4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-8: Decent work and economic growth

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    Performance of mutual funds in emerging markets
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Motaung, Naledi Molepa
    This study delves into the dynamics of mutual fund performance within the BRICS economies, underpinned by theoretical frameworks like Modern Portfolio Theory and the Mutual Fund Theorem. The study aims to provide a comprehensive examination of mutual fund architectures, classifications, and their inherent advantages, alongside the diverse factors shaping investment choices. The study further aims to assess and juxtapose the effectiveness of BRICS mutual funds, by deploying established measures such as Jensen's Alpha, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and the Fama-French and Carhart factor models. These measures facilitate a deeper comprehension of returns, especially when comparing portfolios with analogous risk profiles, underscoring the diverse sources of returns. The findings indicate that Chinese mutual funds are distinguished by superior risk- adjusted returns over a period of one to five years, signifying a more proficient market. The Fama-French three factor model regression results exhibited a positive correlation between market activity and returns, with Indian funds showing heightened market sensitivity. While the Carhart model introduces momentum as a novel component, its contribution to explaining mutual fund performance is minimal. The models' limited R- squared values imply the existence of additional influential factors not encapsulated by both the three and four factor models. The juxtaposition of performance measures and factor models exposes a consistent theme of market sensitivity and risk-adjusted performance, albeit with misalignment due to their measurement of different risk dimensions. Notably, the Emerging Markets Four-Factor Model emerges as a more refined tool, offering an enhanced comprehension of the forces driving performance in BRICS, potentially reconciling the disparities observed with the more traditional performance metrics. Overall, the research contributes to the understanding of mutual fund performance in emerging markets, particularly in the BRICS economic bloc. It highlights the opportunities and challenges faced by investors and provides insights into the factors that influence mutual fund returns in these dynamic and diverse markets.
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    Sustainable community development and corporate social investments by a platinum mining company in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Motaung, Lelentle; Mati, Jacob Mwathi
    South African mining companies implement corporate social investment (CSI) projects meant to benefit host communities by addressing various development needs. However, constant conflicts arise between these communities and mining companies despite these CSI projects. Using a qualitative case study approach, this study sought to understand reasons for the persistence of this conflict. The study applied the Ladder of Citizen Participation (Arnstein, 1969) in analysing the design and implementation of CSI programmes of one platinum mining company in South Africa. Findings suggest that existing conflicts reflect a dissonance between the mining company’s CSI objectives and community development needs, illustrated by the poor quality of engagement with local communities in determining CSI priorities. Specifically, inferior quality community consultations, lack of communication about forums for consultation and poor community representation in consultation processes hinder successful prioritisation of community needs in CSI objectives. In addition, the mining company seems to always act in its own interest by prioritising exclusionary elitism in its community engagement strategies. This, coupled with a lack of regular monitoring and evaluation, leads to misalignment between the CSI and sustainable community development objectives, and impedes the successful implementation of CSI initiatives.
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    The Influence of Regulatory Interventions on Consumption Behaviour of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mosenogi, Kgomotso; Saruchera, Sanny
    The increasing rates of chronic diseases as a result of weight gain, which lead to increased mortality rates, are linked to consuming processed foods and are progressively becoming a growing concern in South Africa. In response, the South African government imposed a sugar tax to control the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), as these beverages are associated with health issues such as diabetes and obesity. However, research on the influence of regulatory interventions, such as sugar taxes, on SSB consumption behaviour is lacking. Through the assessment of the three marketing mix components, namely, product, price, and promotion, this study investigated the influence of various regulatory interventions on SSB consumption behaviour in South Africa. Using the Consumption Behaviour theory as a framework that acknowledges that internal and external factors can influence a purchase decision, the study explores how Product Reformulations, Product Size, Product Packaging, Price, and Promotion affect SSB consumption behaviour among South African consumers. The exploratory study's methodology was quantitative conducted through a self- administered survey. Data was collected from 297 South African participants between the ages of 18 and 59, and the results were analysed using SPSS version 28. The results validated the hypothesis that Product Formulation Regulation, Price Regulation and Promotion Regulation significantly influenced SSB consumption behaviour. On the other hand, there was insignificant effect from Product Size Regulation. The study excluded the hypothesis on Product Packaging Regulation because of concerns about its validity. The study enhances the existing body of knowledge and comprehension of how regulatory interventions influence consumption behaviour. Furthermore, it offers practical recommendations for consumers, policymakers, SSB manufacturers and healthcare practitioners. The enhanced understanding can impact policy decisions and public health initiatives aimed at addressing the detrimental health effects associated with high SSB intake in South Africa.
