Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37778
Browse
4 results
Search Results
Item Perceived barriers to digitalization by small-scale farmers Gauteng Province(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Choguya, DonaldDigitalization in the fourth industrial revolution era has transformed many industries across the board. However, there are some that have been affected more than the others as depicted in the digital vortex. Lagging is the agricultural sector. This study was a quantitative research study that utilized a sample of 40 small-scale farmers to be representative of the Gauteng Province small-scale farmers. The research related the perceived barriers to digitalization and its impact to the agricultural activities of small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province. The data was analysed using the multiple regression analysis and correlation coefficient. Analysis of the results showed a massive gap between small-scale farmers and commercial farmers on the adoption of digitalization. Further analysis indicated that small-scale farmers were less likely to be impacted by digitalization to adopt technological utilization. It was also found that small-scale farmers were contributors to food production. Finally, it was also discovered that small-scale farmers were less established to adapt and adopt to digitalization in their agricultural activities due to various barriers. The recommendations were that there was need to do more research to find ways to bridge the gap to digitalization between small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province and commercial farmers. So that small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province especially the small-scale farmers in rural areas could also be exposed to the digitalization of operations to enable them to improve productionItem Digitalization of banking services and financial inclusion in Botswana(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Mpowe, Emmanuel; Odei- Mensah, JonesThe purpose of the study was to evaluate the level of digitalization of banking or financial services in Botswana. The study also sought to understand the association between digitalization and financial inclusion Furthermore, the research also studied the association of macro level determinants of financial inclusion such as GDP per capita and employment to adult population with financial inclusion. The study used secondary data collected mainly from the reserve bank of Botswana’s reports published on their website, Central Statistics Office and annual report of a selected commercial banks. Annual spending on ICT by commercial banks was used as a proxy for digitalization. The study used time series data from 2006 to 2020. Regression and correlation techniques were performed on the selected variables with financial inclusion as a dependent variable. The result from the analysis suggested that there is a significant positive association between ICT spend or digitalization of banking services and financial inclusion. This findings were in support of the hypothesis formulated from the existing literature which also suggested that digital financial services are more likely to increase the level of financial inclusion. The study also evaluated the impact of GDP and employment rate on financial inclusion. The findings suggested that both variables have a positive correlation with financial inclusion.Item Do Domestic Yield Curves in Emerging Market Economies Prove to be Useful in Forecasting Future Economic Growth?(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Gosai, Rushai; Britten, JamesMuch has been said and researched about the term spreads ability to forecast the path of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in developed economies. The relationship holds that should the yield spread turn negative that this indicates that future GDP will retract and that a recession is eminent. At the back end of 2019, the subject found prominence again as the yield spread measured by the ten year government bond and the three month Treasury Bill (Tbill) turned negative. The Federal Reserve Bank of America (The Fed) lowered interest rates in the hope that lower borrowing costs would stimulate the economy and lead to an increase in aggregate demand. It then follows, could the domestic yield curve spread perhaps be suitable in forecasting domestic Emerging Market (EM) GDP growth? This research highlights the EM experience whilst still testing the ability of the yield curve in the US to predict future economic growth. The framework based on the work of Bosner-Neal and Morley (1997), found over the horizon of 1980 to 2020, for the EM countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) unsupportive evidence that the domestic yield curve spread is a suitable indicator to forecast future GDP growth.Item Perceived barriers to digitalization by small-scale farmers Gauteng(University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022) Choguya, Donald; Oba, PiusDigitalization in the fourth industrial revolution era has transformed many industries across the board. However, there are some that have been affected more than the others as depicted in the digital vortex. Lagging is the agricultural sector. This study was a quantitative research study that utilized a sample of 40 small-scale farmers to be representative of the Gauteng Province small-scale farmers. The research related the perceived barriers to digitalization and its impact to the agricultural activities of small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province. The data was analysed using the multiple regression analysis and correlation coefficient. Analysis of the results showed a massive gap between small-scale farmers and commercial farmers on the adoption of digitalization. Further analysis indicated that small-scale farmers were less likely to be impacted by digitalization to adopt technological utilization. It was also found that small-scale farmers were contributors to food production. Finally, it was also discovered that small-scale farmers were less established to adapt and adopt to digitalization in their agricultural activities due to various barriers. The recommendations were that there was need to do more research to find ways to bridge the gap to digitalization between small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province and commercial farmers. So that small-scale farmers in Gauteng Province especially the small-scale farmers in rural areas could also be exposed to the digitalization of operations to enable them to improve production.