3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
3 results
Search Results
Item ICT infrastructure investment and economic growth in South Africa(2019) Matlou, LebogangThe main goal of this study was to analyse the causal relationship between ICT infrastructure investment and economic growth in South Africa. It held the hypothesis that ICT infrastructure investment positively affected economic growth. Additionally, it also sought to test if economic growth, in turn had a positive impact on ICT infrastructure investment (bi-directionality of the relationship between ICT infrastructure investment and economic growth). Several regression models have been used to test this relationship and the study used Perkins’ model (2005 & 2010) to identify variables that affected economic growth alongside ICT infrastructure investment. These were Gross Fixed Capital Formation, real exchange rate, the Human Development Index and openness of trade. The study relied on ICT investment data from WITSA from the period between 1992 and 2013. GDP, openness and real exchange rate data was obtained from the South African Reserve Bank. A time series analysis approached was applied in testing the hypothesis of the existence of the above relationship. Procedural tests that were applied were the Augmented Dickey Fuller test and the Philip Peron test to test for stationarity. Data was transformed into stationarity and the Johansen’s co-integration test was conducted to test for co-integration. It was noted that the variables co-integrated indicating a long term positive relationship between ICT investments and GDP. The Granger Causality tests conducted revealed that ICT was the Granger cause of GDP, GFCF, Openness of Trade and real exchange rate .GDP was not a Granger cause of ICT investment and therefore there was no bi-directionality in the relationship. The study recommended ICT investment incentivisation, the removal of ICT investment barriers and ICT research, education and training to bolster ICT infrastructure investment as this will translate to economic growth for South Africa.Item Examining the mining sector's contributions to gross domestic product and employment creation in the South African economy(2018) Benard, NdansiSouth Africa holds an estimated value of US$2.5 trillion of non-energy, in-situ mineral wealth, making it the world’s wealthiest mineral resource-rich nation. The presence of these abundant mineral resources creates potential for sustained growth and development, such as in revenue generation, gross domestic product (GDP), employment creation, and foreign direct investment (FDI). However, the mining sector continues to face major challenges, including commodity price volatility, labour unrest, weak institutional framework, shortage of skilled labour, and other structural challenges. As a result, mining’s contributions to GDP and employment creation has witnessed significant downturn over the years. For instance, its contribution to GDP dropped from 21% in 1970 to 7.3% in 2016, while employment numbers in the sector declined by 17% between 1997 and 2009. It has equally failed to benefit many South Africans, and the country continues to suffer from socio-economic challenges such as high unemployment rates, income inequalities, high levels of poverty, and slow economic growth rates. It is in line with the above views that this study was centred on examining mining’s contributions to GDP and employment creation in South Africa over the period 1993 to 2015. Data was sourced from credible sources such as the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, the World Bank, and Quantec. Findings revealed that mining’s contributions to the overall GDP and employment creation in the South African economy witnessed significant decline over the period under review. This can be attributed to a decline in gold sector’s contribution to GDP and employment creation. Yet whilst gold mining showed a sharp decline, the study also found that the contributions of platinum group metals (PGMs), coal, and iron ore to the share of mining GDP and employment numbers increased steadily during the period under review. Efforts to improve mining’s contribution to long-term growth and addressing the developmental needs of the South African economy have seen the creation of measures such as the Mining Phakisa initiative, Africa Mining Vision (AMV), National Development Plan (NDP), Mining Vision 2030 goals, robust mineral policy, and the Mining Charter.Item Causality effect between electricity consumption and gross domestic product in SA and the effectiveness of the predictive techniques(2017) Intamba, SheilaThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship and direction between electricity consumption and gross domestic product including energy infrastructure as a third variable in South Africa using the time series data from 1993 to 2015. The relationship was modelled in South Africa focusing on the industry sectors that influence economic growth and using techniques such as ARIMA model, Multivariate Regression Analysis, Vector Autoregressive and Granger Causal Test. The Vector Autoregressive model performed better than Multivariate Regression analysis in modelling the relationship between consumption and economic growth in South Africa. The Granger causal effect illustrated a direction from consumption to economic growth and again Granger cause effect from infrastructure to economic growth. The results from these models revealed that there was a relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth, as well as electricity infrastructure. South Africa supports a growth hypothesis meaning that South Africa is energy dependent. The results of the study signals that the electricity consumption of South Africa have an effect on the economic growth.