Wits Business School (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37941
Browse
11 results
Search Results
Item Evaluating the influence of wool, cotton and fish on economic growth in Lesotho(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021) Mokhothu-Ramohlanka, Thato; Sibanda, JakuboseThis study aims to evaluate the influence of wool, fish, and cotton on the economic growth in Lesotho, analysing a 30-year period from 1990 to 2020. The paper provides an analysis of the long-term and short-term relationships between wool, cotton, fish and economic growth, and their causal effects on economic growth. The study used the Augmented Dickey-Fuller and the Phillips Perron unit root tests to determine whether the data set is stationary. The Johansen co-integration model identified the existence of long-run relationships. The error correction model and the Granger causality test determined the short run and causal relationships, respectively. Findings indicate that wool and cotton have a positive and significant influence on economic growth. In contrast, fish has a negative influence both in the long and short run. In addition, the study found unidirectional causation between economic growth and wool exports, bidirectional causality between cotton exports and economic growth, and unidirectional causation between economic growth and fish exports. Finally, to improve the benefits of the agricultural sector in Lesotho, there is a need for policy reform around structural changes to diversify exports and exports marketsItem Economic perfomance and state-business relations in post-apartheid South Africa(2020-03) Nkgodi, Bruce MolefiIn this study the main concern is state-business relations in post-apartheid South Africa. Guided by the political theory of corporatism, the study considers the influence of state-business relations on economic performance. The obvious assumption is that sound state-business relations correlate positively with impressive economic performance. Following the demise of the apartheid system of governance in South Africa, a corporatist institution known as the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) was established. Sub-optimal economic performance of post-apartheid South Africa has raised doubts about the efficacy of NEDLAC's role in fostering economic prosperity for the country. It is contended that in many studies a substantive comprehension of what economic performance entails is absent. To overcome the lack of coherence in the conception of economic performance, this study applies economic growth, public debt and unemployment to measure economic performance. The study found that overall, growing public debt, high levels of unemployment and poor economic growth point to unimpressive economic performance associated with state-business relations in post-apartheid South Africa.Item Oil prices, stock prices and the economy: examining volatility transmission in developing African countries(2020) Sibanyoni, Sylvia LindiweThe dependency of stock prices on the oil price volatility has been found to be more prevalent in emerging market net-oil importing countries. Most African countries are net-oil importer and the effect of the oil price volatility has significant impact on their economies. To answer the objectives of this study, this research employs the diagonal BEKK GARCH model, GMM model and the VECM over data from selected African countries from July 2003 – November 2019. The results from the diagonal BEKK Model suggests a co-movement between oil price volatility and stock price volatility does not appear to be directly linked to geography or economic relations between the sample countries due to financial globalization and integration. There is evidence of increased volatility during and after the 2007/08 crisis financial, with volatility more pronounced in the after math of the crisis. In examining the effects of the oil price volatility on the economic growth, the GMM results show that oil price and stock prices volatility have negative impacts on the economic growth. The empirical findings from the VECM suggest that a significant negative long run relationship between oil price volatility and economic growth exists. Furthermore, the results also indicate that oil price volatility is transmitted to the economy through the exchange rates, real interest rates, consumer price indices (rate of inflation) and the volatility of stock market returns. Finally, the pairwise Granger causality test indicate a uni-directional cause and effect that runs from oil price volatility to economic growth through stock price volatility.Item The key determinants of foreign direct investment in South Africa(2021) Rama, KamilThis study investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa using annual data for the period 1994-2018. The importance of FDI inflows to South Africa cannot be underestimated, it assists in creating value for investible assets and capital formation, but also brings much-needed stimulus to efficiency, productivity and economic growth. Despite being one of the major recipients of FDI in Africa when compared to other emerging countries the value of these inflows can be considered low and volatile. Based off the literature, Pesaran’ s Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was chosen as the method used to test for cointegration. The ARDL model tests the long-run relationship between FDI and its potential determinants and the error correction model (ECM) estimates the short-run dynamic parameters within the ARDL model. The empirical results show that in the long run exchange rate, trade openness and political stability are the most important factors in determining FDI inflows to South Africa. The short-run coefficients show that political stability has a significant positive effect on FDI inflows, while the number of BITS signed has a significant negative effect. The negative short-run coefficients seen with GDP and exchange rate are not notable due to the coefficients being statistically insignificant. The study recommends that he government should look to implement policies which help promote the liberalisation of restrictions around trade and the movement of capital. This should also include looking into increasing the consistency and transparency of fiscal, monetary and trade policies. Exchange