Doctoral Degrees (Economics)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6939

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The association system of the European Economic Community and its impact on international trade policies.
(1974) Matthews, Jacqueline Désirée.; van Waasdijk, T.; Trotter, George Jameson.
No abstract.
The migrant labour system and South African economic development 1936-1970.
(1976) Nattrass, Jill.; Trotter, George Jameson.
No abstract available.
An investigation into the investment decisions of small manufacturing firms in the Durban-Pinetown-Pietermaritzburg metropolitan area.
(1989) Herbst, George.; Hamblin, A. R. P.
No abstract available.
South Africa's international financial relations, 1970-1987 : history, crisis and transformation.
(1989) Padayachee, Mahavishnu.; Freund, William Mark.
This thesis examines South Africa's relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and private international banks in the period 1970-1987. The thesis is written in the language, and uses the conceptual tools, of 'regulation theory', an approach whose emphasis on 'time-changing' empirically-grounded explanations of a country's global interactions, it is suggested, represents an advance over modernisation and dependency approaches. The thesis traces the altered circumstances of the international financial system since the early 1970s. It points to the struggle by the IMF to come to terms with these changes in harmonising a new international financial system. The IMF has, however, increased its supervisory power in relation to most countries in the developing world, especially after the oil-price hike of 1973. The basis for, and implications of, the explosion in private international bank lending in this period is also examined. This analysis is followed by an examination of the crisis in the South African political economy since the early 1970s and of the way this crisis was influenced by global events. It is argued that South Africa's international economic relations were transformed by both global and domestic forces and came to be dominated by issues of international finance. The second part of the thesis examines South Africa's relations with the IMF and private international banks. This relationship was supportive of the apartheid state's development strategy for most of the period 1970-1985. It is argued that until the 1980s, the relationship also benefited the western industrialised countries who profited both materially and strategically, from their economic relations with South Africa. However, in 1983, the US imposed restrictions on its support for IMF loans to South Africa. By mid-1985 a combination of political and economic changes within South Africa forced some foreign banks to withdraw their normal credit facilities to South Africa. These events precipitated a dramatic change for the worse in South Africa's international financial relations. It is argued that although there has been some improvement in these relations since 1987, the country's relations with the IMF and banks have not returned to their previous mostly supportive character. A combination of international, regional and domestic economic and political factors has ensured that the current crisis in South Africa's international financial relations is already deeper, more prolonged, and more damaging to growth prospects, than the crisis of the mid-1970s.
An investigation into consumer satisfaction with regard to medical care provided by private medical practitioners in the Durban magisterial district.
(1991) Poovalingam, Kasthuri.; Hamblin, A. R. P.
No abstract available.
A determination and analysis of preservation values for protected areas.
(1993) Holland, John Douglas.; Breen, Charles Mackie.; Oldham, George W.
Abstract available in pdf file.
The South African commodity plastics filiere : history and future strategy options.
(1994) Crompton, Roderick de Brissac.; Freund, William Mark.
The world chemical industry is one of the most basic and important manufacturing businesses globally. Petrochemicals have played a pivotal role in industrial modernisation. In the 1970s and 1980s South Africa developed an unusually large chemical industry as Import Substitution Industrialisation was conveniently extended into military/strategic apartheid policy. These policies steered the industry away from conventional crude oil and natural gas based feedstocks into a uniquely coal based chemical industry. The shift from oil to coal based petrochemicals also narrowed the slate of petrochemicals available. Pricing is critical in the commodity plastics filiere. Coal based production contributed to a higher cost structure than crude oil based producers and a 'missing link' in the production chain, the petrochemical intermediate naphtha. This facilitated the introduction of a pricing mechanism which concentrated the benefits amongst upstream producers at the expense of downstream plastic converters, stunting growth in this higher value added and more labour intensive sector. Ironically a 'sunk costs' approach and recent developments allow SASOL's to produce coal based petrochemicals at low cost. In a significant change the traditional pillars of the local chemical industry, agricultural and mining chemicals, were supplanted by plastic raw materials as the major sector of the industry during the 1980s despite its coal base. Trade patterns also reflect these developments. A significant shift in employment from blacks to whites in Industrial Chemicals and Refineries accompanied this reordering of the major sectors. Providing mass housing, electrification and other basic wage goods will require industrial policies, embracing the entire filiere, which are significantly different from previous policies. Such policies should facilitate the development of higher value added and more labour intensive sectors within a broadly conceived framework of redistribution of political and economic opportunity. This will require lowering chemical intermediate input costs as well as a range of nurturing and facilitative policies for the filiere. These will help to reduce the current anti-export bias. The process of implementing such policies is as important as the direction itself. To facilitate national reconciliation and empowerment of previously disadvantaged groups transparent tripartite policy making institutions are recommended.