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    The successful implementation of LNG aggregation for market development
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Moodley, Letitia Anthia; Young, Bruce
    In the context of the global transition towards sustainability, most countries still grapple with energy security issues and a heavy reliance on fossil fuels as an energy source. Natural gas is proposed as a significant source of energy within global future efforts to diversify the energy system. The development of the natural gas market is therefore imperative to achieve the global energy transition goals as LNG has been identified as an ideal transitionary fuel (Hafeznia, Pourfayaz, & Maleki, 2017; Mohammad, Mohamad Ishak, Mustapa, & Ayodele, 2021; Safari, Das, Langhelle, Roy, & Assadi, 2019). This research report assesses the types of LNG aggregation implemented by countries and the effectiveness of the implementation of LNG aggregation as an energy policy instrument. The determinants of the identified criteria, based on the 4-As framework, were collected, and normalised via the unitization method. Multi-criteria analysis was utilized for the aggregation of the determinants, allowing for the analysis of the function which, in this research report, is the success of LNG aggregation implementation as energy policy. The analysis provides for the top performing country based on the indicators identified for each criterion of the 4As framework, from which, the success factors of LNG aggregation are unpacked. Sixty-four countries are identified as trading in LNG, of which, eleven were identified as having implemented LNG aggregation strategies. The criteria of the 4A’s framework, affordability, availability, acceptability, and applicability, are utilised to define a set of indicators which allowed the eleven countries to be ranked based on a performance score. The United States, ranking first, implements a block aggregation strategy which has been complimented by the country’s success factors. The country has a mature legal environment which has provided reassurance to the global market and resulted in the attraction of investment, transforming the country into a net exporter of energy. The United States has flexibility in its policies which allowed for the production of non- conventional Shale gas. Russia, ranking second, implements single buyer and brokerage aggregation strategies which has enabled the country to become a significant participant within the global LNG market. This successful implementation of the aggregation strategy is underpinned by the vertical integration of the state-owned gas company. The third ranked country, Trinidad and Tobago, has successfully implemented a single buyer, single seller aggregation strategy which allowed the infant market to develop over time. The country strives towards the ease of doing business for global participants, provides Created by Terri Carmichael at Wits Business School; terri.carmichael@wbs.ac.za iii government support and the ability to absorb market fluctuations. Lastly, Singapore implements a single-buyer aggregation strategy. The success factors, of which, have been the countries complimentary incentives for investment and trade, government support, policy driven incentives, a well-developed legal system and agility within policy
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    Indigenous knowledge and science, technology, and innovation-driven systems for the healthcare industry in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Moloto, Kagiso Christopher; Ramoroka, Kgabo
    The National Innovation System (NIS) of South Africa, which is predominantly driven by Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) is entrusted to help elevate the developmental challenges faced by many South Africans. The integration of Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) into the STI-driven NIS particularly for the healthcare sector could potentially provide solutions to eradicate the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. There is, therefore, a need for a robust institutional support system for a sustainable integration of STI and IKS which could ultimately help increase grassroots innovations. It is worth noting that there is a general agreement between and amongst policymakers, scholars, and industry role payers that the performance of a country’s economy, in a globalising knowledge economy depends to a large degree, on innovation and knowledge. In order to transform and enhance the responsiveness of the STI-driven NIS of South Africa, there is a need to explore additional mechanisms on how to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and IKS into the formal STI knowledge systems. With proper policy formulation around this incorporation, South Africa can set itself on a path of development, driven by grassroots innovation for effective medicinal products that can be of benefit for the healthcare sector and South African citizens at large. This research study aims to explore the extent to which IK, which is the main ingredient of African traditional medicines Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) is integrated in the South African STI-led NIS for the healthcare system as part of addressing the socio-economic challenges faced by South Africans. The study also explores some of the challenges that that hinder the integration of IKS in the NIS of South Africa, particularly around African traditional medicine. By the use of document analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study suggests that, although there is room for improvement, there is to some extent integration of IKS in the NIS of South Africa from a policy point of view. Numerous challenges that hinder full integration of the IKS in the NIS are also discussed. The study recommends that in order for South Africa to speed track the integration of IKS in the NIS particularly for the healthcare sector, the National 3 Indigenous Knowledge System Office (NIKSO) could perhaps be upgraded into a full, independent institute or science council that primarily focusses on IKS
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    Forecasting Stock Prices: Do Taylor Rule Fundamentals Matter?
