This paper investigates the effect of bond market on economic growth in South Africa. Quarterly data for South Africa for the period 2003-2014 was used to develop a general- to- specific Auto-Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) approach. The empirical results confirm that there is a positive relationship between Bond market and economic growth in South Africa. A co-integrated relationship between economic growth, stock market and banking sector was noticed in both the long-run and short-runs.

Study project (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The bond market is an important economic element of both developed and developing economies. The after effects of the Asian crises have prompted arguments that the existence of well-functioning domestic bond markets would have helped to mitigate the impact of shocks in the financial systems of the emerging markets both by providing an alternative source of funding to bank lending and by exposing investors rather than taxpayers to negative shocks. Comparative analyses of various emerging markets were done by using data from the IMF, IFC and various publications. Data from the developed nations, in particular the United States were used as a source of reference because corporate bond market has been used successfully in these markets. Given the limited sources of reference locally, data was sourced mainly from the Bond Exchange of South Africa publications, financial magazines and newspapers, workshop presentations and comments from various bankers, economists and fixed-income analysts. The report starts by looking at the size and growth of the market in comparison with its counterparts in the emerging markets. The reasons, facts, figures and arguments for such growth are thoroughly discussed. This study presents comprehensive macro-economic arguments on the development of the corporate bond market and the benefits they offer to corporates as an alternative source of long-term capital debt funding. The quantitative and qualitative model that assists corporates with the decision making process of whether to issue a bond to fund the capital structure is discussed. The study undertook a quantitative survey of the elements of corporate bond market in terms of coupon rates, bond pricing, risks (namely, credit rating risk and default risk) and the performance of the market, in particular the marketability, liquidity and returns. The investment strategy in the riskier part of the bond market is introduced and discussed, though limited in terms of development. The report concludes by mentioning the successes of the bond market by identifying the existing gaps in the market and the future development of the corporate bond market in South Africa, especially to attract more issuers to the net. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die lang termyn effekte mark, is "n belangrike finansierings element van beide die ontwikkelde en die ontwikkelende ekonomië. Die Asiese krises het as nagevolg gehad dat daar gefokus kon word op die moontlik versagtende invloed van "n goed gedefinieerde funksionele binnelandse effekte mark. Dit kon van die nagevolge versag het deur die daarstelling van "n alternatiewe finansierings bron en die daaropvolgende blootstelling van beleggers in die plek van die belastingbetalers. Vergelykende ontledings van verskeie ontwikkelende mark ekonomië is gedoen deur gebruikmaking van inligting verskaf deur die I.M.F. en I.F.K. asook ander publikasies. Inligting oor ontwikkelde lande in besonder die V.S.A. is gebruik as vergelykende anelise omdat die lang termyn effekte mark suksesvol bedryf word in hierdie markte. Weens die gebrekkige beskikbaarheid van binnelandse bronne i sinligting meestal vanaf die publikasies van die Lang Termyn Effekte beurs van Suid Afrika, finansiële tydskrifte, koerant publikasies, werkswinkel voorleggings asook gespekke met bankiers, ekonome en vaste koers beleggings ontleders verkry. Hierdie studie stuk, vergelyk in die eerste deel die omvang en groei van die mark in vergelyking met ander markte in ontwikkelende lande. Die verskeie groei veranderlikes asook redes en feite rakende groei word in diepte bespreek. Vergelykende makro ekonomiese bewyse vir die ontwikkeling en vestiging van "n lang termyn effekte mark, en die voordele daarvan vir Maatskappye as "n alternatiewe bron van kapitaal word in hierdie studie aangebied. Die kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe model vir gebruik deur Maatskappye om tot besluitneming te kom rakende die gebruik van effekte om kapitaal benodighede te befonds word ook bespreek. Die studie het ook "n kwantitatiewe opname ingesluit rakende die verskeie elemente van d ie effekte mark en 0 nder a ndere is daar nad ie koepon koerse, effekte prys bepaling, risiko (naamlik krediet en dishonorering), mark tendense en opbrengste, met besondere verwysing na bemarkbaarheid, likwiditeit en opbrengs. Beleggings strategie in die meer riskante deel van die lang termyn effekte mark word ook bespreek, maar dit is beperk weens die beperkte ontwikkeling daarvan. Afsluitend word verwys na verskeie sukses faktore in die effekte mark deur die indentifisering van bestaande gapings, en die toekomstige ontwikkeling van hierdie spesifieke mark in Suid Afrika. Die doelstelling om meer toetreders na die mark te lok as deelnemers deur die uitgifte van lang termyn effekte word ook benadruk.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2016 / Corporate bonds issued by the four major commercial banks in South Africa, which account for 61% of the market, and their respective earning announcements in the period 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014 were used to analyse the reaction of daily corporate bond prices to the earnings announcements of South African companies. The reaction of the daily corporate bond prices to earnings announcements was empirically analysed using cross sectional regressions. We concluded that on average the South African corporate bond market incorporates any new information from earnings announcements. We also investigated if the asymmetrical payoff structure of corporate bonds causes daily prices to be more sensitive to bad earnings announcements than good earnings announcements. Our investigation found that daily corporate bond prices are insensitive to both bad and good earnings announcements. Lastly, we analysed if the lack of infrastructure and liquidity in the corporate bond market hinders corporate bonds in incorporating information relative to the stock market, which has better infrastructure and liquidity. We observed that both corporate bonds and stocks on average incorporate new information from earnings announcements, irrespective of illiquidity and the absence of adequate infrastructure in the South African corporate bond market, / DM2016

