School of Economics and Finance (ETDs)

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The determinants of economic diversification from a Sub-Saharan African perspective
(2017) Masilo, Stanley
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is poor even though it has vast natural resources, is a paradox which various scholars have studied from different points of view. Furthermore, this region has a tendency to be highly reliant on narrow natural resource export baskets which are susceptible to external shocks and mineral depletion. Thus, economic diversification is a development path that can propel SSA economies to develop broad export baskets that are not highly dependent on natural resources, in order to mitigate systemic risk that stems from volatile commodity prices and achieve long-term sustainability. The research objectives of this study are twofold. Firstly, it determines the extent of economic diversification of selected SSA economies. Secondly, this study investigates the main determinants of economic diversification. The hypothesis of this study is based on the premise that there is a statistically significant relationship between economic diversification and government quality. Government quality is an important determinant of economic diversification due to its influence on macroeconomic fundamentals, infrastructure development, public goods and services. Furthermore, government formulates national development plans which can create a conducive environment for economic diversification to take place. The main policy recommendations towards achieving economic diversification from a SSA perspective, are encapsulated by the following aspects: structural reform and Group Economics
A Multi-dimensional framework for adopting Physical Address System in a developing country
(2017) Ditsela, Jeofrey
This thesis is about the adoption of an Information System (IS) at a country level. Information Systems literature addresses adoption of IS at an individual level, organisational level or national/country level. Each level of analysis has its own complexities. However, literature acknowledging these varied complexities has not been forth coming. That is, literature has more studies done at either individual or organisational, and hardly at national or country level. This thesis argues that the adoption of an information system (also referred to as an innovation) at country level is a multi-dimensional and multi-level phenomenon. Existing literature and previous studies have hardily addressed fully, this complexities and multi-dimensionalism, although it has been noted that countries experience and internalise the innovation adoption, as a social process, differently. The study was on a developing country adopting a Physical Address System (PAS), herein seen as an IS innovation. In this thesis, PAS is seen as a social system comprising of artefacts (digital and visual representations), physical world, residents and organisations as stakeholders. The goal of the study was to conceptualise a multi-dimensional framework for adopting a Physical Address System, in the context of a developing country. Since the thesis argument is that the adoption of IS at a country level is even more complex, varied theories were employed as lenses to tackle the various aspect of the study. These lenses are the Diffusion of Innovation, the Stakeholder Theory, Upper Echelon Theory and the Contextualist Approach. Following the interpretivist philosophy, a case study was employed as a research strategy, using Botswana as a developing country case. The research design included semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, observations, policy documents. The data was analysed, discussed, synthesised and interpreted using thematic framework analysis method. Informed by the empirical evidence and the existing literature, this thesis conceptualises that the adoption of the Physical Address System ought to be done sensitive to the developing country as a multi-dimensional social system. This multi-dimensional social system includes the roles of stakeholders, determinants of innovation and context. The contribution of the thesis is in four folds; theoretical, methodological, practical, and contextual. Theoretically, the thesis conceptualised a multi-dimensional framework for the adoption of the Physical Address System in a developing country. Methodologically, the thesis contributed by following an interpretive philosophy and a case study as appropriate for understanding the complexities of adopting an information system, employing a case. Practically, the thesis, through the framework, may inform practitioners with ways to adopt a physical address system. Contextually, the thesis gives insight into the uniqueness of a developing country adopting an information system. Keywords: Developing Country, Adoption, Physical Address System, Stakeholder Theory, Upper Echelon Theory, Diffusion of Innovation, Context
An Experimental test of the endowment effect
(2017) Cohen, Justin Simon
In this study, I use a computer game based lab experiment to investigate the existence of the Endowment Effect. Previous empirical evidence has been criticised for failing to adequately account for the effects of transactions costs and other frictions. The structure of the game used in this study allows me to control for these effects, and the results provide evidence in support of the existence of an Endowment Effect. The effect is found to be stronger when transactions costs are present.
