Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / The general objective of the proposed research is to do a needs analysis for the tourism and hospitality industries of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. This will be followed by an alignment of these industries with the provisions of the General Agreement of Trade in Services, commonly known as GATS, so that a Tourism and Hospitality Services Charter may be moulded that may be used uniformly throughout SACU. The specific objectives of the research are: To analyze impact assessment reports and studies conducted on the Tourism and Hospitality Industries for all five SACU member states with the aim of harmonizing standards, costs and border procedures. To ecognize SACU member states' schedule of GATS Commitments, especially in the service sectors being investigated, by improving market access, and to recommend minimal infrastructural development levels to be attained for such sectors' support. To make recommendations to harness the challenges faced by the said industries into a working document. To calibrate a uniformity of trade standards in these sectors that shall be used by the SACU membership. To ensure that the template is flexible enough for SACU to easily adopt and use in ongoing bilateral negotiations, for example. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil

Magister Legum - LLM

Taxation and tax evasion is an observable fact that occurs in all societies. In South Africa, tax evasion is one of the most sinister forms of crime and millions of rands are sidetracked by tax criminals. Studies from various countries indicate that it is not unusual for about half of the possible tax revenues to remain uncollected. Tax evasion is not something that is restricted to poor third world countries, it is a global phenomenon that has been there from the time tax was invented and will in all likelihood be with us until the end of time. Tax evasion is an intricate and overall hidden behaviour, but it has significant social and economic consequences. Taking this into consideration almost anything could influence the taxpayer’s decision to evade tax or not. The decision to comply with tax laws or to evade tax depends on various internal and external factors with regard to the taxpayer and this may differ from person to person. This study discusses the various factors influencing the taxpayer’s decision to comply with tax legislation, and whether these factors differ or correlate in developed and developing countries. Firstly, the factors influencing tax evasion in the United States of America and Switzerland were determined, after which the factors influencing tax evasion in South Africa and Brazil were determined. Secondly, the factors in the developed countries were compared to those in developing countries. Lastly these comparisons were analysed and they determined whether there were any major differences between the factors influencing tax evasion in developed and developing countries. AFRIKAANS : Belasting en belastingontduiking is ‘n waarneembare feit wat in alle samelewings voorkom. Belastingontduiking is een van die mees ernstige vorme van misdaad in Suid-Afrika en miljoene rande word deur belastingontduikers gesteel. Studies vanuit verskillende lande dui daarop dat dit nie ongewoon is dat omtrent die helfte van die moontlike belasting- inkomste nie ingevorder word nie. Belastingontduiking is nie beperk tot arm derdewêreldlande nie, dit is 'n wêreldwye verskynsel, en was daar van die tyd dat belasting uitgevind is en sal in alle waarskynlikheid met ons wees tot aan die einde van tyd. Belastingontduiking is 'n ingewikkelde en grootliks verborge gedrag, maar dit het belangrike sosiale en ekonomiese gevolge. Met dit ingedagte kan byna enigiets die belastingbetaler se besluit beïnvloed om belasting te ontduik of nie. Die besluit om aan belastingwetgewing te voldoen of om belasting te ontduik hang af van verskeie interne en eksterne faktore met betrekking tot die belastingbetaler en verskil waarskynlik van persoon tot persoon. Hierdie studie bespreek die verskillende faktore wat die belastingbetaler se besluit om aan belastingwetgewing te voldoen beïnvloed, en of hierdie faktore verskil of korreleer tussen ontwikkelde en ontwikkelende lande. Eerstens was die doel van die studie om die faktore wat belastingontduiking in die Verenigde State van Amerika en Switserland beïnvloed te bepaal, gevolg deur die bepaling van die faktore wat belastingontduiking in Suid-Afrika en Brasilië beïnvloed. Tweedens is die faktore in ontwikkelde lande met dié in ontwikkelende lande vergelyk. Laastens is hierdie vergelykings ontleed om te bepaal of daar groot verskille is tussen die faktore wat belastingontduiking beïnvloed in ontwikkelde lande in vergelyking met ontwikkelende lande. Copyright 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Venter, JH 2011, Factors influencing tax evasion, MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03062012-153138 / > F12/4/149/gm / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