Manufacturing sector productivity in South Africa in the 1980's : error and ideology in a contested terrain.
(1994) Meth, Charles.; Holden, Merle Gwendoline.
Estimates of the value of manufacturing sector output enter into many economic indices, especially those measuring productivity. The South African Central Statistical Services has twice made substantial errors in the output series. Revisions to correct the first of these raised the growth rate in manufacturing over the period 1970-80 from 2,6 per cent per annum (compound) to 5 per cent. This episode is not common knowledge. After examining the conceptual difficulties involved in producing output stimates, a practical technique for detecting errors in the series , the Euler Consistency Test, is presented. Developed, refined, and then applied to the South African data, it predicted, retrospectively, the first set of errors (using only the information available at the time those errors were made), then detected another set of errors , not previously known to exist. The study records the process by which the CSS was made to concede this second error. Acknowledgement only came after protracted correspondence and an examination conducted by a special committee formed to investigate my complaints. With 1979 set equal to 100, the output level in 1988 was originally given as 113,8. After investigation, the CSS raised this to 126,1. The magnitude of this second error is equivalent to the omission of the total output of the two SASOL plants commissioned during the early 1980s. Estimates of productivity growth by the National Productivity Institute using these incorrect figures are shown to have created a misleading picture of the sector's performance, especially in the sensitive debate over the relationship between wage and productivity growth. An attempt is made to lay the groundwork of an analytical framework for comprehending (from a Marxist point of view) the activities of ideological state apparatusses like the NPI. A review of the literature on theory choice is conducted, and the necessarily political nature of this activity is explored. The relative impotence of I science' in the face of ideology in a conflict-ridden society is considered. The question of the significance of disagreements between economists is examined, and prospects for convergence and consensus on certain issues are weighed.
Mineral commodity exports, exchange rates and growth: a case study of gold and other minerals in South Africa.
(1995) Mainardi, Stefano.; Holden, Merle Gwendoline.
This thesis aims at assessing the role of mineral exports for a developing economy, with a focus on commodity prices and supply, exchange rates, and growth. The study is especially concerned with the case of gold in South Africa, which is considered within a broader theoretical and empirical framework, encompassing other minerals and countries. The contradictory alternatively seen as effects of a a blessing or large mining sector, a curse for economic development and policy-making (or, rather, as a mixed blessing), provide the thread underlying the study. A growth model of a mineral developing economy is initially proposed, and tested over a 25-year period. A double weak-convergence equilibrium, and related differences across countries, are found to be partly explained by the performance of international prices of the main export minerals. A literature review draws attention to other development issues, with emphasis on exchange rate analysis. The picture ii one of controversial hypotheses and empirical findings, which are largely explained by objective differences in such aspects as mineral, country, and period analysed. Within this context, the thesis subsequently evaluates the role of the gold price for the South African real and nominal exchange rates in the 1980s and early 1990s. Results, based on econometric techniques applied to monthly observations, point to the gold price as a determinant of both exchange rates in South Africa, even if with some variation over the sample period. A recursive equation model is constructed to link South African gold mining to a macroeconomic framework. This model allows reconsideration of the above results with a new approach, employing a different time period and observation frequency (1970- 1994 annual data), and draws implications in terms of real exchange rate misalignment and economic growth. The results highlight the potential for a moderate recovery in gold mining and the need for adequate development strategies for the mining sector in South Africa, in view of the challenging requirements of the near future. The last part of the study turns to examine company-level statistics for gold and other minerals, so as to test hypotheses on the supply behaviour of mines which are ignored, or at best presumed, by studies exclusively relying on macro data. Results, based on pooled data, suggest the relevance of microeconomic, geological and, in some cases, institutional factors to account for different mineral supply responsiveness.