Assessing alternative monetary policy frameworks and instruments in selected African economies
(2017) Chiumia, Austin Belewa
This thesis contains three core chapters that assess the performance of alternative monetary policy frameworks and instruments in stabilizing 10 selected African economies. Literature and practice show that Advanced Economies (AEs) and Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) are mostly adopting the ination targeting (IT) framework. This framework relies on active use of the interest rate as a policy instrument for macroeconomic stabilisation. Di⁄erent from AEs and EMEs, the majority of African countries are characterized by low nancial market development, frequent supply shocks and volatile terms of trade. These features impede the e¢ ciency of the IT framework and the interest rate instrument. Supply shocks imply that ination is not only demand driven. Volatile terms of trade translate into excessive exchange rate uctuations. Due to these factors, policy practice in Africa remains largely divergent from the global trend. Authorities still rely on monetary aggregate targeting (MAT) with de facto managed exchange rates. However, the MAT framework is also failing to stabilize economies. This follows instability of the key factors, such as the money demand, upon which the framework is anchored. Furthermore, controlling exchange rate movements is a challenge due to weak balance of payments positions. It is not surprising, therefore, that the majority of African economies still remain in the grip of macroeconomic instability. Ination and GDP targets are rarely met and they also remain volatile. The perverse macroeconomic features and the perceived failure of the MAT regime have necessitated the search for alternative monetary frameworks and instruments. In this study, we join the search by specically focussing on three questions. First, given the macroeconomic landscape in Africa, what is the relative performance of the interest rate vis--vis the monetary aggregate as instru ments for macroeconomic stabilization? Secondly, how do these instruments perform when apart from ination and output stabilization, monetary policy also engages in smoothing exchange rate uctuations? Thirdly, what is the relative performance of ination targeting vis--vis nominal GDP targeting as alternative monetary policy regimes for macroeconomic stabilization in African economies? Although the success of monetary policy largely relies on appropriate conguration of monetary policy frameworks and instruments, answers to these questions remain controversial and scanty for African economies. In order to address these questions, we formulate a New Keynesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model. In this model, money is non-separable from consumption in the utility function. We estimate the model using the Maximum Likelihood method with quarterly data mostly from 1990 to 2014. The data is obtained from the International Financial Statistics (IFS). The thesis has ve chapters. Chapter 1 is the general background to the research problem. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are distinct but related core chapters addressing three specic research questions. Chapter 5 is the conclusion. In Chapter 2, we compare the performance of the monetary aggregate and the interest rate as alternative instruments for stabilizing ination and output in 10 selected countries. Results show that the monetary aggregate is superior in stabilizing 5 economies. In the other 5 countries, it is the interest rate instrument which performs better. In the former group of countries, the monetary aggregate plays a relatively large role in macroeconomic dynamics while in the latter the interest rate is more signicant. These results partly reect di⁄erences in nancial market development between the two groups of countries. Overall, we nd a weak role of the interest rate compared to the monetary aggregate in driving aggregate demand dynamics. The exchange rate is also found to be a key driver of macroeconomic dynamics. Our re v sults suggest three things: First, authorities in Africa need to be cautious of a blanket adoption of the interest rate as a sole monetary policy instrument. Second, authorities will nd it di¢ cult to stabilize economies using the interest rate based frameworks. Third, exchange rate stability is key to macroeconomic stability in Africa. In Chapter 3, we extend the authoritiesobjective function. In addition to minimizing ination and output volatility, authorities also use the interest rate or money supply rules to smooth exchange rate uctuations. The results show that macroeconomic performance is enhanced when authorities smooth exchange rate uctuations in 4 of the 10 countries. The gains from exchange rate smoothing mostly arise from a reduction in ination and exchange rate volatility but not fromoutput. In the other 6 countries, exchange rate smoothing worsens macroeconomic performance. These results reect the fact that the exchange rate