Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)
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Item Evaluating the perceived existence of racial profiling and income inequalities in the South African banking sector(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020-10) Diphoko, Tebogo Mogosi; Chakamera, ChengeteThe purpose of the study was to investigate inequality of outcomes and opportunities. Inequality of outcome in the context of the role that education played in narrowing the income inequality gap. Inequality of opportunities in the context of disparities in financial services access by way of racially profiling and subsequently the role that media played in perpetuating the notion of racial profiling in the South African banking sector. The research strategy utilised was quantitative with the research design being the cross-sectional research design. Moreover, the data collection instruments applied in this study was the fully structured questionnaire. Analytical methods include frequencies and correlations. The results indicate that education does not narrow income inequality in the South African banking sector. This finding was confirmed by the hypothesis testing where the null hypothesis was not rejected which concluded that education is not significantly recognised to influence income inequality in the South African banking sector. The results in relation to the second research questions indicated that disparities in financial services access by way of racial profiling does exist. Subsequently, this was confirmed by the hypothesis testing where the null hypothesis that suggested that the disparity does not exist was rejected. Meaning, that the banking sector do profile their clients. Results in relation to the third research questions indicate that the notion of racial profiling is a phenomenon that had been personally experienced by individuals rather than perpetuated by media coverage. The main recommendation of this study was that banks must have a transparent credit scoring system during the credit application process, so that it can demystify the notion of discrimination. Furthermore, the study recommends that the definition of the term racial profiling be added to literature to providing a platform for future study replication. In terms of value addition, this study is one of the first research papers to contribute to the pool of knowledge and to investigate the role of education in narrowing income inequality and the existence of racial profiling in the South African banking sector. Thus, providing a platform for future replication in other sectors and expansion on the topic.Item Establishing mathematics teaching and training institutes in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020) Mashile, Mahlogonolo; Oba, PiusThis business venture proposal presents an idea that seeks to scale up an existing entrepreneurial idea that provides mathematics tutoring services and proposes the establishment of mathematics teaching and training institutes in South Africa. The business falls under the private tutor industry, which has a growing market size and an opportunity for the business to gain a significant share. The services offered will be mathematics teaching to high school students and training to both existing and new mathematics teachers (those who are entering the field of education). The project initially reviews literature to gain deep knowledge and understanding of the challenges experienced in the mathematics education of South Africa, and to acquire enabling data for managing a business of this nature. This enables us to design a business that will yield considerable profits and be sustained. South Africa produces poor mathematics results annually, which is very concerning for multiple stakeholders that depend on good performance in the subject. The government has used several strategies aimed at improving mathematics results in South Africa, but there has not been any improvement realised. This is very concerning for a country whose future depends on the success in technical subjects like mathematics. Studies conducted on mathematics performance indicated that South African students and teachers perform very poorly when compared to their peers in other countries (McCarthy & Oliphant, 2013). This project used the qualitative research method to gather data from the field to assist in understanding the market, its appetite and opportunities available. Data was collected from three provinces in South Africa: Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng. The results showed a low pass rate in mathematics, particularly in lower quintile schools, which constitute the highest number of schools and students in the country. Lower quintile areas are an untapped market because most mathematics tutoring services are based in big cities where the affordability is higher. The business will have partnerships with organisations that have corporate social responsibility to serve this market, while also serving the high- income market that pays tuition fees. The results from the survey conducted indicated an acknowledged gap in mathematics teaching. Most respondents noted that their students perform poorly in the subject, which they attributed to lack of student commitment and lack of workshops addressing challenging topics, among others. Over 92% of the respondents recommended consistent training for mathematics teachers. Several marketing strategies will be employed to introduce the mathematics services to our target market, grow the market share and increase the brand awareness. These include advertising on social media platforms, billboards and promotions. The business plans to establish institutions in Gauteng and Mpumalanga in the initial stages, and work towards increasing enrolments year on year. The business is expected to make a net profit of R2.6 million in year one, R5.8 million in year two and R7.5 million in year three. The business will be expanding into other provinces after the initial three years and work towards establishing mathematics, science and technology institutions in the futureItem Solar electricity consumption, financial inclusion and welfare in sub-Saharan Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Dube, Andile Precious; Horvey, SylvesterSolar electricity has continuously contributed towards alleviating energy poverty in sub- Saharan Africa. Moreover, the development of off-grid solar electricity technologies and business models that integrate mobile money into solar electricity transactions has improved access to electricity in the region. As a result, the demand and adoption of mobile money have also increased. However, existing literature has not exposed this positive development trend and other economic development opportunities inherent in solar electricity consumption. Most studies have focused on analysing the potential of solar electricity consumption in alleviating energy poverty. Although the analysis of solar electricity consumption and poverty alleviation is critical, studies have failed to extend the analysis to other economic development indicators such as financial inclusion, and money demand. This analysis is important because access to financial services and the development of financial systems in sub-Saharan Africa is low, yet economic theory postulates that renewable electricity demand induces the