A computable dynamic bioeconomic model of the optimal utilisation and management of South Africa's renewable marine resources : a case study of the hake fishery.
(1997) Saville, Adrian David.; Lumby, Anthony Bernard.
No abstract available.
The determinants of long-term growth in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries : an empirical study.
(2001) Kaakunga, Esau.; Holden, Merle Gwendoline.
No abstract available.
The rise in female labour force participation in South Africa : an analysis of household survey data , 1995-2001.
(2003) Casale, Daniela Maria.; Posel, Dorrit Ruth.
In the 1990s nationally representative and detailed household survey data became available for the first time in South Africa, opening up opportunities to examine some of the key movements in the labour market especially. This thesis investigates one of these: the continued and dramatic rise in female labour force participation that has occurred in post-apartheid South Africa over the period 1995 to 2001. The rise in women's participation, also referred to as the 'feminisation' of the labour market, is a phenomenon that has been observed and analysed in many countries around the world, and yet has remained largely undocumented in South Africa. The 'feminisation' that has been recorded in the international literature generally refers to the rise in women's share of the labour force coupled with a rise in women's share of employment. What is striking in the South African case, however, is that over the period under review here regular employment opportunities in the formal sector of the economy have been indisputably limited, and yet female labour force participation has continued to increase. The increase in participation has translated mainly into a rise in unemployment and in generally low-paying forms of self-employment in the informal sector. This raises the question why so many more women chose to enter the labour market over this period in spite of their dismal prospects, a question that is explored as far as possible in this study given the constraints imposed by the data available. This thesis is presented in three main parts. The first part consists of a review of the economic theory of female labour supply and a review of the international literature on the trends, causes and consequences associated with the rise in female labour force participation over time. The second and largest part of the thesis consists of an empirical analysis of the factors driving the rise in female labour force participation in South Africa. The broad trends in the labour force between 1995 and 2001 are documented, some of the supply-side correlates of labour force participation are explored descriptively, and then the determinants of the rise in female labour force participation in South Africa over this period are tested more thoroughly in a multivariate regression and decomposition analysis. The final part of the study turns to the question of what the rise in female labour force participation has 'bought' women in terms of access to employment and earnings for those women who did have work in the period under review.
South Africa's seaborne commerce and global measurement of shipping costs.
(2006) Chasomeris, Mihalis Georgiou.
No abstract available.
Acting out the myths : the power of narrative discourse in shaping the Zimbabwe Conflict of Matabeleland, 1980-1987.
(2009) Stauffer, Carl Swarr.; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas.
This thesis interrogates the Matabeleland disturbances of 1980-1987 by analysing the conflict narratives promulgated by the ZANU-PF and how these narratives directly impacted the socio-political construction of violence that was enacted during that period. Of critical relevance is the interplay between the revolutionary narratives manufactured and imposed by the ZANU-PF regime and the myriad of contrasting, yet subjugated counter-narratives that were formulated as alternative resistances by the recipient communities. Through in-depth interview and document analysis methodologies, this research deconstructs the generative nature of scripted violence through the exploration of five salient themes employed by the ZANU-PF to produce its political meta-narrative: Ethnicity, Nationalism, Loyalty, Legitimacy and Unity. This study explores the power and function of narrative discourse in the formulation of ethnic identities, nation-state ordering, historical exclusion, political discipline, and social uniformity. The premise of this dissertation suggests that durable peace in Zimbabwe will only be realised to the degree that the silenced victims of the Matabeleland massacres are afforded a public voice and a sustained recognition in the historic, collective memory of that nation.