exerts a relatively large inuence in macroeconomic dynamics in the rst group of countries compared to the latter. Exchange rate smoothing therefore minimizes the pass-through of the exchange uctuations to ination and output leading to better performance. Overall, the ndings suggest that exchange rate smoothing is harmful in Africa. Where exchange rate smoothing delivers gains, appropriate thresholdsofsmoothingneedtobeobservedtoavoidpolicyinducedmacroeconomic instability. Authorities should also smooth temporal rather that structural shifts in the exchange rate level. In Chapter 4, we compare the performance of ination targeting (IT) vis-vis nominal GDP targeting (NGDPT) as alternative monetary policy frameworks for macroeconomic stabilization. We examine the strict and exible versions of these policy regimes. We also include a hybrid regime which combines elements of IT and NGDPT. Results show that the hybrid regime performs better in 5 countries. In the other 4 countries, it is the strict ination targeting that performs better. In 1 country, exible ination tar vi geting is optimal. The results also reveal that demand shocks dominate but are closely trailed by supply and exchange rate shocks in explaining macroeconomic uctuations. The multiplicity of signicant shocks is key in explaining the dominance of the hybrid regime. The hybrid regime successfully handles shocks that can neither be optimally handled by the IT regime nor the NGDPT regime alone. These results have several implications. First, demand management alone is insu¢ cient to stabilize African economies. Second, identifying dominant shocks is critical for choosing robust monetary policy regimes. Third, the multiplicity of signicant shocks implies that choosing monetary policy frameworks and hence macroeconomic management process is more complex for African policy makers. Overall, the results have several policy implications which are outlined in Chapter 5. First, they suggest a cautious approach towards generalized adoption of the interest rate over the monetary aggregate as a monetary policy instrument in African economies. This contradicts the current wave of monetary policy changes sweeping across African countries. Secondly, the signicanceoftheexchangeraterenderscredencetoexchangeratesmoothing in Africa. The ndings, however, suggest that exchange rate smoothing can either enhance or worsen macroeconomic performance. Where it enhances macroeconomic performance, authorities must carefully consider the thresholds of smoothing to avoid creating macroeconomic instability. Authorities need not ght structural shifts in exchange rates levels through smoothing. This would help to preserve the shock absorbing role of the exchange rate. Finally, the prevalence of demand, supply as well as exchange rate shocks makes the hybrid monetary policy regime which combines elements of IT regime as well as NGDPT regime to perform relatively better in stabilizing the majority of the economies. Given the multiplicity of shocks, authorities inAfricaneedtocomplementdemandmanagementwithpoliciesthataddress supply side and exchange rate bottlenecks to ensure sustainable macroeco vii nomic stability. Overall, the ndings suggest that there is scope to improve monetary policy performance in Africa by adopting suitable frameworks and instruments. The results also highlight the problem of tackling monetary policy issues with a "one size ts all" approach.
The social and economic relationship between renewable energy (solar) and gendered labour
(2021) Taylor, Julia
The world faces a climate crisis due to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels which has supported industrialisation and capitalist expansion. One of the solutions to the climate crisis is to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning from a fossil fuel-based energy system to one based on renewable sources such as solar or wind energy. The just energy transition promises to address unemployment and poverty while reducing the carbon intensive nature of the energy system. However, this energy transition is complex and holds uncertainty and risk for many people, particularly workers and communities who depend on the coal value chain. This research report adopts a feminist political economy lens to explore the relationship between the development of renewable energy and gendered labour. This approach highlights the importance of the economy, the household and the state in the process of social reproduction. It is relevant to debates about a just energy transition because it highlights gender and racial inequalities and the undervalued and unpaid work required for social reproduction which should be addressed in any effort to achieve justice. By analysing the impact of the development of solar power plants on the workers and communities in three towns in the Northern Cape, and focusing on the three components of social reproduction, I find that the energy transition in its current form will not deliver justice for the poor and working classes.