近年來，公部門或私部門多有土地價值評估之需要，現今土地交易課稅稅基與私部門投資抵押評估上，多未考量土地與建物個別因素應相互影響價值之因素，導致已開發土地價值評估產生偏誤，故如何合理自房地價格中分離已開發土地價值，是現行土地評價之重要課題。在房地價格分離之相關研究中，如何精準區分土地和建物價值影響因素為其關鍵的基石，而不同房地價格分離方法間差異，亦為本研究探討之議題。 本研究利用特徵價格模型分析方法，以臺北市區分所有建物之住宅交易案例為研究對象，建立複迴歸模型以分離房地價格。實證結果指出臺北市房地價格隨屋齡增加，呈現先遞減後遞增之變化，驗證高屋齡下土地再開發價值之存在，並發現各屋齡分層間土地移轉面積、管理維護對房地價格影響程度不同，藉以有效區分屋齡對土地與建物價值之影響；而現行實務上常見之土地抽取法，在分離房地價格上恐有高估已開發土地價值，以及放大價值漲幅與縮小價值跌幅之問題，顯示其建物成本價值評估過於僵固，將產生偏誤，使建物價值無法有效隨市場景氣變動。此外，透過分量迴歸模型檢驗，其結果顯示已開發土地價值與高屋齡效果間呈現正向關係，亦指價值愈高，其土地再開發價值影響愈顯著。最後，本研究統整相關實證結果，釐清現行房地價格分離上之問題，盼能改善與提升土地價值之評估能力與精準度。 / In recent years, land value assessments have been needed for different purpose. The current assessing of land transaction taxable base and mortgage demands does not consider the individual factors of lands and structures should affect the value of each other, resulting in the developed land value assessment has generated errors. Therefore, how to decompose housing price reasonably and analyze the developed land value is important for land value assessments. 　　This study establishes multiple regression model by selecting residential condominium sale data in Taipei City as sample, in order to decompose the housing price into developed land and structure value. The empirical results show that the reversion of housing price is due to the redevelopment value, and land area and level of maintenance have impact on housing price in different age variables. Besides, we also find that it has a positive relationship between developed land value and redevelopment value effect on price, and land extraction method probably has some problems in overestimation of developed land value, resulting in miscounting of land price fluctuation. According to the aforementioned, this study concludes with some issues of decomposition housing price for improving and enhancing the accuracy of land value assessments.

Research studies on portfolio diversification have tended to focus on developed markets and paid less attention to emerging markets. Traditionally, correlation analysis has been used to determine potential benefits from diversification but current studies have shifted focus from correlation analysis to exploring cointegration analysis and other forms of tests such as the Vector Error Correction Methodology. The research seeks to find if it is beneficial for a South African investor to diversify their portfolio of emerging market equities over a long-term period. Daily weighted share indices for the period of January 1996 to November 2008 were collected and analysed through the application of the Johansen cointegration technique and Vector Error Correction Methodology. Granger Causality tests were also performed to established whether one variable can be useful in forecasting another variable. The study found that there was at least one statistically significant long-run relationship between the emerging markets. After testing for unit roots for all the share indices and their first difference using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test (ADF), Philips-Perron and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt, and Shin (KPSS) unit root tests, similar conclusions were m~de. All the unit root tests and their levels could not be rejected for all the series. However, unit root tests on the first differences were rejected, meaning that all series are of order 1(1) - evidence of cointegration. Simply put, emerging markets tend not to drift apart over time. This suggests that emerging markets offer limited benefits to investors who are looking to add some risk to their portfolios. In addition, the study also found evidence of both unidirectional and bidirectional causality (Granger-Cause tests) between markets. This implies that the conditions for a particular market are exogenous of the other market. The study concludes that emerging markets are gradually adopting the same profile as developed markets.

Le rôle économique de l’État fait l’objet de nombreuses controverses autant dans le cadre théorique que du point de vue pratique. Les acteurs de ces controverses sont les objecteurs de l’efficacité de l’intervention publique depuis Smith à nos jours, les keynésiens et les économistes de la synthèse néo-classique. Divers thèmes allant du principe de la main invisible, de l’impôt, des anticipations, du fardeau de la dette, de l’effet d’éviction, de la production de biens publics sont questionnés à travers de tels débats. Le travail explique la ventilation des composantes des dépenses publiques et leurs conséquences suivant le développement (OCDE, BRICS et UEMOA). L’étude montre également que les effets des dépenses publiques et de leurs composantes sur l’activité économique sont différents suivant le niveau de revenu des pays. Enfin, ce travail de recherche suggère que la taille optimale des dépenses publiques et celle de leurs composantes sont une fonction croissante du niveau de développement à l’exception des dépenses militaires. / The economic role of the State has been the subject of much debate both from theoretical and the practical perspectives. The actors of these controversies include the objectors of the efficiency of the public intervention since Smith to the present days, Keynesians and economists of the synthesis. Topics ranging from principle of the invisible hand, tax, expectations, burden of the debt, crowding out effect, public sector production are treated through of such debates. The work explains the breakdown of public spending components and implications for countries at levels development (OECD, BRICS, and WAEMU). The study also indicated that the effects of the public spending and its components on the economic activity are different according countries’ stage of development. A lastly, research work suggests that the optimal size of the public spending and its components are an increasing function of the level of development with the exception of military expenditures.

Mobile technology has allowed the traditional boundaries that exist between formal learning and informal learning to blend. The purpose of this research is to understand and describe the use of established and new “support networks” and the process of knowledge acquisition and knowledge creation in a formal learning environment. Factors affecting the design, testing and ultimate feasibility of using mobile devices such as cell phones to enhance teaching and learning in well-resourced developed, and under-resourced developing schools are identified. Findings in this study point to the general acceptance of using mobile technology as a readily available vehicle, to provide access to contents and allow learners to contribute to the collective body of knowledge from their own perspective. Copyright 2007, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Batchelor, J 2007, Mobile information communication and technology use in secondary schools : a feasibility study, MEd dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09102007-161045 / > / Dissertation (MEd (Computer Integrated Education))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted