation. Aspects other than CSP that also influence an individual's actual purchasing behaviour at grass roots level are also described in the study. The study extended the theoretical understanding of CSR by interrogating Carroll’s CSR framework (1991) for empirical analysis and its applicability in an African context. The findings show that CSP plays a positive though relatively minor role in individuals’ actual purchasing behaviour. This study also enhances the theoretical knowledge of individual expectations of CSP and actual CSP of companies in South Africa. Our study validates Coldwell & Joosub’s (2014) exploratory model of surplus, break-even and deficit in the relationship between actual and expected CSP. Also, the study has managerial implications in that those companies that engage in CSR are perceived favourably than those that do not hence enhancing their reputational capital; and that prior CSP reputational capital played a significant role in a crisis situation. Future research could investigate aspects like culture, political settings and the economic foundations of different African countries to confirm the findings of this study.
Essays on firm finance, performance and growth: the case of selected African countries
(2019) Nyanchama, Arisa Linet
Adequate financing both to individuals and firms is very important since it spurs the development of a productive private sector, which creates employment opportunities and increase tax contribution for public investment, thereby promoting growth and development.
Estimating tax capacity, tax effort and tax buoyancy for South Africa
(2019) Naape, Baneng Lucas
The main objective of this study is to assess South Africa’s tax revenue performance. This is achieved by estimating tax capacity and tax effort from 1960 - 2017 and tax buoyancy from 1995 - 2017. The study is unique in that, it tracks tax capacity, tax effort and tax buoyancy at an aggregate level for a particular country. The 2SLS results indicate that GDP per capita and inflation have a strong positive and statistically significant impact on revenue mobilisation while population growth, trade openness and agriculture share in GDP have a strong negative and statistically significant impact on revenue mobilisation. Furthermore, we find that South Africa’s tax effort index varies between 0.92 which is below capacity and 1.10 which is above capacity. On average, the tax effort index is 1.00, implying that South Africa performs well above its potential tax capacity. Notwithstanding, the tax system was also found to be fairly buoyant, although there is still room for improvement. The ARDL results indicate that VAT revenues and custom duties grow at a faster pace than the growth in final household consumption and import value, respectively. Total tax revenue growth, however, still falls behind as the estimated coefficient is below unity, implying that the growth in total tax revenues does not match the growth of the economy. Given these findings, we conclude that South Africa’s tax revenue performance has been fairly satisfactory over the period 1960 – 2017, albeit there is still room for improvement. For the government to generate value from the rapidly growing population, adequate investments in human capital and entrepreneurial skill development need to be made. The focus should be on broadening the tax base than on hiking already high tax rates.
Financial protection and child health: a propensity score matching analysis
(2022) Kekana , Loveness Mmamodila
One of the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 3 is to achieve universal coverage, including financial risk protection for all. Financial protection aims to promote and maintain individuals’ health outcomes through securing access to treatment and care. The lack of health insurance and unaffordability of health care services increases the risk of poor health outcomes in children. This study uses data from the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1), to investigate the relationship between child health outcomes measured by anaemia, cough, fever, diarrhoea, vitamin A deficiency, wasting and stunting, and financial protection. The study uses Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to determine the average treatment effects and treatment effects on the treated of financial protection. Four matching algorithms namely: nearest neighbour, calliper radius, kernel and local linear regressions were used to ascertain the robustness of the econometric results. The results indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between financial protection and coughing and fever when there is strong financial protection. The average treatment effects on the treated vary across the sex of the child. Strong financial protection reduces the prevalence of childhood illnesses more in females than it does in males. The study indicates that financial protection affects child health outcomes differently and therefore produces mixed results. These differences are attributable to the fact that the public sector provides free primary health care services for children in South Africa.
Hate speech: the crimen injuria aspect from the Common Law to the Constitution
(2022) Barit, Lawrence
Crimen injuria as a legal concept has played an important role in recent high profile South African court cases. This research report documents the development of crimen injuria, and its resultant implementation. One of the offences which is covered by crimen injuria is hate speech. Serious questions have however been asked with respect to the application of crimen injuria in a number of hate speech matters. The concern is, to a certain extent, due to an overlapping of the jurisdiction of the Equality court with the criminal court. This is as a result of the Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA). Two high profile cases have highlighted this, namely the Penny Sparrow and Vicki Momberg matters. A number of problematic factors have been identified. These include: Is crimen injuria being implemented in a manner that the very definition of crimen injuria prescribes. The exacting of punishment by two competent courts (neither being a court of appeal) for the identical offence, flouting the principle of Res Judicata. The hearing of a matter in the Equality Court in the absence of the party accused of the hate speech, contrary to the provisions of The Constitution. The ignoring of a guiding principle of PEPUDA which is to facilitate the participation by the parties in proceedings. The sentencing, for the first time in South Africa, of a person to a direct jail term for the offence of crimen injuria. The research reveals that many of those in power and influence get away constantly with hate speech of the most vicious kind earning at the most a reprimand. However an unknown person is given double punishment by two competent courts, based on the identical facts, one of the punishments being jail time. In summation it can be seen that cases are handled in an arbitrary manner.