The role of loyalty programmes on retail fuel site profitability in Gauteng
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Mtungwa, Muzi; Lamola, Medupi
Loyalty programmes are one of a number of instruments used by businesses to retain existing customers, attract new customers and in the process retain them over a long term to sustain business profitability. They have been extensively investigated in the developed world with models developed to explain their role in customer retention. In the developing world, they are still being studied to understand if the models that have been developed in the developed world can be extended to the developing countries. Loyalty programmes were extended to the fuel retail industry in 2010 by First National Bank (FNB) and its oil partner, Engen Petroleum. The role of these programmes in the fuel retail industry and their correlation to profitability, whether positive or negative has received little attention from researchers. Here, the author reports on the correlation of these programmes to business profitability. The report shows that there is a positive correlation between these programmes and the profitability of an oil company, while at the same time the report supports the assertion by the non-loyalty programme oil companies that these programmes have a negative effect on their business. These non- loyalty programme oil companies which have a market share of less than 7 percent have been forced to exit the retail industry due to the introduction of these programmes by the major oil companies and their partners. The findings recommend that the role of these programmes in the fuel retail industry is further researched as the authourities do not allow for discounting of the retail price of petrol
Women’s decision-making, child nutrition and motherhood: evidence from South Africa
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Adediran, Olanrewaju Adewole; Oyenubi, Adeola
The thesis comprised three main essays. These are issues affecting the degree of equality in economic opportunities and the dynamics of earnings inequalities within the labour market. The inferences made about women's decision-making and their varied labour income due to the number of children given birth in South Africa. First, much of the existing literature contends that income is a key determinant of household decision-making. Yet the causal connection between income and household decision-making is difficult to ascertain, given the obvious endogeneity bias that may arise from reverse causality and omitting (unobserved) confounding variables correlated with income and the household decision- making measures. Thus, this study exploited the exogenous variation in household income and their decision-making. This is based on a unique natural experiment in South Africa using age discontinuity in eligibility for Old Age Pension (OAP) income transfer- to identify the causal effect of income on household decision-making. Using a regression discontinuity design (RDD), the study found that women's decision-making responded to changes in income from OAP transfer more than that of men. More so, the OAP transfer influenced women decision-making by 12% points for the recipient more than non-recipient. The results from the quantile treatment effect confirmed that the OAP income transfer effect is heterogeneous across the distribution of household decision-making. The study suggested that women should be used as a channel of distribution of social grant (in development programmes) to reduced inequality and achieve gender equality
An impact assessment of India's job guarantee: exploring the gap between theory and practice
(2022) Torma, Clara
In capitalist economies, unemployment has always been a structural and unresolved problem. In this sense, the study of employment policies represents a contribution to addressing this issue. The Job Guarantee (JG) is a public option for jobs that offers employment opportunities to every citizen ready, willing, and able to work. Focusing on further exploring the JG, this research is structured in two pillars. First, to examine and systematise the theory and underlying impacts of the JG proposition advocated by Pavlina Tcherneva, Randall Wray, and other authors from the Keynesian tradition. Second, to study in detail a real-world JG experience: its context, impacts and challenges, being able to grasp to what extent it corresponds to the theoretically expected impacts of a JG implementation. The Indian case was selected since the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) can be considered one of the largest and most ambitious employment generation programmes in the world. The assessment of MGNREGA’s performance reveals it is still far from what is expected from a JG in the theory. Its performance certainly leaves a lot of room for improvement. More investment in the infrastructure of poor localities is needed to expand the programme’s socioeconomic transformative power in the wages level, unemployment reduction, poverty alleviation, inequalities easing and well-being
Addressing the ‘new in the New Development Bank (NDB)’: a mission-oriented institution to finance the BRICS’ ecological transitions
(2022) Braga, João Pedro Loureiro
The New Development Bank (NDB) has not yet received the attention it deserves in the development community. As a multilateral development bank (MDB) established by the BRICS in 2014, its mission is to provide the basis for sustainable development cooperation supporting public and private projects through loans, guarantees and equity participation (BRICS 2015a). To address the research gap on the ‘new in the NDB’, this thesis analyses how the bank can position itself as a mission oriented institution to finance just ecological transition in the BRICS countries. The argument in favour of the NDB asserts that it is a demand-driven institution aiming to finance sustainable infrastructure. However, a critical assessment of this argument is needed to shed light on the challenges facing its green finance framework and address the ‘new in the NDB’. This means articulating an analytical framework that critically assesses the NDB’s engagement with sustainability and evaluates its claims of originality to materialise alternative sustainable development strategies for the BRICS countries. To do so, this thesis starts by reviewing the literature on the mission-oriented roles of development banks in climate finance to materialise sustainable development strategies for a just transition. This is followed by an empirical analysis of the BRICS challenge to finance sustainable infrastructure via the NDB, then an qualitative case-study assessment of the bank’s projects and its engagement with the country-specific challenges for a just ecological transition. The conclusions focus on opportunities to address the ‘new in the NDB’ and consolidate it as a full member of the development community by positioning it as a mission-oriented institution to co-finance the BRICS ecological transitions.
