4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37773
Browse
5 results
Search Results
Item Financial inclusion, institutional quality, and poverty reduction in Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Nsiah, Anthony Yaw; Tweneboah, GeorgeFinancial inclusion is seen as an enabler to growth in an economy, as such enhance poverty reduction, especially in developing regions like Africa. Poverty levels in Africa are still very high, especially with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite efforts of governments and development partners to address it. The extant literature has provided some information regarding the financial inclusion and poverty reduction nexus in the continent and elsewhere. However, the exact threshold level of inclusion at which poverty could be altered has not been thoroughly explored. Also, the critical role institutions play in transferring the benefits of financial services to households and firms towards poverty reduction has not been extensively interrogated. This thesis therefore consists of three separate empirical studies which all intend to fill the knowledge gap, using advanced econometric methodologies. For the first essay, we examined the determinants of financial inclusion in Africa, considering demand, supply as well as infrastructure side factors. Despite the importance of financial inclusion, many factors play a role in one’s decision to get involved in the financial sector. Using the GMM technique, the study revealed that GNI per capita (demand-side factor), Domestic credit to private sector (Supply-side factor) and institution quality (infrastructure-side factor) were significantly identified to be determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. It was further revealed that GNI per capita, Money supply and Institutional quality contribute to the minimization of barriers to financial inclusion. The second essay sought to estimate the threshold level at which financial inclusion, aided by strong institutions, will lead to poverty reduction in Africa. Financial inclusion has been identified as an important concept in fighting poverty due to its ability to increase income level of households. Using the Hansen’s threshold estimation method, the study found double threshold values at which financial inclusion would increase household consumption expenditure, leading to poverty reduction. The study also established a certain threshold level beyond which, financial barriers will have a negative iv impact on consumption which has the tendency to scare households from participating in the financial sector. The results further indicated that dependency ratio, gross national income, interest rate, inflation, education, and government expenditure contribute significantly to reducing barriers to reduce poverty. Institutional quality was also found to significantly moderate the financial inclusion and poverty reduction relationship. The last but not the least essay investigated the nature of the relationship between financial inclusion, financial stability, and poverty reduction in Africa. Financial inclusion plays an important role in enhancing stability of the financial system. It has however been argued that some level of financial inclusion has the tendency to destabilize the financial system, thwarting poverty reduction efforts. Using the panel Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) model, the study found that financial inclusion is positively related to financial stability in both short and long-run, with education, GNI per capita and domestic credit to private sector positively related to financial stability and trade openness negatively related to same, in the long-run. The study further established that financial stability is positively related to consumption as such leads to poverty reduction with trade openness, government expenditure, GNI per capita, education, domestic credit to private sector and institutional quality been positively related to household consumption, as such its effects lead to poverty reduction. This indicates that financial stability plays a complementary role in the financial inclusion drive to fight poverty in Africa. It is recommended that development partners, central banks and governments in the region should consciously implement policies that are aimed at promoting financial inclusion through the strengthening of institution, due to its ability to end poverty as well as take pragmatic measures to minimize barriers to financial inclusion. Despite the financial inclusion drive, regulations must not be taking for granted in order not to compromise stability of the financial system for the joint benefit in the fight against poverty as well as ensure financial stabilityItem An investigation of the determinants of childhood stunting in Zambia(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-02) Munalula, Kekelwa; Kithatu-Kiwekete, AngelitaBackground Stunting in Zambia is a prevalent public health concern that can be attributed to multiple factors. Understanding the risk factors for stunting in children under the age of five is critical for developing nutritional intervention programs and strategies. As a result, this study aimed to analyze the marginal effects of the underlying determinants of child nutrition on Child stunting levels in Zambia. Method This study employed secondary data sources from Zambian demography and health surveys from six surveys. Relevant data were extracted from Kids Record (KR) and the corresponding Household Record (PR) file for the final analysis; survey rounds between 1992 up to 2018 were included in the study. Binary logistic regression model was used to describe the determinants and their association with childhood stunting. Further Marginal analysis was used to establish the marginal effects associated with the determinants Result Children living in low social economic conditions, children who reside in urban areas, have healthcare access challenges, born in non-medical facility, and whose mothers had lower than secondary education were more likely to be stunted. Further, narrow birth intervals, and low birth weight were associated with an increased occurrence of stunting Conclusion Stunting is the outcome of an intricate interaction of determinants. Wealth index, maternal education, maternal nutrition, birth weight, place of birth, birth interval and source of drinking water were found to have the highest marginal effects on childhood stunting. Therefore, policy makers should consider these determinants in the design of nutrition intervention programs.Item Determinants of credit risk on residential mortgage loans in South Africa(2021) Mbulana, AlikhoResidential mortgages are an important asset class for banks as these assets provide the majority of bank’s income. By the nature of issuing loans to customers, this asset class also presents the greatest risk to the banks and as a result, banks need to constantly evaluate and review credit risk in order to ensure dynamic response strategies that curb losses and achieve sustainable profits. This study aims to investigate factors influencing credit risk on residential mortgage loans in South Africa. A regression analysis was conducted to capture the influence of both macroeconomic and bank specific factors on loans that have been in arrears for less than 89 days and on loans that have been in default for more than 90 days; using monthly data from an undisclosed bank over a period of eight years, 2010 to 2018. The results show that Housing Price Index, Unemployment, Household Disposable Income, Bank’s Capitalization and Operational Efficiency are the only significant determinants for non-performing residential mortgage loans that are less than 89 days. Credit Quality, Inflation, Unemployment, Household Disposable Income, Bank’s Capitalization, Operational Efficiency and are the main determinants of the non-performing residential mortgage loans greater than 90 daysItem Determinants of non-performing loans and their impact on profitability in South African banks(2021) Mogagabe, N; Mogagabe, NtebogengThe study aimed to examine the determinants (macroeconomic and bank specific) of non-performing loans in South Africa and assess the impact of non-performing loans on banking profitability. It has been demonstrated by the above statistics that South African banks are facing bad loan debt repayments which in turn turns into non-performing loans. Although it can be argued that the level of non-performing loans in South Africa is relatively low, the level of bank credit impairments threatens bank stability in the economy. The study was based on the cointegration and Granger causality method which was applied to panel data drawn from a sample of 8 banks. The granger causality test indicated that no variable Granger causes non-performing loans although non-performing loans granger caused GDP and capital adequacy. Furthermore, the Granger causality test indicated that non-interest income to total income Granger causes return on assets. Therefore, non-interest income to total income is a significant determinant of bank profitability as measured by return on assetsItem 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