Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Comparative analysis

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    An assessment of voluntary debt review termination and the shortcomings of the National Credit Act in relieving the debt burden of over-indebted consumers in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-03) Brown, Robin-Lee; Du Plessis, Riette
    Among other objectives, two of the primary goals of the National Credit Act (NCA) are to help over-indebted consumers and to prevent the abuse of credit. This research report examines the NCA’s legal framework and impact of the NCA on over-indebted consumers with regard to debt review and the voluntary termination process. This research report delves into the challenges that consumers face when attempting to voluntarily terminate debt review prior to their debts being paid off in full as seen in the Van Vuuren case whereby a consumer was unable to exit debt review despite having the means to manage his own finances. The conclusion reached in this study is that, while the NCA has introduced a procedure which results in the reduction of over-indebtedness among consumers, there are issues with the debt review regime that should be addressed. The report further concludes with recommendations for improving the NCA’s debt review regime and providing an enhanced debt relief procedure for consumers in the Republic of South Africa. By adopting these recommendations, the debt review process will further advance the interests and protection of consumers
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    Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial markets: a comparative analysis
    (2021) Kapalu, Njamba
    This paper investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on bond yields and stock returns. The paper examines how the coronavirus outbreak affected the performance of capital assets as well as what role financial contagion played in the evolution of asset prices over time. This paper employs an event study, a regression analysis, using both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimations as well as a BEKK GARCH model to test for contagion. The research found that the flight-to-safety phenomenon was more prominent in emerging markets, whereas, in developed markets, bonds were not seen as the safe-haven assets and investors opted to invest in assets such as gold. The second event study showed that investors began reacting in anticipation of the of the Fed announcement in March to slash interest rates, showing herding behaviour rather that market efficiency was driving market behaviour during the pandemic. With regards to the effect of financial contagion being exhibited during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research had different findings for stock returns and bond yields. Using an MVGARCH BEKK model for the estimations, the research found that cross-market effects in the stock returns showed that the USA exhibited high unidirectional linkages with the other markets, thereby confirming significant effect of financial contagion in stock returns during the pandemic. With bond yields, however, no single country was found to be the source of the volatility