Local is lekker: cam the Mining Charter III create a new black industrialist class
(2022) Davids-Green, Larah-Ann
Despite the vast resource endowment, South Africa has experienced a hollowing out of industrial capabilities and entered into premature de-industrialisation. This research was motivated by the State of the Nation Address on the 16th of February 2019, given by the current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa. He spoke of the government taking action to transform the economy using the mining and manufacturing industry not as a sunset industry, but rather as a sunrise industry. The President highlighted the critical role of the Mining Charter Three would play as “truly an effective instrument to sustainably transform the face of mining in South Africa.” This informed the research objective: to assess whether the Mining Charter Three can successfully foster a new black industrialist class. Qualitative research underpinned the study. Data was collected from five companies which have emerged as BBEE partners to determine whether they are enjoying the fruits of forward and backward linkages in the mining sector. From the data collected, it is evident that the sector is empowering a new breed of black entrepreneurs, hence the sector is acting as a sunrise industry
What fiscal policy measures are associated with higher economic growth in South Africa? With specific reference to spending and taxation
(2022) Qomoyi, Siyasanga
This paper investigated fiscal policy measures that impact economic growth by testing variables such as expenditure, personal income tax (PIT), corporate income tax (CIT), government debt and household consumption expenditure from 1994 to 2019. The study employed the Vector Autoregressive Model (VAR) for short-run and the Vector Error Regression Model (VEMC) for long-run models for model 1 and model 2 since there was more than two cointegration in the models. The study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) for model 3 since there was no cointegration. The findings indicated that the variables have varying effects on private investment and economic growth in the short run. At the same time, an increase in debt will likely increase expenditure in the long run. A decreased household consumption expenditure would likely increase economic growth in the long run. There is a significant negative relationship between corporate tax and economic growth and a significant positive relationship between government debt and economic growth. The study further provides recommendations.
The analysis of ICO and IEO performance in the shortand long-run
(2022) Matereke, Ngonidzashe N.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) today present themselves as fastgrowing alternatives and innovative ways to raise external financing for entrepreneurial ventures or fintech start-ups through the selling of coins directly to investors. This study analyses both the ICO and IEO in the short-and long-run. Examined are 101 ICOs listed between January 2017 and June 2021, as well as 22 IEOs listed between January 2018 and June 2021. Furthermore, the study explores various ICO and IEO performance determinants using a fixed effects regression model. The variables analysed are proxies for asymmetric information that exists between the issuing firm and investors, size was found to be the only significant variable. More so, the study finds that generally ICO and IEO are over-priced, this eventually results in coins performing poorly following aftermarket performance. Short-run performance seems to play little to no role in determining the long-run performance of newly issued coins. The results of this study suggest that the availability of white paper is not adequate to address the asymmetric information that persists between the issuing firm and investors. Lastly, using a buy-and-hold strategy the study finds that coins underperform in the long-run as given by negative abnormal returns of 35.06% after 3 years.
A tale of tweets: the influence of Twitter on the technology sector
(2022) Eltringham, Bradley
Investor sentiment has emerged to be a very topical subject within the context of behavioural finance. In more recent times textual analysis has emerged to be one such way of attempting to quantify investor sentiment. This study utilises textual sentiment and attempts to examine the predictive power of social media networks with regard to the technology sector during the course of unprecedented market wide volatility as a consequence of a global pandemic. More specifically, this study analyses the association between tweet features (bullishness/sentiment , message volume and overall investor agreement ) and market features (daily trading volume, volatility and raw returns, closing price, intraday high, intraday low) with regard to the 10 current largest technology sector firms by market capitalisation. The study spans over the period of February 2016 to December 2021, which encompasses the COVID-19 pandemic. The first finding of this study indicates that most of the tweet features are observed to be contemporaneously associated to the stock returns of the ten biggest technology firms by market capitalisation. Second, the results show the that for the most part there is no monotonic relationship between tweet features and technology sector stock market returns with exception of the relationship between the magnitude of message agreement and stock returns. Third, there is no evidence that the past values of tweet features contain any useful information that could be used to predict future stock returns. Finally, by comparing the pre-COVID data and intra-COVID data, it is noted that for the most part there is no monotonic relationship between tweet features and technology sector stock market returns. There is however evidence that the use of increased usage of Twitter as an investment tool following an exogenous shock to the market.