An analysis of the extent, nature and consequences of female part-time employment in post apartheid South Africa.
(2009) Muller, Colette Lynn.; Posel, Dorrit Ruth.
International studies of part-time employment have shown that most part-time workers are women, and specifically married women (Rosenfeld and Birkelund 1995; Caputo and Cianni 2001). The ability to work part-time enables women who have household commitments, such as caring for children, to maintain an attachment to the labour force and to preserve job skills while also undertaking household labour (Long and Jones 1981; Rosenfeld and Birkelund 1995). In many countries, therefore, the growth in part-time employment has constituted an important component of the increase in women’s work. However, part-time jobs are often considered to be poorly remunerated, offering little or no security, limited opportunities for career advancement and few (if any) benefits (Rosenfeld and Birkelund 1995; Rodgers 2004; Hirsch 2005; Bardasi and Gornick 2008). Although empirical research on South Africa’s labour markets has expanded significantly over the post-apartheid period, particularly with the introduction of nationally representative household surveys that capture individual employment data, little is known about the characteristics of South African part-time workers, or about the nature of the work these individuals perform. Using data from a selection of South Africa’s nationally representative household surveys, namely the October Household Surveys, the Labour Force Surveys and the Labour Force Survey Panel, this thesis aims to redress this lacuna. The thesis comprises four empirical chapters. The first chapter outlines the definition of part-time employment adopted throughout the study, and it presents gendered trends in part-time employment in South Africa from 1995 to 2006. The descriptive analysis shows that most part-time workers in South Africa are women, and further, that the growth in female part-time employment has been an important part of the feminisation of the labour force in South Africa. The second chapter compares part-time and full-time wage (salaried) employment. The main analytical question addressed in this chapter is whether women are penalised for working part-time. Although hourly wages in part-time employment are, on average, lower than in full-time employment, the study demonstrates that after controlling for differences in observable and unobservable characteristics, women in part-time employment receive a wage premium. The third chapter explores heterogeneity among part-time wage workers, distinguishing between women who choose to work part-time and women who report wanting to work longer hours. Key findings of this chapter are that a wage premium persists for women both in voluntary and in involuntary part-time work; but that involuntary part-time workers have a stronger labour force attachment than voluntary part-time workers. The fourth chapter uses the distinction between part-time and full-time employment to investigate changes in the gender wage gap in employment. The results show that the total gender gap in wages among part-time and full-time workers has fallen over the years, with the greatest reduction visible for those working part-time. The final chapter summarises the main findings of the thesis and it outlines avenues for further research on part-time employment in South Africa.
Building human security in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
(2010) Mugisa, John Mwesigwa.; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas.
