Academics and financial media are divided on whether the size of assets under management (AUM) influences returns. In an attempt to seek clarity in the local context, this study investigates the effect of the size of assets under management on alpha in South African equity mutual funds over the three-year period to 31 December 2015. The study is based on secondary quantitative data reported on the Bloomberg Professional service database that includes mutual fund and benchmark indices, unit prices and fund asset sizes. The research sample comprises 69 South African equity mutual funds that existed for the three-year period under review. In this study, the relationship between AUM size and alpha is examined using the cross-sectional regression approach. No evidence of a linear relationship between AUM size and alpha was observed in the analysis based on the sample data. This finding is consistent with the semi-strong form efficient market hypothesis that securities reflect publicly available information. This finding implies that the exponential growth in AUM experienced in South Africa over the past two decades has neither enhanced nor come at the cost of returns. There does not seem to be a size effect that new investors and fund managers should be aware of.

This paper examines the predictive power of two Japanese Candlestick patterns for a 49-stock sample of small capitalization stocks drawn from the S&P 600 for the period 1 June 2005 to 15 May 2015. Using the normal approximation to the binomial for statistical testing and a dynamic holding period strategy to test the threeoutside- up and three-outside-down patterns, this study contradicts earlier works that used dynamic holding period strategies for large capitalization stocks and showed moderate levels of statistically significant predictive power. This study finds no statistically significant evidence of the predictive power of the three-outside-up and three-outside- down patterns for the sample and time period considered. Hence, the findings imply that there is no evidence to challenge the Efficient Market Hypothesis.

Electricity subsidies in Uganda have been pervasive in support of industrial output and government revenues since 2005, until their reduction in January 2012. While economic theory suggests that market mechanisms maximise social welfare, the necessity for subsidies arises when a markets fail. However, market failure alone is not a sufficient condition to provide subsidies, as they are costly, and therefore have to be properly targeted and justified. This research seeks to establish the relationship between electricity subsidies, on the one hand and industrial output and government revenues in Uganda. It also attempts to ascertain the equitability of the electricity subsidy policy. Information and data was gathered from secondary sources in Uganda on electricity subsidies, industrial output and revenues during the period 2005 to 2012. For an empirical investigation of the costs and benefits of electricity subsidies in Uganda, certain logical relationships are identified in the study to guide the empirical investigation and the analyses. It is assumed that government revenues were dependent on electricity subsidies and industrial output during the period under investigation, in order to maintain social welfare. It was also argued that the maintenance of industrial output through electricity subsidies support was justified given that about one third of Uganda total revenues are contributed by the manufacturing sub-sector. To ascertain the extent of vertical equity, the research also investigated the benefit incident of electricity subsides, from a macro-level standpoint. This is pertinent given that only 11 per cent of Ugandans have access to grid-power and electricity use favours higher income, urban end-users. Secondary data on excise and corporate tax collections and electricity subsidies provided to end-users in Uganda during period are statistically analysed for relational effects using Ordinary Least Square regression models. The respective estimators in the relationship reveal very strong relationships between excise and corporate tax revenues, on the one hand, and electricity subsidies. Electricity subsidies were found to be positively related to both excise and corporate tax revenues and industrial output during the period under study. From the evidence, the overall objective of the electricity subsidy policy seems to have been attained, in as far as revenues base was protected and industrial output was maintained. The evidence also reveals that at a macro-level, end-user beneficiaries of subsidies in the manufacturing sub-sector continued to make profits, enabling them meet their corporate tax obligations.

Although considerable attention has been given to the prospects for developing small, medium and micro-enterprises, and more specifically local content, very little relevant research has been undertaken in South Africa's upstream oil and gas industry with specific reference to an offshore supply base. In this research report, findings have been presented from 15 detailed interviews conducted with Transnational Corporations, local SMEs, government departments, industry associations, small business support organisations, and international respondents involved in supplier development programmes within the Oil & Gas sector. The aim of the research was to investigate the difficulties that confront local small businesses, and examine opportunities for outsourcing services to SMEs and encouraging development of business linkages in South Africa's upstream oil and gas industry. The South African research has been conducted within the context of existing international research on upstream oil and gas supplier development, and small enterprise development in developing countries.

The purpose of this research is to examine the potential influence crowdfunding could have on the early-stage financing ecosystem in South Africa. Particularly, how it could affect entrepreneurial deal flow as well as inform the venture capital decision-making process. The primary aim of this research is to explore the due diligence practices and perceptions of venture capital fund managers, angel investors and entrepreneurs to ascertain the extent to which crowdfunding can be incorporated into the South African entrepreneurial ecosystem and inform the investment process. The researcher, therefore, intends that this research enhance venture capital investment decision-making capabilities while adding to the existing body of knowledge on early-stage investing. Ultimately, it is hoped that the results of this in-depth study will accelerate the development of the venture capital industry in South Africa and unlock early-stage seed capital whilst promoting entrepreneurial activity and possibly providing insight and guidance to entrepreneurs faced with the challenging task of accessing financing. The researcher anticipates that the finding of this research will likely be of interest to players in the VC and early-stage new venture financing industry, including fund managers, investors, entrepreneurs and crowdfunding providers. The findings might impact the investment process, which has direct implications for capital providers, fund managers and fund seekers. Furthermore, this research might be of interest to researchers and those in academia concerned with this field, who might then conduct similar studies or decide to expand the research in new directions. By investigating crowdfunding's potential within the VC investment decision-making process, it is anticipated that the findings might be fed back into the marketplace and inform future VC investments in South Africa.