The challenges of inclusive industrial development in South Africa's clothing and textile sector
(2022) Wesi, Boingotlo
South Africa’s clothing and textile sector has undergone a recovery process form nearly disappearing to reaching a stable condition. Over the years policies have been implemented to aid the sector and make it more competitive. However, the sector continues to be faced with developmental challenged. The study finds that within the clothing and textile sector, industrial policy has played an inadequate role as a tool of development and transformation. Secondly, the political economy of financing has been challenged as a result of pressures from transformational policies such as B-BEE. Lastly, there is a need for a policy agenda shift from competitiveness to transformation in South Africa’s clothing and textile sector.
Assessing State Capacity in South African Industrial Policy Design and Implementation in a Changing Global Landscape
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Diale, Rapula Comfort; Nkunzi, Sibulele
South Africa has sought to transform and reindustrialise its economy. Through its industrial policy, it has intervened in several manufacturing sub-sectors. Despite the numerous state interventions, the South African manufacturing sector continues to deteriorate. The shorting comings of industrial policy have raised fresh questions of whether the Department of Trade Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the state, including its private sector partners, have sufficient capacity to design and implement appropriate industrial policy. This paper aims to assess state capacity in South African industrial policy design and implementation. In so doing, it analyses developmental economic literature, including the Weberian state, the developmental state, the human capacity theory and the bureaucratic rationale theory. The evidence for this research was collected through interviews with key stakeholders in the industrial policy, including thought leaders, policy researchers, policymakers, and academics. The paper finds that to achieve successful policy intervention; the country needs to develop supportive institutions and systems in industrial policy across government departments and different spheres of government. It further argues that the state outsourcing policy research capacity, if used correctly, can be developmental; however, the incorrect usage of outsourced capacity is detrimental to state capacity
How to win real-life Monopoly: the roles of tax havens and finance in the monopolisation of multinational corporations
(2022) Nadarajah, Kristin Dilani
Much like individual income inequality, there is an increasing gap between top corporations and the rest, in terms of revenue, profits, and power more broadly. This gap is reinforced and exacerbated by the largest corporations’ ability to minimise taxes through the use of tax havens and the offshore system. There has been extensive research mapping the issue of corporate tax avoidance, as well as documenting the rise of market and monopoly power (concentration), however, there is less research combining these two. Monopoly power is thoroughly dealt with in the Monthly Review School tradition with their monopoly capital roots. Recent developments within the tradition have also incorporated finance as a key aspect of the tendency of capital to concentrate and centralise. Nevertheless, tax havens and the system around them have been excluded from this debate. This paper finds that tax havens play a crucial role in the process of concentration and centralisation of capital for three key reasons: (i) they act as a driver of financialisation which in turn accelerates the centralisation process, (ii) they provide cost minimising tools which have become central parts of capital accumulation, and (iii) they contribute to creating more opaque markets and increase the competitive advantages of the giant corporations, allowing them to increase barriers to entry. Tax havens and their usage by multinational corporations (MNCs) must therefore be seen as a systematic issue that plays a key role in not only the financial system, but also in the economy and capitalist system as a vehicle of capital accumulation in the hands of a few.