development of and access to financial services and increases capital stock. Therefore, it is critical to examine the broader economic opportunities inherent in solar electricity consumption to provide additional insight into development of prudent renewable energy and economic growth policies. Additionally, the extant literature fails to expose the influence of the macro-economic environment, particularly human development indicators, on the demand for solar electricity. This is important because solar electricity consumption in sub-Saharan Africa is not consistent; it is characterised by rapid fluctuations and declines in some countries. Consumer welfare (education, health, and standard of living) may influence energy consumption patterns. Therefore, this thesis provides empirical evidence of additional economic indicators that influence the demand for solar electricity to contribute to the development of effective renewable electricity policies. The thesis entails three essays that focus on the relationship between solar electricity consumption, financial inclusion, money demand and welfare. It employs a sample of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period from 2010 to 2019 for all three essays. The first essay examines the linear and non-linear relationship between solar electricity consumption, and financial inclusion. A Financial Inclusion Index is constructed using the Principal Component Analysis. The effect of solar electricity consumption on financial inclusion is analysed using the Two-Step System Generalised Moments Method. The results show that solar electricity consumption positively influences financial inclusion, implying that solar electricity consumption is a determinant of financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, a threshold point in the relationship between solar electricity consumption and financial inclusion is detected using the Dynamic Panel Threshold Model, and the positive effect of solar electricity consumption declines after the threshold point. The second essay examines the short-run and long-run relationship between solar electricity consumption, mobile money, and money demand in sub-Saharan Africa. It employs the dynamic panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag with Dynamic Fixed Effects and Pooled Mean Group estimators and the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares method to check the results' robustness. The empirical results reveal that solar electricity consumption has an insignificant effect on money demand (broad money balances) in the short and long run. However, if mobile money is introduced into the money demand function, solar electricity consumption positively impacts money demand. Subsequently, the interaction of solar electricity consumption and mobile money induces an upward effect on money demand. Therefore, the findings reveal that mobile money does not moderate the effects of solar electricity consumption on money demand; instead, it increases money demand leading to adverse effects on monetary policy. It is therefore recommended that monetary authorities should monitor solar electricity expenditure to control price fluctuation and maintain financial stability, particularly in countries where the dominant payment service is mobile money. The third essay investigates the effects of welfare on solar electricity demand using the following proxies: the Human Development Index, inequality in income, government expenditure on education, infant mortality rate, and access to information and communication technology (mobile phone subscriptions and internet users). The study applied the panelquantile regression technique with nonadditive fixed effects, and the results confirmed that welfare has significant effects on solar electricity demand. It reveals that the Human Development Index, education, and infant mortality have an inverse effect on solar electricity demand. However, income inequality has a negative effect in countries with low solar electricity consumption and a positive effect in countries with median-to-high solar electricity consumption. Mobile phone subscriptions positively influence solar electricity demand in countries with low-to-median solar electricity consumption. In contrast, internet users positively affect solar electricity demand in countries with median-to-high solar electricity consumption. The findings from the first essay endorse the proposition that solar electricity consumption induces the development of and access to financial products and services (energy-finance nexus). Whereas the findings from the second essay reveal the non-moderating effect of mobile money on the relationship between solar electricity consumption and money demand. Finally, the findings from the last essay reveal that human development factors drive solar electricity consumption. It is therefore recommended that policy makers should integrate renewable electricity goals and targets into economic development policies to enhance the transition to clean electricity sources and alleviate energy poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.Item The Resource Curse and Tertiary Education Sector in Angola(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Carrilho, VanessaResource Curse is a much-debated phenomenon that affects countries with natural resources wealth. Considering the contributions of past studies and accepting that Angola exhibits the malady, the present research seeks to understand how the problem had impacted the country’s higher education. The theoretical framework sought to understand the Resource Curse theory and its impacts on Education as well the background for the selection of study variables. Given the limitation of existing literature concerning tertiary education, a new conceptual framework was adopted to study the interconnection between variables. Similarly to most Resource Curse studies, a qualitative research method was embraced and data collection was done in two phases, sourcing primary data in the form of interviews and secondary data in form of documental analysis. The study concludes that the Resource Curse had a negative effect on tertiary education, in which the association between Resource Curse and education variables resulted in four main clusters: colonialism, civil war and institutions, weak governance and weak economy, attesting that these dimensions had impacted the higher education quality. Evidence from the results show that in the period under study (2002-2019) weak governance played a crucial role in perpetuating the deleterious effect of the previous periods by widening the gap between those with and without access to socioeconomic opportunities and welfare, including educational prospects. Strong institutions, political will and better investments are required to meet the needs of the underfunded and neglected education system and boost the quality of the education being provided if economic development is to be achievedItem Examining the extent which the SAIVCET support institute for TVET colleges in South Africa has accomplished its primary roles one to six(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Tutu, Bongiwe; Motsepe, DikgangThe National Development Plan (NDP) envisions South Africa’s economic transformation by focusing on higher education and skills development. Since its adoption in 2012, it has emphasised