Armed conflict in Ituri since 1996 to the present day has resulted in the widespread and severe violation of human rights that include massive killings, rape, torture, mutilation and property destruction that has infringed peace and security in the province. Many studies on Ituri armed conflict point out land, minerals and identity as underlying causes of this social breakdown that lead to continued insecurity in Ituri. While acknowledging that there are many things that threaten the lives of individuals in times of war, this study focuses exclusively on the perceptions of the people from Ituri about the meaning and threats to peace and security as well as building human security in the province. To investigate these perceptions, I use the concept of human security which is a new way of thinking about peace and security. Although, this concept has a broad meaning, I mostly focus on its components that promote the protection of civilians against severe and widespread threats and as a people-centred approach, it advocates for the responsibility to protect civilians by their governments and the international community while the latter is given the full mandate by the UN, through its Security Council to intervene in countries whereby, governments are the perpetrators of violence on its own civilians or whereby governments are unable to contain violence perpetrated by warring fractions on innocent civilians and causing the displacement of millions from their home. I used a qualitative approach that sought to obtain as many as possible the views of participants which in turn were described thoroughfully so as to obtain patterns and themes that explain exactly what participants think is the meaning of peace and security and what could be the possible threats that make them feel insecure. To reach my goal, I used participant observation, focus group and semi-structured interview methods. 105 participants were selected randomly to participate in the research, that is, 94 in focus groups and 11 in semi-structured interviews. An additional 31 participants were also interviewed in Johannesburg to validate the data collected previously. Content analysis was used to analyse data. The study finds that there are various meanings to security and that threats to peace and security depend on the kind of meanings that people from Ituri perceive to be the meaning of security. The meaning of security depends on the context in which people live. Both victims and perpetrators ‘should’ work towards the achievement of peace and security. From the findings, it was concluded that the international community should not play both arsonist and fireman roles, rather engaging honestly and sincerely in building peace and security in the province of Ituri. This may lead to sustainable peace and security in the province.
The role of narrative in healing in Rwanda.
(2010) Wielenga, Corianne.; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas.
In 1994, almost a million Tutsi and some Hutu were massacred in Rwanda during the 100 day genocide. Between 1995 and 1998, nearly the same number of Hutu and some Tutsi died, while in flight, primarily in the former Zaire. In the years following genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans have been accused of genocide related crimes. There is not a person in Rwanda who is not directly affected by past violence and the country is in a process of healing and reconciliation. Much of the violence in Rwanda can be traced to perceptions of history and identity. This thesis seeks to unearth narratives of history and identity as a way of exploring possibilities for healing and reconciliation. Through an in-depth examination of four life stories, interviews with leaders in the field of reconciliation in Rwanda and informal interviews with a broad spectrum of Rwandans, this research sheds light on the challenges and opportunities in terms of healing. It finds that through critical engagement with our own and broader socio-political narratives we can expand the possibilities of our own narratives, allowing scope for personal healing as well as leading to a deeper understanding of the other. This can form the basis for sustainable reconciliation.
The economic impact of adult mortality and morbidity on smallholder farm households in Malawi.
(2011) Simwaka, Kisukyabo.; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas.; Ferrer, Stuart Richard Douglas.
This thesis comprises three essays on “The Economic impact of adult mortality and morbidity on smallholder farm households in Malawi.” The first essay estimates the levels of technical efficiency of AIDS-affected and non-affected smallholder farm households, and examines the technical efficiency differentials. The study uses time-varying and timeinvariant inefficiency models of production. The results show that among both female and male headed households, for both affected and non-affected households, fertilizer and seeds are the only variables that contribute significantly towards technical efficiency. The mean efficiency levels of affected and non-affected households are statistically not different. The second essay examines the maize production differentials between AIDS-affected and nonaffected farm households using the difference in difference estimation method. The results show that, for both affected and non-affected households, the mean maize production levels are higher during 2006/07 compared to 2004/05 However, the difference between the mean maize production levels of affected and non-affected households over the 2004/05 and 2006/07 period is not statistically significant. The third essay examines the coping strategies used by households facing food security problems. The results from the multinomial logistic model show that during 2004/05 and 2006/07, the most dominant coping strategy used by both AIDS-affected and non-affected households facing food security problems, is buying food from market. This is followed by casual labour, obtaining food from relatives and friends, eating unripe maize before harvest, and irrigation farming. The results from logistic discriminant analysis function indicate that, for all households, ordinary coping strategies are dominant among food-insecure households with a total score of close to 80 percent, much higher than survival strategies at around 20 percent during 2004/05.
Performance of students in the College of Law and Management Studies, UKZN : an econometric analysis.
(2011) Bokana, Koye Gerry.; Tewari, Devi Datt.