Anxious Vigilance – An investigation of the relationship between Optimal Managerial Ownership and Firm Value on the JSE
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Muhlarhi , Tiniso Willie; Seetharam, Yudhvir
Managerial ownership has been advanced as a more effective corporate governance mechanism in minimising agency related costs by aligning the interests of managers with those of shareholders. This study examines the effects of equity ownership, using different ownership groups, on firm value of firms listed in the South African stock exchange to ascertain whether equity ownership results in well governed firms with higher firm value over the period of 2010 to 2020. The results are largely consistent with those in emerging markets, the results document that there is no statistically significant direct relationship between equity ownership and firm value. M ore so deviations from optimal equity ownership, both below and above optimal equity ownership, does not reduce firm value. The results also show that a portfolio of ownership firms (which refers to firms in which CEOs, the Executive Team, and Insiders (general employees) have equity ownership in the firm) outperforms a portfolio of non-ownership firms over the period 2015-2020, this aspect is more consistent to results reported in developed markets. Overall, managerial ownership does not appear to be an effective mechanism to aligning interest of shareholders and their managers in the South African landscape, other alternatives such as debt are proposed
A discourse analysis of twitter posts on the perspectives of xenophobia in South Africa
(2022) Makhura, Busisiwe
Strained relations between locals and immigrants are a long-standing reality in South Africa and often we have seen it become a bloody battle resulting in the loss of life. However, over time we have seen these occurrences make a move into a different arena from (seemingly) purely physical contestations to open and continuous dialogue on public platforms such as social media. In exploring the thought patterns and processes of the participating individuals we believe we may find an explanation of their resultant actions and behaviour feedback into the greater belief systems in society- particularly xenophobic and anti-migrant ideals. Discourse Analysis on Twitter posts related to the #PutSouthAfricaFirst hashtag at two points in time during 2020/2021 is used to get insight into the underlying causes of this ongoing conflict. Sentiment analysis concludes as an attempt to gauge political influence and user sentiment on various themes that appear to be recurrent in these ongoing conversations.
Financial sector development and economic growth in South Africa: role of the banking sector
(2022) Monareng, Kabelo Precious
This “study examines effects of the efficiency of the financial sector on economic growth in South Africa through an augmented Solow-Swan growth model using annual data from 1975 to 2020. The financial sector development is characterised by the role of the banking sector in enhancing growth through the productive use of a country’s stock of financial capital. In this study, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and instrumental variable (IV) models are used to estimate the derived augmented financial sector induced growth regressions. The ARDL method observes a positive but insignificant effect of financial sector development on economic growth. However, using internal instruments, instrumental variable regression provides joint endogeneity between regressors. The IV estimation results show that financial sector development has a significant positive effect on economic growth, hence, increased efficiency in the banking sector can lead to enhanced growth. In addition, the results observe that the quality of institutions are crucial to the relationship between financial sector and economic growth. To this end, policymakers should continue to improve financial inclusion and the quality of institutions, which could potentially spur economic growth in South Africa.
Economic and Institutional determinants of financial development for bank dominated and stock market-based economies in the SADC region
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Mogale, Etumeleng; Mahonye, Nyasha
The study examines the determinants of financial development from the bank-dominated economies (Angola, Lesotho and Madagascar) versus the bank and stock market-based economies’(Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa) point of view for the selected SADC countries. The study further examines which economies develop more over time between economies that are bank-dominated and those that have both the banking sector and the stock markets. Using a panel dataset that spans from 1996 to 2018 - which was sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI) - the study utilized the Autoregressive Distributive lag (ARDL) techniques to separately model for the banking system and the stock market which allowed for the unpacking of any short-run and long-run contributors to the financial sector development and thus capture any possible links between the explanatory variables and the financial development proxies, domestic credit to the private sector and market capitalization. The study found that the banking sector development is influenced by GDP growth rate, foreign direct investment, governments debts, trade openness and the rule of law while the stock markets are largely driven by GDP growth rate, inflation, trade openness, rule of law and regulatory quality. Furthermore, the study found that the banking sector does benefit from the presence of stock markets and that over time economies with both financial sectors tend to develop more than bank-dominated economies and that they are less prone to external shocks. The contributions to the existing body of literature are by critically looking at the drivers or deterrents of financial development in the SADC region so that the appropriate policy prescriptions can be formulated and implemented with the broader view of closing the infrastructure gap that exists within the region. By separately modelling the two financial sectors the study was able to see indicators that are the driving force in each sector and which economies – bank-dominated vs stock market-based - tend to do well over time.