    (Malikane, Christopher, 2024) Molefe, Thabo
    We build on studies by Ince et al. (2016), and Dladla and Malikane (2019) to explore the role of Taylor rule fundamentals in forecasting stock market returns in a small open economy. We investigate a mix of 11 countries from 1970 to 2022. We derive a stock return forecasting model using the dividend yield interest rate spread and introduce Taylor rule fundamentals into our model using Taylor’s (1993) rule. We compare the performance of our model to the autoregressive with lag-2 benchmark model and the historical average using Theil’s U, Diebold and Mariano’s (1995) MSE-T, and Harvey et al.’s (1998) ENC-T statistics to test for relative forecast accuracy, equal forecast ability, and model encompassing. Since the models are linear and nested, we follow McCracken (2007) in using asymptotic critical values for MSE tests and proceed to also follow Clark and McCracken (2007) in using asymptotic critical values for ENC tests. We split the data 50-50 and conduct an OLS regression on the in-sample portion of the data to obtain parameters. We obtain in-sample results that show the signs of the coefficients for most of our endogenous variables to be as per literature. The sign of the coefficient of inflation is negative in line with studies by Sousa, Vivian, and Wohar (2016), and Cooper and Priestley (2009) among others, and the output gap has ambiguous signs in line with Good News Case (GNC) and Bad News Case (BNC) by Blanchard (1981). However, the sign of the coefficient of the real effective exchange rate is positive for most countries in contrast to the reviewed literature by Wong (2017), and Hau and Rey (2006). We conduct out-of-sample forecasting using the recursive method due to its sensitivity to data structure changes and adaptability to data patterns. The results of the out-of- sample analysis show our model outperforming the autoregressive-lag 2 benchmark model for the 3-month horizon US and Brazil, and the 12-month horizon for most countries. It also outperforms the 3-month horizon Australia, and the 12-month horizon Poland historical average benchmarks
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    Examining the influence of digital payment adoption on the digital divide in Kagiso township, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mokgwatsane, Malengolo; Godspower-Akpomiemie, Euphemia
    Digital payment systems have become increasingly popular and a vehicle for financial inclusion and access to financial services. However, as technological advancements progress, there remains a population segment that is left behind in terms of adoption and access. Digital payment systems are generally not adopted by township residents in South Africa. This is due to the uneven telecommunications infrastructure in South Africa and its limited availability in the townships. This study investigates the influence of tap-to-pay digital payments on the existing digital divide in Kagiso township and the factors that impact adoption and usage of this technology. This study adopted a qualitative research methodology that involved conducting face-to-face interviews with 12 respondents from Kagiso township. The respondents’ feedback was consolidated and analysed to uncover key findings. The findings revealed the presence of a digital divide in access and availability within Kagiso township, characterised by challenges stemming from poor infrastructure and limited access to technology, worsened by an uneven distribution of ICT. Furthermore, this study revealed lack of awareness and understanding of tap-to-pay, safety and security, unemployment and socioeconomic challenges as significant barriers to the adoption and usage of tap-to-pay payment systems in the township. Therefore, it is advisable for the South African government to increase investment in infrastructural upgrades to improve the accessibility and availability of digital technologies in the townships while also collaborating with the private sector to support initiatives aimed at addressing the digital divide in the townships. The collaboration with the private sector, particularly the telecommunications companies is crucial in driving these efforts. By leveraging market opportunities, telecommunication companies can implement strategies that accelerate the adoption of new technologies. One such strategy is investment in fiber optic networks to provide high-speed internet access in townships.
