Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
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This Community hosts a collection of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) submitted by doctoral and masters' students of Wits University. Items in this collection are mapped to relevant collections within the Faculties and Schools communities.
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Item Consenting to servitude : a case study of restaurant workers in Gauteng.(2013-10-02) Loonat, AtiyyahDue to high levels of globalization and outsourcing of employment an important aspect emerges which is the concept of decent work. This concept is important in that the struggle for many companies to stay afloat under global competition requires the cutting of costs. The cost which is the most easy to manipulate is that of labour. Through global competitiveness companies often increase working hours, decrease wages and decrease benefits for employees. This has caused increased attention to the idea and concept of decent work. This leads to the problem of providing and assuring decent work on a global scale. Decent work is an objective of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which aims to provide equitable employment to people of all spheres. This goal is wide and deals with nine indicators which are quantitative in nature. However these aspects do not deal with the subjective measures which pertain to employment. These subjective measures are as important as the quantitative measures. To better attain the goal of decent work this report argues that there is a need for the incorporation of these subjective measures when determining the level of decent employment. For the purposes of this research report the subjective measures are collectively termed job satisfaction. However while this combination of objective and subjective indicators better reflects working conditions, there is a need for more comprehensive concepts in understanding vulnerable work. In order to develop this deeper understanding of vulnerable work. This research report utilizes various literature in in the sociology of work . The restaurant industry in Gauteng is used as the site for this research report as a means of illustrating the pitfalls to the narrowly defined concepts of decent work and job satisfaction. This industry is particularly interesting as it is very different from other sectors as it is marked by interactive service work that involves high levels of emotional labour. Tips play a large role in supplementing the workers income. Tips , the report argues, is a means of workers consenting to servitude as they actively participate in their exploitation through conforming to the enterprises interests. This is not merely done through the system of tipping but also through their performance of emotional labour which is often increased in order to play these “games “which allow for higher tips. Consenting to servitude is not only the acceptance of exploitation but also the creation of a submissive and subservient work force. The notion of consenting to servitude is what lacks in both concepts. Exploitation plays a large role in whether a job is deemed decent or not but it is largely ignored within both the concepts of decent work and job satisfaction. Instead it is necessary to go beyond these two concepts and draw on the body of social theory on the world of work such as Burawoy and Foucault, if one wants to explain the nature of work and workers responses in the hospitality industry in Gauteng. This illustrates that every workplace is different and requires differing sets of indicators. The concepts of job satisfaction and decent work although incomplete on their own carry various advantages and cannot merely be dismissed.Item An empirical investigation of the conditional risk-return trade-off in South Africa.(2013-03-20) Limberis, AndrewOne of the fundamental tenets of finance is the relationship between risk and return. This research report contributes to the debate by testing the conditional risk-return relationship of shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) for the period 2001 to 2011. More specifically, the extent to which beta, standard deviation, semi-deviation and value-at-risk (VaR) are individually able to explain total share return, taking into account the conditional framework of up and down markets and sub-periods, is investigated. Portfolios based on these risk measures have been tracked and regressed. The robustness of the relationships are tested by using value and equal weighted portfolios. The study indicates that standard deviation was able to explain the risk-return relationship across all scenarios (overall, up/down markets and sub-periods), while beta proved to be an ineffective measure of risk under all scenarios. The testing of downside risk measures revealed that semi-deviation produced weak results under all scenarios, while value-at-risk proved to be an effective measure of risk both during poor market conditions and on an overall basis.Item The Fulani of Northern Nigeria(Lagos: Govt print, 1945) St. Croix, F.W. De.Item The impact of compensation practices on intrapreneurial behaviour(2012-11-02) Madu, Ugochukwu ObedAs business environments become more complex, with varying degrees of uncertainty, organizations must become more entrepreneurial in order to identify emerging and new opportunities for sustained superior performance. Several factors can promote/enhance corporate entrepreneurship within organizations. This research study examined the role of compensation practices in the process of elevating employees‘ intrapreneurial behaviour. Drawing on the agency theory, hypotheses relating actual and desired compensation practices to elevated employees‘ intrapreneurial behaviour were empirically examined among different employees from various organizations. The moderating role of department‘s risk control on the relationship between desired compensation practices and elevated intrapreneurial behaviour was also examined. Empirical data were collected from 209 respondents in different organizations via a survey questionnaire. The measures included actual compensation practices, desired compensation practices, actual intrapreneurial behaviour, elevated intrapreneurial behaviour, and department‘s risk control. The main analytical techniques used in this study were t-test for dependent/related groups, canonical correlation and moderation regression analyses. The findings of this study indicated that non-monetary compensation practices were the best predictors of elevated intrapreneurial behaviour and that department‘s risk control did not moderate this relationship. However, it is unknown how the selection of industries will affect this study‘s findings. In addition, desired compensation practices explained only 25% of the variance in elevated intrapreneurial behaviour, suggesting that compensation systems are not enough to elevate employees‘ intrapreneurial behaviour. Compensation systems should be an integral part of an overall entrepreneurial strategy of an organization.Item MNC-borne FDI, absorptive capacity and economic growth: an empirical investigation(2011-10-28) Nhamo, SeniaThe liberalization of FDI is deepening, so have the incentive schemes put in place by a number of countries. Investment promotion agencies in these countries are seen to be actively promoting their countries as the best locations for foreign direct investment (FDI). With FDI emerging as a fovourite source of capital for most countries, profound questions about the true value of FDI to host countries are addressed in this study. While incentive packages may be justified on the basis of incomplete internalization of FDI benefits by foreign firms, it still remains critical to establish whether these benefits (spillovers) are substantive. As an attempt to answer these questions, this