Social entrepreneurship is a rising field, gaining momentum and recognition. With the impact it is already having plus its substantial scope for further growth and influence, it is important to understand the dynamics that drive and affect it as well as the ecosystem it sits within. At present, there is very limited research available on social entrepreneurship in a developing country setting and even less on its application within the health sector. Hence, the purpose of this study is to understand the objectives, operations, and challenges of social enterprises in Kenya, with a specific focus on the health sector. As an exploratory study, an open, grounded theory, qualitative approach was adopted to allow the generation of insight into this little understood context. This research presents a set of emerging themes and propositions that answers the primary research question: What drives and affects innovation among social enterprises in Kenya's health sector? Ultimately it provides a theoretical framework that addresses the core concern of establishing a social enterprise that has impact in a developing country's health sector. The themes that emerged from the data throughout the study support the following main conclusions: 1) The character, perspective and experience of the social entrepreneur(s) in combination with the identified needs (opportunities) drive innovation in Kenya's health sector and 2) Challenges, enablers and environmental influencers (infrastructure, regulatory/ political, support and operational) affect the operation and innovation of social enterprises in Kenya's health sector.

The Land Bank's retail emerging markets (REM) funding model was established in 2011. The main objective of the following study was to investigate whether the collaborations between agricultural industry players involved in the funding model, had been beneficial towards supporting the growth of black emerging farmers. The two funding approaches taken being, direct lending to individual farmers and the wholesale financing facility aimed at farmer groups, are explored in detail. The method of analysis adopted was mixed, comprising of a qualitative and quantitative approach. The quantitative approach was directed at the entire REM loan book, to obtain a view of the growth of the book over time; the performance of the loans and the level of non-performing loans within the book. The results thereof would be of interest given that emerging farmers were perceived to be of a high risk. The qualitative approach delved deeper into the relationship between the Land Bank and intermediaries which were tasked to provide end-to-end business support to the emerging farmers. The expected results would include an observation of the development and social impact, including skills development for the emerging farmers. The questionnaire completed by a sample of black emerging farmers, working with intermediaries revealed a few positive factors. The emerging farmers not only received technical support, but also developed a range of skills which are suited to operating a successful farm and running a profitable business. Although affected by the drought, the farmers were able to generate a profit and also create employment in their communities, thereby making a contribution towards a social impact, through their development. However the farmers also spoke out about the challenges they still encountered in the industry. The quantitative analysis displayed that the portion of the REM loan book which consisted of non-performing loans was a small percentage, relative to the performance of the entire loan book. Furthermore, the REM loan book had increased sizeably since its inception, reaching out to a wider scope of emerging farmers. Overall, the Land Bank's REM funding model was a success.

This study examines the empirical relationship between monthly spot copper price movements and monthly Zambian Kwacha / US Dollar spot exchange rates, for the period January 2005 to February 2015. The ARDL bounds short-run estimate reveals there is both positive and negative coefficient interaction of copper price movements on the exchange rates in the short-run. However, the overall impact of copper prices on the exchange rate, is not significant in the short-run. The ARDL bounds test also confirms the presence of a long-run relationship between copper prices and the exchange rate. The coefficient estimates reveal that both the consumer price index and the terms-of-trade have a statistical weak impact on the exchange rate in both the short and long run. The study finds that Zambia's GDP has a negative impact on the exchange rate in the short-run, but has a statistically significant positive long-run effect. China's GDP, is used as a proxy to capture foreign demand for copper, it has both a positive and negative interaction on the exchange rate in the short-run and a negative effect in the long-run.

Foreign aid inflows have grown significantly in the post-war period. Many studies have tried to assess the effectiveness of aid. The role of foreign aid in promoting economic growth has been the subject of much debate among development specialists, researchers, aid donors as well as recipients in general and South Africa in particular. In spite of this, there are only few empirical studies that investigate the relationship between foreign aid and economic growth in South Africa. This study assesses whether there is any existent relationship between foreign aid and economic growth in South Africa using descriptive statistics for data that spans from 1994 to 2010. The result supports the view that there is strong, positive and significant relationship between foreign aid and economic growth in South Africa. This implies that foreign aid contributes to economic growth in South Africa.

Capital budgeting and spending in emerging countries remains a major challenge facing government. The Minister of Finance (South Africa) in 2011 and 2012 (Gordhan 2011 and 2012) has emphasised on the need to focus more on infrastructure spending and efficient use of financial resource allocations. The National Development Plan 2030, tabled by the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning Commission, emphasised on the critical role of the infrastructure to realise the country's economic growth. The SA Minister of Finance of has repeatedly mentioned that South Africa has enough financial resources but the challenge is on effective and efficient spending of the budget. This study evaluates spending capacity on infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal which has emerged as a major challenge for the South African government. The bulk of the SA budget is allocated to the Department of Education and Health hence this study has focused on these two departments in delivering infrastructure. The study will broadly address factors and evaluate how capacity and planning have contributed to under-expenditure. The data to support this study will be extracted from the budget allocated in KwaZulu-Natal and expenditure levels of the province for the seven year period starting from 2004/05 financial year to 2010/11. The study concludes by proposing possible ways to improve planning capacity and ensure efficient and alignment in spending by different government departments.