The access to adequate housing is a constitutional right, in terms of Section 26 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. Access to housing in South Africa is still an ideal and not a reality. The increase in housing prices reduces affordability, which creates a barrier to the housing market for South Africans to fully participate. The South African housing market is divided, based on the affordability of households, with a gap within the property market. The gap-housing market is a market, which does not receive a government subsidy; and furthermore, it does not qualify for bond finance by the private financial institutions. The gap-housing market includes households that earn between R3,500 to R15,000 per month for residential properties valued between R116,703 to R483,481. The problem is a lack of supply in the gap-housing market to meet the demand; and this is also affected by the poor performance of the subsidy-housing market. The gap-housing market is not traded adequately, due to a lack of supply caused by stricter lending criteria from the banks. The study was conducted by means of reviewing the related literature and by an empirical study. A survey was conducted using the quantitative approach through a distribution of research questionnaires to different organizations within the judgement sample population. The objective of the study is to review the gap-housing market and to make recommendations. The descriptive survey was conducted among specialists that are participating in the South African housing market. The findings of the study suggest that there is a relationship between incentive and participation, as well as a relationship between participation – with access, supply and trading in the gap-housing market. This study will contribute to the South African housing market body of knowledge – by addressing the problem of a gap within the housing market.

This study looks at the development of bond markets in emerging economies and focuses on the development of the Bond Exchange of South Africa (BESA). It explores the history, structure, performance and key issues related to the development of this market within the broader context of domestic, regional and global bond market development. BESA's experience provides valuable lessons for other emerging market economies also seeking to build bond markets. The sophistication of the local bond market is not enough to make it appealing to foreign borrowers. Market development demands an enabling market infrastructure and a background of macroeconomic stability, diversified market participants, deregulation of capital flows and an appropriate regulatory and supervisory environment.

International bond market linkages are examined using monthly bond yield data and total return indices on government bonds with ten years to maturity. The bond yield data covers a nineteen-year period from January 1990 to July 2008, while the bond total return index data covers a nine-year period from August 2000 to July 2008. The international bond markets included in the study are Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The examination of international bond market linkages across these markets has important implications for the formulation of effective portfolio diversification strategies. The empirical analysis is carried out in three phases: the preliminary analysis, the principal component analysis (PCA), and the cointegration analysis. For each analysis and for each set of data the full sample period is first analysed and subsequently a five-year rolling window approach is implemented. Accordingly, this makes it possible to capture the time-varying nature of international bond market linkages. The preliminary analysis examines the bond market trends over the sample period, provides descriptive statistics, and reports the correlation coefficients between the selected bond markets. The PCA investigates the interrelationships among the bond markets according to their common sources of movement and identifies which markets tend to move together. The cointegration analysis is carried out using the Johansen cointegration procedure and investigates whether there is long-run comovement between South Africa and the selected bond markets. Where cointegration is found, Vector Error-Correction Models (VECMs) are estimated in order to examine the long-run equilibrium relationships in addition to their short-run adjustments over time. The empirical analysis results were robust, and overall integration between SA and the selected major bond markets remained weak and sporadic. In addition, the results showed that even after accounting for exchange rate differentials, international bond market diversification remained beneficial for a South African investor; and since international bond market linkages remained weak with no observable trend, international bond market diversification will remain beneficial for some time to come for a South African investor.

The volatility transmission in financial markets has important implications for investment decision making, portfolio diversification and overall macroeconomic stability. This paper analyses volatility transmission across four South African financial markets that is the stock, bond, money and foreign exchange markets, using daily data for the period 2000-2010. It also shows whether the volatilities in the SA financial markets present a different behaviour in bull and bear market phases. The effects of the international markets volatility to the local markets volatility was also looked at in this study. To obtain estimates of market volatility, the study experimented with various volatility models that include the GARCH, EGARCH and TARCH. To examine volatility interaction and the transmission of volatility shocks, a VAR model was estimated together with block exogeneity, impulse response and variance decomposition. The study found that there is limited volatility transmission across the SA financial markets. The study also found that the money market is the most exogenous of all markets since the other three financial markets volatility is insignificant to the money market (see impulse response results). For the bond market, volatility transmission was characterized with a decreasing trend. With regard to international markets volatility, it concluded that, the shocks in the international markets will eventually affect the movement in the local markets. The results also highlighted that, world and local markets are important in accelerating the volatility transmission in SA financial markets depending on whether they are in their bull or bear phases. In the case of South Africa, the study found that volatility transmission across markets is higher during bear market periods than bull market periods. Basing on the study results which show that the volatility transmission is limited across SA financial markets, the implication to local and international investors is that there is a greater potential for diversifying risk by investing in different South African financial markets.

In South Africa, over-the-counter (OTC) bond options may be used in order to either hedge or speculate. However, since 2001, this market deteriorated significantly. The current research assessed the role of the local bond option market, reasons for the deterioration of the South African OTC bond option market, and how this bond option market could possibly be restored as a primary hedging instrument. The opinions of individuals operating in this market were obtained using a questionnaire. In the opinion of the respondents, wide bid–offer spreads, regulatory interferences and poor participation within this market caused market deterioration. The market could be restored as a hedging instrument if effective market integration exists, interbank trading regularly takes place, liquidity was enhanced, transparency increased and investor knowledge improved. Future research could focus on regulatory transformation, the types of derivatives used for hedging, and an assessment of appropriate continuous professional development interventions for investors. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

In South Africa, over-the-counter (OTC) bond options may be used in order to either hedge or speculate. However, since 2001, this market deteriorated significantly. The current research assessed the role of the local bond option market, reasons for the deterioration of the South African OTC bond option market, and how this bond option market could possibly be restored as a primary hedging instrument. The opinions of individuals operating in this market were obtained using a questionnaire. In the opinion of the respondents, wide bid–offer spreads, regulatory interferences and poor participation within this market caused market deterioration. The market could be restored as a hedging instrument if effective market integration exists, interbank trading regularly takes place, liquidity was enhanced, transparency increased and investor knowledge improved. Future research could focus on regulatory transformation, the types of derivatives used for hedging, and an assessment of appropriate continuous professional development interventions for investors. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)