dissertation uses both firm level and country level data to investigate the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on productivity and economic growth. The first part of the study uses cross sectional firm level data to investigate whether foreign firms are more productive than domestic firms. We further examine whether there are any significant productivity spillovers from foreign to domestic firms or not. SIn the second part, focus is on country level analysis which uses both time series and panel data techniques. In the time series analysis we use the recent Toda-Yamamoto causality testing framework to determine the direction of causality between FDI and growth for three groups of countries: developing, emerging and developed countries. This is followed by fixed effects and dynamic panel data analyses for the 37 countries (9 developing, 12 emerging and 16 developed) where we test for absorptive capacity effects. Our findings show that results are determined to a great extent by the method of analysis. Interesting findings emerge from this study. The firm level data revealed the importance of multinational corporations in improving domestic firm productivity. With this finding, we anticipate these results to filter through the macro system and show up in the time series and panel data analyses. In the case of developing economies, productivity differences between domestic and foreign firms are confirmed only where the definition of FDI is below the full ownership level. Positive but statistically insignificant spillovers are found in the developing country sample. From the emerging economy sample, we iii find neither significant productivity differences nor related spillovers from foreign to domestic firms. With regards to developed economies, as in the case of emerging economies, there are no statistically significant productivity differences between domestic and foreign firms. Interestingly, for this sample, positive and highly significant spillovers from foreign to domestic firms are documented. The Toda Yamamoto Granger causality framework shows unidirectional causality from FDI to GDP in Colombia, Egypt and Zambia. These results suggest that in these three countries, we have a case of growth enhancing FDI. There is also evidence of causality which runs from GDP to FDI in China, Indonesia, France, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is a case where higher levels of economic activity attract foreign direct investment. We also find evidence of bi-directional causality for Argentina, Kenya and Thailand. No clear cut relationship between FDI and growth is established in the rest of the countries: Brazil, Chile, Ghana, India, Jordan, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa and all but four of the developed economies. The dynamic panel data analysis for the developing economy sample reveals positive effects between FDI and economic growth. A key finding from this is the negative impact of financial development, an absorptive capacity measure. This unexpected result raises the possibility of international capital flows becoming more harmful to developing economies when extensive development of the domestic financial sector makes it difficult to regulate financial transactions of relatively esoteric financial contracts. This evidence there should be a nuanced embrace of financial globalization by developing economies. In the emerging economy analysis, the roles of openness of the economy and financial development as absorptive capacity indicators are elevated. Overall, the dynamic analysis shows a largely negative and statistically insignificant effect of FDI on economic growth. For developed economies, we find that negative effects of FDI on economic growth are encountered at both the minimum and mean levels of openness. This suggests that for developed economies, a level of openness above the mean value would be ideal for economic growth to be realized through FDI. iv Corroborating our findings with the work of other scholars, we conclude that our results are complementary. It appears that the contradictions inherent in the FDI-Growth literature could be partly due to methodological differences.Item Patient related factors influencing the quality of paediatric chest radiographs(2017) Strasheim, Eben AlbertINTRODUCTION: The chest radiograph is the most common radiographic examination performed worldwide due to its versatility. Improving the quality of chest radiographs and avoiding repeat radiographs can decrease the collective radiation dose to children. AIM: To identify patient related factors that influence the quality of paediatric chest radiographs by assessing the quality of chest radiographs and to compare the quality of chest radiographs in “radiologically” sick patients to those of “radiologically” normal patients. METHOD: A retrospective study was performed to determine the quality of paediatric chest radiographs forming part of an existing database. The sample size of 280 radiographs, included radiographs of children aged 3 days to 13 years. Radiographic errors were captured on an electronic tick-‐sheet, consisting of twelve specific radiographic errors commonly made in practice and included the presence or absence of respiratory pathology. Data was extracted with regards to each of the 12 errors, patient demographics and presence of respiratory pathology to identify associations. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 52.95 months. The most common errors were, in descending order, “rotation”, “under inspiration” and “trachea and bronchi not well seen.” The most common respiratory pathologic finding was “Airspace opacification”. There was a statistically significant, low correlation present between the radiographic error count and the presence of respiratory pathology (p<0.001). There was a statistically vi significant difference in the quality of chest radiographs of children aged 0-‐18 months and those aged 37-‐156 months (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study have demonstrated that there is a correlation between the presence of respiratory disease on a paediatric chest radiograph and the quality of the chest radiograph. The numbers of errors detected were higher in patients with respiratory pathology on the chest radiograph.Item Public participation in the bus rapid transit system in Johannesburg(2012-11-02) Dibakwane, Sipho MosesThe formulation and implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit Network system (BRT) or Rea Vaya in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) was met with different views from the Johannesburg general public. Some sections of the public accepted the BRT, while others rejected it. The reason for the initial rejection was the lack of public consultation, while those with a positive view conceded that the BRT was a good concept in transforming the public transport system of Johannesburg. This study investigated how the public participated in the BRT. The study was conducted through the qualitative research methodological approach. Primary in-depth interviews and documentary analysis were undertaken to answer the research question. The findings of the study indicate that public participation in the BRT was orchestrated haphazardly because of the lack of a proper governance system on public participation. The CoJ’s only concern appeared to be meeting the deadline to provide efficient transport services during the Confederations and World Cup Soccer tournaments of 2009 and 2010 respectively. The study concludes that the processes of engaging the public to participate in BRT formulation and implementation were flawed. The study finally recommends that the CoJ should develop governance systems on public participation.The systems should include a tailor-made public participation policy and institutional mechanisms to support critical engagement with the public.