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    Sustainability of Video Streaming Services in South Africa: A Review of Digital Business Models and Strategies
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mkhize, Phumelele Wanda; Anning, Thomas Dorson
    This research paper examines the success and failure factors of Video Streaming Services (VSSs) in South Africa, specifically focusing on telco and broadcaster-launched platforms. Grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, the study utilises a mixed-methods approach to identify critical factors within the context of business models and compare sustainability factors between successful and failed VSS ventures. The research highlights telcos' challenges in content leadership and business model alignment as key contributors to their struggles, in contrast to broadcasters who strategically leverage resources for sustained competitive advantage. The study offers practical recommendations for developing sustainable digital video platforms in South Africa while laying the groundwork for future investigations into cross-cultural dynamics and technological innovations within the evolving VSS landscape.
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    Antecedents of Customer Loyalty in the South African Life Insurance Industry
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mkhize, Basil; Dlamini, Siphiwe
    ii ABSTRACT Retaining existing customers is currently the most significant challenge in the competitive life insurance market (Lakshmi & Santhi, 2015). Yet, previous studies on the factors influencing customer loyalty and repeat purchases have primarily been conducted in industries other than life insurance. Customer loyalty has been widely explored in marketing; however, empirical research on this subject within the life insurance sector in South Africa is scarce (Minta, 2018). Furthermore, there is a notable increase in lapse rate as the source of customer dissatisfaction in the life insurance sector (Sivesan (2019). Thus, the study explored the antecedents of customer loyalty in South Africa’s life insurance industry. It examined the impact of service quality, complaint handling, customer satisfaction, and trust on customer loyalty to South African life insurance. Additionally, it investigated the mediating factors affecting customer loyalty in the South African life insurance industry using the expectancy-confirmation theory. The methodology involved a self-administered questionnaire from 303 life insurance policy owners in South Africa. Structural equation modelling was used to test eight hypotheses, including two mediating effects. IBM SPSS 27, AMOS 27, and SmartPLS 3 software were used to analyse and interpret the dataset. The study found that six of the eight tested hypotheses were supported and significant, with service quality having the greatest impact on customer satisfaction. Furthermore, customer satisfaction was found to mediate the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty partially, and customer trust partially mediated the relationship between complaint handling and customer loyalty. This suggests that marketing managers in South African Life Insurance could use these results to enhance their service delivery strategies to maximise customer satisfaction and ultimately increase their retention goals. This study contributes to the literature on customer loyalty to life insurance companies by investigating its antecedents, including the mediating roles of customer satisfaction and trust, which have been under- researched. Furthermore, several future research directions which marketers and scholars could undertake are highlighted.
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    The Influence of Brand Experience on Brand Loyalty of South African smartphone users
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Metedad, Rabia; Sain, Yvonne K.
    Less is known on the effect of brand experience on brand loyalty, more so within the context of South Africa's smartphone industry. What is evident, however, is the decrease in brand loyalty among South African consumers due to the overwhelming number of choices and technology available. Consumers who are very satisfied with their phones are less likely to transform this satisfaction into loyalty. The complexity of the relationship between consumers and brands has resulted in a decline in customer experience and brand commitment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of brand experience on brand loyalty among South African smartphone users. This study was conducted using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Data was collected from 398 respondents through a structured online questionnaire. The study focused on two popular smartphone brands, referred to as Brand A and Brand B for purposes of this study. Data was analysed using factor analysis and structural equation modelling using AMOS 28 software, measuring the relationship between brand experience dimensions (sensory, affective, behavioural, and intellectual) and brand loyalty dimensions (attitudinal and behavioural loyalty). The results showed that affective experience and intellectual experience are significant predictors of brand loyalty among SA smartphone users. In contrast, sensory experience and behavioural experience did not show a significant relationship with brand loyalty. Notably, Brand A smartphone users were found to be more loyal to their brand than Brand B smartphone users, evident in their ratings of affective and intellectual experiences, which were significantly higher than Brand B users.