South Africa needs more higher education graduates with the capability to adapt to and function in a knowledge-driven and knowledge-dependent economy and society. High dropout and failure rates, as well as the slow progression of students, have revealed themselves as complex, persistent and seemingly intractable crises. These hindrances are fuelling student attrition, poor graduation, or low throughput rates in South African universities, and constitute a wastage of much needed potential skills for the South African economy. While on average less than 15 percent of a cohort of school leavers get into higher educational institutions, less than 50 percent graduate. Moreover, if high dropout and failure rates or the slow progression of students affect students from previously disadvantaged population groups in South African universities, this may result in further racial and socio-economic disparity in future generations. To identify determinants of students’ academic performance in the College of Law and Management Studies at UKZN, this study conducted focus groups, correlations sweep, and fits the students’ records data in two different educational production functions applying two econometric approaches, namely, Ordinary Least Squares and Logistic Regression models. Arising from focus group discussions, a consolidation of results indicated that unpreparedness that lead to exclusion on academic grounds, and financial difficulties were not wholly to blame. Other reasons including feeder high schools, life events, and the youth’s sundry needs were considerable stumbling blocks on the graduation path of students. An amalgam of perceptions on ways to address the quality of teaching and learning, services and support systems to students, academic staff members’ development, curriculum development, admission policy and placement of students in appropriate curricular routes as well as the most effective use of resources across the College of Law and Management Studies was reported. Results of correlations sweep showed some positive correlations between students’ performance at university and their matric scores. Results of Ordinary Least Squares and Logistic Regression analyses confirmed that important predictors of students’ academic performance are total matric points, matric Maths score, English I score, and English as home first language. In some extent, non-designated matric subjects scores that include matric Accounting score and matric Economics score play some role. This study, however, cautions that all the predictors identified play only a minor role since they predict only a very small proportion of the entire variance in students’ academic performance. This is evident from some of the pseudo-R2 and R2, which were low ranging from 2 to 65 percent pointing out low explanatory power. Conclusions emanating from these analyses are that these determinants of students’ academic performance are not straightforward measures of student quality, as they are the sum of complex and multifaceted process. Other personal and student demographic variables such as age and race play some role in predicting university success. Exogenous factors such as the institutional environment, intellectual leadership, a proper learning infrastructure and environment at the university, socio-economic characteristics, and psychological attitudes may also play an important role in predicting students’ performance, demanding further investigation. Some policy implications of the results are that: (1) hypotheses focusing their educational policy-making process and strategic planning for admission, retention and graduation rates based solely on student characteristics are challenged. Instead, an integrated holistic approach run parallel to appropriately targeted educational investments to enhance student success in the College is imperative making the prediction of students’ performance a far more complex and multifaceted process; (2) admission eligibility should consider additional mechanisms in the selection of candidates and their placement into appropriate curricular routes where they are more likely to be successful. This will go a long way in reversing the trends of student attrition and slow progression by keeping them on the graduation path and ultimately increasing the pass rates, graduation, and throughput rates in the College. These implications should be explored and integrated into the educational policy-making process and strategic planning.
Building more peaceful gender relationships in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.
(2012) Mulumeoderhwa, Maroyi Willy.; Harris, Geoffrey Thomas.
The objective of this study is to understand the attitudes and behaviour of young South Kivu men towards women in order to encourage the development of more peaceful attitudes and behaviour. This study provides insights from an urban and rural young male perspective into attitudes, behaviour, and context within which violence against women occurs. The study also included urban and rural young females to understand their perspectives and experiences on male – perpetrated violence within relationships. This study examines men‟s and women‟s gender roles and relationship norms, attitudes and beliefs in the context of ongoing relationships and marriage. While investigating the culture of sexual violence, it is shown that the construction of young people‟s attitude and behaviour is certainly influenced by social, cultural, political and economic factors and these factors have also implications for the ways in which heterosexual relationships are constructed and narrated. A curriculum is developed, based on the study‟s findings for use in secondary schools.

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