the crucial role of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as the major institutions to improve education, skills development and to enhance economic growth. Despite this realization, there are shortfalls that remain within TVET colleges, whereupon the NDP states, “the FET (TVET) system is not effective, it is too small and the output quality is poor” (NDP, 2012: 40). The Department of Higher Education and Training (DEHET) established the South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET) to support the TVET colleges. The SAIVCET was established on six primary roles and three implementation objectives. Using the qualitative survey research approach, adopting questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather and assess data, this research examines the extent to which the institute has accomplished the six primary roles and fulfilled the purpose behind its establishment. Through the purposive sampling of the research participants used, this research has found that the rationale and importance for the SAIVCET to strengthen the TVET and CET sector is unquestionable. However, research findings and conceptual analysis indicates that there have been challenges to the formal implementation of the SAIVCET. The institute was projected for 2012, however has yet to be established due to funding and governance constraints. As a result, SAIVCET has no governance structure. In the interim, a “SAIVCET Project” which is an informal body was formed to fulfil some of the functions and primary roles of the main SAVICET body. In a recent 2020/21 DHET Annual Performance Plan, the SAIVCET is still presented as a planned initiative, which has been projected for implementation in the period 2020 – 2025 (DHET, 2020: 10). In examining the primary roles of the SAIVCET support institute for TVET colleges in South Africa, this research has found that, the extent to which the SAIVCET, even as acting through the SAIVCET Project, fulfilled its primary roles is poor. The findings indicate that the SAIVCET has attained average to poor results in effectively fulfilling of its primary roles. Each of the primary roles received consolidated scores that are below average (below 50 percent) from the participants’ primary data. The conceptual framework and analysis further indicates the lacking impact of the institute, particularly under assessments of the Good governance framework and the Education policy implementation framework. This research recommends DHET uphold publishing annual reports to the functions and progress of the SAIVCET and SAIVCET Project, in order to enable public awareness and engagement on developments within higher education. Further, this research recommends a two-year progress review of the SAIVCET once it has been established. Further, this research study recommends coordinated efforts among various ministries, stakeholders, public and private sectors and higher education institutions, on the functions and resources for SAIVCET. Furthermore, this study recommends an institutional push for shifts in mind-sets, particularly among employers with bias when selecting candidates from higher education institutions and TVET colleges. Furthermore, this research recommends funding and resources, which are allocated without reservations, but for the sole purpose of advancing progressItem Gamification as a tool for supporting Entrepreneurship Education in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Sephiti, Kelebogile; Urban, BorisThe significance of entrepreneurship as a vital economic factor has tremendously burgeoned in the past decades as it aided in curbing the impact of unemployment and the global economic downturn. With its scope proliferating in every field, educational institutions have started incorporating it into their learning system as Entrepreneurship Education (EE). To enhance the effectiveness of EE, educators are employing diverse strategies. Among these techniques, gamification is seen as a major one. Gamification as a tool uses game-based design in non-game settings, making it a captivating practice which helps improve students’ engagement in innovative learning. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of game-based learning on entrepreneurship education in South Africa. The required data is collected from an Entrepreneurship Education Foundation based in South Africa, which aims to foster a community of responsible entrepreneurs and collaborates with beneficiaries who study in secondary as well as tertiary educational institutions. The collected data is interrogated using quantitative analysis for further interpretation and the results suggest that gaming, when used as a tool for entrepreneurship education, increases the chances of an individual becoming an entrepreneurItem Bottom-half Intergenerational Mobility Among the Coloured Population in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) De Kock, Tryston; Roberts, GarethI examined the intergenerational mobility of education among the Coloured population in South Africa between 1975 and 1990. I used the National Income Dynamics Study to measure intergenerational mobility among Coloured children born to parents at the bottom of the education distribution-this includes parents with an educational attainment lower than grade 10. I found across the whole population; the median rank of education is grade 10 – making grade 10 my middle point. I compared several intergenerational mobility indices with bottom-half mobility and look at the IGE and IGC indices for sons, as well as the summary statistics for the coloured, African, and White populations. I suggested that Coloured daughters born to mothers in the bottom half of the education distribution have experienced a decrease in upward mobility meanwhile upward mobility has increased for Coloured sons. However, I suggested Coloured daughters born to parents with educational attainment lower than grade 10 have a higher chance of increasing their educational attainment compared to Coloured sons. I also compared mobility estimates between Coloured children born in the Western and Northern Cape with Coloured children born elsewhere. I found that Coloured children born in the former have lower upward mobility compared to Coloured children born elsewhereItem Determinants of evaluation use within the South African education sector(2020) Zuma, Thabisile AmandaCentral to the discipline of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is the issue of evaluation use. This preoccupation with evaluation use is due to the fact that whether you are a commissioner of evaluation or an evaluator, there is an expectation that evaluations will lead to use. The purpose of this research was to understand what evaluation use is and what its determinants are, based on the perspectives of three organisations in the education sector. The findings revealed and the factors that influence evaluation use can be categorised into two groups, namely characteristics related to the evaluation, and characteristics that are related to the organisational setting where findings are expected to be used. While there may be multiple stakeholders in an evaluation, the responsibility to ensure use lies mostly with the commissioners and the evaluators. Each of these key stakeholders has specific responsibilities that create a conducive environment for evaluations to be used