Health consciousness, environmental concern and animal welfare as key predictors of consumers' locus of control and attitudes towards meat consumption: a case of the Generation Y cohort, in South Africa
(2019) Khan, Mohammed Zayaad
The twentieth-century dietary evolution has resulted in livestock being used as the primary source of protein in many countries. This has various implications on the wellbeing of humans, animals, and planet earth itself. The choices consumers make regarding food not only affect our personal health, but it also directly affects the wellbeing of our current ecosystems where modern meat production systems place a worrying burden on the environment. Sustainable consumption practice is often a result of two main driving forces, the first being individual or health (egoistic) motives and the second being animal welfare and environmental concern (altruistic) motives. The growing demand for meat products worldwide is unsustainable and there is a clear gap between our responsible intentions as citizens of the world and our hedonic needs as consumers referred to as the ‘Citizen-Consumer’ gap. Experts argue that technological innovations and more efficient production methods would serve as a future solution for the environmental and social implications of the livestock industry however current scholars emphasise that a technological fix will not be sufficient and that it is imperative for society to undertake a behavioural fix, such as lowering meat intake and discovering more sustainable means of protein consumption Consequently, the purpose of this study is to assess health consciousness, environmental concern and animal welfare as key predictors of consumers’ locus of control and attitudes towards meat consumption among university students, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The study used a design that was quantitative in nature, which resulted in the researcher employing a deductive approach, using a positivistic method. Data was collected by means of a survey questionnaire and was used to test the hypotheses. By means of Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the significance of the hypotheses statements was determined from a sample of 172 students enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The findings generated by SmartPLS 3 statistical software revealed that health consciousness was the key predictor of external locus of control and that external locus of control had the most significant relationship with consumers’ attitude toward meat consumption, as compared to the second mediator variable – internal locus of control. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to both theory and practice in modern society, and it is trusted that the findings of this study will greatly inform future research endeavours.
Health insurance coverage and the preference for public and private healthcare providers in South Africa: the case of outpatient healthcare services
(2019) Godi, Khanani Theodora
The paper sought to test if medical/health insurance coverage influences one’s preference or choice between a public and private service provider when seeking healthcare. Using the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES) dataset conducted in 2012, we ran several regressions to test this theory. The methodology employed is based on Grossman’s theory of the demand for health. Logit and Probit regression models were used where the preference between a private/public service provider (dependent variable), is regressed against the determinants of demand for healthcare. We find that being insured (having medical aid) influences choice of healthcare facility with the likelihood of choosing private healthcare facilities over public ones. More specifically, the odds ratio of using a public facility decreases by 4.9 times when one is insured. This finding is consistent with that of Ataguba and Goudge (2012) who found that health insurance increases the use of private healthcare services. With the proposed National Health Insurance, it is likely that consumers will flood the private sector for the good quality service they could not afford without insurance. This influx may have an adverse impact on the efficiency and quality service delivery that the private healthcare sector boasts. As such, healthcare reforms such as the NHI should be coupled with quality improvement measures to enhance, monitor and maintain the performance and quality service in healthcare.
How do institutions facilitate the relationship between corruption and FDI?
(2022) Lakha, Bianca
Qualitative research on the institutional environment, corruption, and FDI highlights an important facilitating relationship between these factors. Subsequently providing more conclusive results than prior research which saw the institutional framework as a black-box. Theoretical research conducted in prior years found that variables proxying the institutional environment facilitate the relationship between corruption and FDI. The facilitating relationship is such that it suggests the existence of a threshold effect. This, combined with the competing views in corruption-FDI literature – also known as the helping- and grabbinghand hypotheses – provides an intriguing and novel area of research. Namely, investigating the existence of a threshold value at which the relationship between corruption and FDI changes from grabbing- to helping-hand and vice versa, giving insight into the mixed results in the literature so far. This study, through the use of dynamic panel threshold estimation, fills a gap in the literature by providing empirical evidence for the existence of significant threshold effects which explain the facilitating nature of various institutions – political stability, government effectiveness, rule of law and regulatory quality – on the corruptionFDI relationship. It is the first of its kind to use panel threshold analysis to investigate threshold effects on a sample of African countries. Using data on 34 African countries over the 2005 to 2019 period, the results of this study indicate that in an environment proxying the institutional framework of a country, significant threshold effects of institutions do exist. Subsequently, showing at exactly what level the relationship between corruption and FDI changes from having a helping- to a grabbing-hand effect and vice versa. In addition, the results indicate differences in the way political and economic institutions mediate the corruption-FDI relationship.

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