Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37936

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-8: Decent work and economic growth

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 67
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    The effects of renewable energy integration on profitability & employment- a case of South African mines
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Sikoe, Oratile; Kutela, Dambala
    The mining industry has been seen as one of the most energy-intensive industries in the world. That is also responsible for being a source of critical raw materials for other sectors in a country, such as manufacturing, construction, transportation, and energy sectors. In the past years we have observed an increase in mining companies adopting renewable energy in order to introduce cleaner energy sources into their mining operations. However, the economic effects of renewable energy source adoption are understudied in South Africa. This research is set out to examine and understand the effects of renewable energy integration into the mining industry on profitability and employment, with the use of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Stationarity (ARDL) model. Our results revealed that there is a positive long-run relationship between renewable energy integration, employment, and mining profitability in the South African mining industry, including in the short-run. More specifically, the results show that the adoption of renewable energy sources bolsters both profitability and employment in the mining industry of South Africa such that a unit integration of renewable energy will most likely result in a respective percent increase in employment and mining profitability. Our research is the first of its kind in providing this evidence compared to related literature which is not industry specific. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of the transition by industries to renewable energy to simultaneously promote economic growth and ameliorate environmental quality in the context of developing countries where extractive industries pervade.
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    Relationship between starting up unregistered and firm performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Does duration matter?
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Matsitse, Kgalalelo; Oyenubi, Adeola
    This paper investigates whether start-up firms that remain unregistered for longer outperform their peers in the long run. It hypothesises that the benefit of staying unregistered is non-linear in time and depends on institutional context. This paper considers the relationship between years spent unregistered and employment productivity growth in the informal sectors of Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, highlighting the significant role of institutional contexts in shaping entrepreneurial decisions and firm performance (Williams, Martinez-Perez, & Kedir, 2017; Assenova & Sorenson, 2017; Autio & Fu, 2015; Galdino, Molina- Sieiro, Lamont, & Holmes Jr, 2023). World Bank Enterprise Survey data was analysed using linear multivariate regression analysis, which enabled examination of the relationship between years spent unregistered and firm employee productivity growth, determining its statistical significance while controlling for other independent variables. The findings underscore the heterogeneity of this relationship across developing countries. This suggests that policymakers must consider distinct institutional environments to foster economic growth and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 8; which aims to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all (United Nations, 2023).
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    Examining the Effects of Oil Price Shocks on Unemployment in South Africa and Nigeria
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Nomarola, Nolundi Felicity
    This study investigates the impact of oil price shocks on unemployment dynamics in South Africa and Nigeria, two major economies in Africa with significant oil sectors. The relationship between oil price fluctuations and unemployment is analysed using time- series data spanning from 1976 to 2021, employing the Autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) and the Nonlinear ARDL models. The ARDL model in South Africa shows a significant long-term increase in unemployment due to increased oil prices, while in Nigeria, it indicates a negative relationship. In the short run, in South Africa oil price shocks have an insignificant effect, while in Nigeria, they have a significant negative impact. The NARDL model also reveals asymmetrical effects. The NARDL model revealed asymmetrical long-run and short-run effects. In South Africa, the magnitude of the impact of increasing oil prices on unemployment is larger than of falling oil prices in both the short-run and long-run, while for Nigeria, falling prices have a larger magnitude.
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    Adaptive Market Efficiency: Evidence from the South African Stock Market
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Masangu, Ishmael Fanelo; Seetharam, Y.
    This study examines the adaptive market hypothesis in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange market by test- ing for stock return predictability using daily data from January 1996 to December 2023 across six differ- ent indices. The study applies three linear and three nonlinear tests to check if the Johannesburg Stock Exchange market is efficient, moving towards efficiency, switching to efficiency/inefficiency, adaptive and inefficient. The overall findings of this study provides compelling evidence that stock returns within the Johannesburg Stock Exchange market across the six indices are inefficient, as indicated by significant evidence of inefficiency, non-randomness, the presence of serial correlation and nonlinear effects in the six tests performed. These results challenge the notion of the weak-form of market efficiency and suggest that past prices of stock returns are related to future prices, indicating the presence of predictability and exploitable opportunities within the JSE market.
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    A study measuring the connectedness of African and advanced financial markets using spillover indices
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mabitsi, Kelebogile
    Investors are always searching to diversify their portfolios and manage risks. South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria are African frontier and emerging market economies that are potentially attractive to such investors. This study examines whether African equity markets are suitable for investment diversification amongst themselves and advanced market investors from countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The paper uses Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover indices to make this determination, by measuring the connectedness of the returns and volatilities, for the period 2008 to 2022 using both weekly and daily data. The daily and weekly results show that advanced and African markets have low interdependence, except for South Africa, that shows stronger connectedness with advanced markets. South African policymakers can consider developing policies that are responsive to advanced market shocks. Additionally, African policymakers can consider developing policies that promote a Pan-African market that has consistent regulatory, listing and trading requirements to promote African economic growth. The diversification opportunities that are present may have limited efficacy due to the composition of African stock markets. The volatility spillover plots display more sensitivity to market dynamics than the returns, as significant cycles and bursts are identifiable.
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    Inflation Hedging Across Asset Classes: A Non-Linear Perspective from the South African Context
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tseeke, Rethabile; Mbululu, Douglas
    Navigating the intricacies of financial markets, investors grapple with the enduring challenge of preserving portfolio value amidst the complexities of inflation. This study delves into the dynamic interplay between inflation and returns across diverse asset classes, focusing on the distinctive nuances within South Africa. Against the backdrop of global disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, the research examines the inflation-hedging potential within traditional and alternative investments, including the emergent domain of cryptocurrencies. Situated within the framework of the "Inflation targeting" strategy embraced by the South African Reserve Bank, the study employs the NARDL model, which rigorously tests the short and long-run relationships between the asset returns and inflation. The research imparts nuanced insights into the complex environment of inflation hedging in the South African market.
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    COVID-19 health related news and sectoral stock returns sensitivity in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Zulu, Sbongiseni Samkelo Falakhe; Alovokpinhou, Sedjro
    The purpose of this study is to analyse the relevance of health news related to Covid-19 on South African sectorial stock returns. This is inspired by the global Covid-19 pandemic in predicting sectorial stock returns. This study examines the estimation of dynamic panel data using a dynamic common correlated effects estimator. It employs two pairwise forecast measures, specifically the Campbell & Thompson (2008) and Clark & West (2007) tests, to address the nested predictive models. Thus, this study begins by analysing the impact of health news relating to Covid-19 when control variables are not considered. This is following by when control variables are incorporated into the model. Lastly, the forecasting power of Models 3 and 4 is evaluated by comparing the two models with historical average or constant returns model (CR), for both with and without control variables. The findings of this study reveals that the model incorporating health news indexes outperforms the constant returns model. This proves that health news is a valuable indicator for predicting stock returns, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, underscoring the importance of monitoring health-related information for investment decisions. This study further finds that considering the "asymmetry" effect and incorporating adjustments for macroeconomic factors enhances the predictive accuracy of the health news-driven model. The outcomes remain consistently strong across both the periods of in-sample and out-of-sample forecasts, demonstrating resilience to outliers and variations. These results have practical significance for a range of stakeholders, encompassing academics, practitioners like rational investors, portfolio managers and policymakers. The practical implications extend to aspects such as managing portfolio risk, realizing diversification advantages and exploring opportunities for the creation of innovative investment instruments within financial markets.
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    Oil Price Shocks and Financial Stress in Sub-Saharan African Countries
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Frost, Callum
    This study examines the nexus between financial stability and oil shocks within South Africa, a net-oil importer, and Nigeria, a net-oil exporter. A signal theory approach utilising pAUROC analysis is used to capture relevant indicators. Furthermore, sub-market indices are weighted using a diagonal BEKK-GARCH model, allowing for time-varying cross-correlations to determine sub-market weights, allowing the constructed financial stress index (FSI) for each economy to focus on systemic events of financial stress. The FSI for each economy is then incorporated into a SVAR model which disaggregates oil demand shocks into three components (economic activity, oil consumption demand, and oil inventory demand) following the framework of Baumeister and Hamilton (2019) to capture the effects of oil market shocks on financial stability. This paper finds that positive shocks to oil supply, economic activity, and oil inventory demand tend to reduce financial stress in South Africa. Interestingly, demand driven increases in the real price of oil reduces systemic stress, even though the economy is a net-oil importer. Oil supply shocks and economic activity shocks tend to have no significant effect on Nigerian financial stress while demand driven increases to real oil prices tend to decrease financial stress. Interestingly, shock increases in demand for oil inventories tends to raise financial stress.
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    House Prices Against the Wind: Analysis of the use of Monetary Policy to Moderate House Price Bubbles and the Case of New Zealand
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Jinabhai, Nikhil; Creamer, Kenneth
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    The price effects of a hospital merger: a case study of the Mediclinic Southern Africa (Pty) Limited (Mediclinic) and Matlosana Medical Health Services (Pty) Limited (MMHS) merger
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Laurence, Marcelle; Mncube, Liberty
    This study evaluates the assessment conducted in the prohibited Mediclinic Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd and Matlosana Medical Health Services (Pty) Ltd (MMHS) proposed merger. The study employs a qualitative approach, centred on a case study methodology, to assess the theories of harm discussed. It aims to provide insights into the adequacy and outcome of the competition authorities’ assessment drawing comparisons to international literature and policy implications. It uses economic theory to analyse and show the significance of robust and nuanced regulatory frameworks in healthcare merger evaluation.