rate targeting strategies should be implemented to help stabilize the exchange rate. Lastly the South African government should maintain regulatory policies which promote political stability and invoke investor confidence.Item Renewable power generation and the environmental Kuznets Curve in South Africa(2021) Modise, MotseiThe Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis states that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. South Africa is currently in the initial phase of renewed economic growth. Due to its historical reliance on coal for power generation, the country is also among the highest carbon dioxide emitters globally. There is a wide range of existing literature investigating the presence of the EKC in South Africa with other independent explanatory variables such as energy consumption, financial development, and globalisation added to the investigation. However, few studies have included total renewable power generation for South Africa in their assessments. This paper sought to investigate the causal relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and total renewable power generation for South Africa within the EKC framework. Time series data for the period 1997-2018, collected from secondary public sources, was analysed for this study. From the regression model, it was deduced that there is no presence of the EKC theory for the period under study. A unit root test was performed using the Augmented Dickey Fuller test, and it was found that all variables were integrated at the order of 1, GDP was also found to be stationary at level. The results from the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach proved that there is co-integration between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and total renewable power generation. The Granger Causality test showed a unidirectional relationship from carbon dioxide emissions, no causal relationship from economic growth to total renewable power generation and total renewable power generation and CO2 emissions. The results indicated that total renewable power generation had a low significant direct impact on carbon dioxide emissions reduction. The current low proportion of renewable energy sources in the total energy mix led to the finding that there was no meaningful reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. This paper proposed the implementation of efficient and powerful policies geared towards reducing South Africa’s carbon footprint without causing a negative impact on economic growth in the processItem The key determinants of foreign direct investment in South Africa(2021) Rama, KamilThis study investigates the determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa using annual data for the period 1994-2018. The importance of FDI inflows to South Africa cannot be underestimated, it assists in creating value for investible assets and capital formation, but also brings much-needed stimulus to efficiency, productivity and economic growth. Despite being one of the major recipients of FDI in Africa when compared to other emerging countries the value of these inflows can be considered low and volatile. Based off the literature, Pesaran’ s Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was chosen as the method used to test for cointegration. The ARDL model tests the long-run relationship between FDI and its potential determinants and the error correction model (ECM) estimates the short-run dynamic parameters within the ARDL model. The empirical results show that in the long run exchange rate, trade openness and political stability are the most important factors in determining FDI inflows to South Africa. The short-run coefficients show that political stability has a significant positive effect on FDI inflows, while the number of BITS signed has a significant negative effect. The negative short-run coefficients seen with GDP and exchange rate are not notable due to the coefficients being statistically insignificant. The study recommends that he government should look to implement policies which help promote the liberalisation of restrictions around trade and the movement of capital. This should also include looking into increasing the consistency and transparency of fiscal, monetary and trade policies. Exchange rate targeting strategies should be implemented to help stabilize the exchange rate. Lastly the South African government should maintain regulatory policies which promote political stability and invoke investor confidenceItem Corporate entrepreneurship and innovation performance: the moderating role of endogenous risk management in the South African telecommunications sector(2021) Zondo, Hlengiwe LondiweInnovation and risk are indivisible. The mismanagement of risk can carry an enormous penalty. In recent history, the corporate community has observed a number of risk calamities that have resulted in substantial loss. Harmoniously, mounting evidence advocates for effective risk management as an archetypal characteristic of successful firms. At an academic level, literature discusses the importance of an organisational culture in enterprise risk management as a means of improving firm and innovation performance. However, there is scant empirical evidence to support this connection, an evident research gap within the South African context. At industry level, the South African telecommunications sector has experienced adverse consequences due to the mismanagement of risk that ascended from a lack of control-related structures, policies, systems, and knowledge management systems pertaining to innovation performance. Within this ambit, there lies the need to gain insight on the role of endogenous risk management within the corporate entrepreneurship context and its effect on innovation performance in the aforementioned sector. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to investigate how organisational antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship may influence innovation performance while identifying the potential moderating effect of endogenous risk management on this relationship, within the telecommunications sector in South Africa. This study follows a positivist paradigm, founded on a quantitative research approach utilising a cross-sectional viewpoint. Primary data, with a sample size of 187 participants, was collected by means of an online survey that was self-administered. Two stage probability sampling was adopted for this research. The sampling techniques used were stratified sampling, which was used to sample all the identified telecommunication firms in South Africa with primary focus on the significant market shareholders, and simple random sampling which was applied to employees within the telecommunication firms. Data analysis comprised of correlational analysis, backward elimination method, multiple regression and moderation analysis. The antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship; management support, rewards/reinforcement and time availability were found to be significant predictors of innovation performance at a 99 percent confidence level, whilst organisational boundaries were found to be an insignificant predictor of innovation performance. A significant but indirectly proportional relationship was found between work/discretion/autonomy and innovation performance within this study context. It is noteworthy that the regression analysis revealed time availability, management support and rewards/reinforcement, as the most influential predictors of innovation performance, listed in descending order of strength. Firms with appropriate time availed, rewards/reinforcement and management support for employee entrepreneurial activity, are expected to yield prodigious results in innovation performance. Furthermore, the results indicated that endogenous risk management has a moderating effect on the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and innovation performance. However, this was discovered to be statistically insignificant for each dimension of corporate entrepreneurship in relation to innovation performance. The findings were precisely the reverse of those found in developed economy context research. The findings of this study have substantial implications for industry, academia and policy makers alike. This study succours telecommunication firms in the establishment and maintenance of internal corporate environments that are conducive to innovation. For longevity and competitive advantage purposes, it is within firms’ best interest to invest in human capital as primary agents of knowledge creation, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation activities. Strategic policy formulation targeted at enhancing innovation outcomes and all the opportunities that come with it – could benefit the country at a micro, meso and macro level. The originality of the study lies its nature within this particular emerging market context and the theoretical contribution made through a construct proposed for inclusion in the antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship frameworkItem The impact of sovereign ratings on research & development in developing countries(2020) Tsunyane, MakhalaSovereign credit ratings are considered imperative in assessing the value and worth of a nation's economy, modern theory stresses the accumulation of knowledge as one of the critical factors for economic growth and productivity. One aspect of accumulating knowledge is through Research and Development (R&D). The aim of this paper is to analyse if credit ratings are robust determinants of R&D and various economic variables that have been suggested in the literature as influencing R&D, such as the number of researchers, tertiary school enrolment, financial development, the rule of law, and foreign direct investment as robust determinants of R&D performed in developing countries. Through the use of an Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA), the study covers 30 middle-income countries from 2002 to 2017. The study’s estimations provide evidence that credit ratings, the number of researchers, tertiary school enrolment, financial development, the rule of law, and foreign direct investment, are robust determinants of R&D. However, the results demonstrated trade openness to be fragile in determining R&D. When it comes to ratings, the study reveals that a change in the credit rating is asymmetric, because a downgrade was robust and had a significant impact on R&D, while an upgrade found to be fragile and insignificant.Item Relationship between financial deepening and economic growth for selected countries in Africa(2020) Musiyazviriyo, TafadzwaThe financial sectors of African countries are still underdeveloped relative to other regions, and there is little academic research on how this can be improved. Given the potential for economic growth, fuelled by further financial sector development, the call is for African policymakers to prioritise financial deepening policies to stimulate economic growth. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between financial deepening and economic growth in 51 African countries. This research sought to achieve three objectives: (i) whether financial depth for the African countries between 1993 and 2017 had a significant impact on economic growth; (ii) whether the effect is positive or negative; and (iii) determining the size of the effect. The assumption was that financial depth in the African countries positively influences economic growth. The study also sought to ascertain whether the direction of causality is unidirectional or bi-directional. This study assumed that the direction of causality is bi-directional. Using the two-step generalised methods of moments (GMM), the study assessed the relationship between financial deepening and economic growth in 51 African countries from 1993 to 2017. The findings reveal that there is a significant negative relationship between financial deepening and economic growth. The Granger causality tests applied further show that there is a bi-directional relationship between financial deepening and economic growth. The main conclusion from the study is that there is a multidimensional approach opportunity for African countries to develop their financial sectors further to stimulate economic growth. Possible interventions in policy can be to create an environment that aims to encourage either a demand-following and/or a supply-leading approach to financial sector development. Both strategies will result in financial deepening and may stimulate economic growth since there is a bi-directional relationship between financial deepening and economic growth.