Thesis (M.A.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. 1976. / Typescript. Bibliography : leaves 125-130. Also available online.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-168). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 356-365).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79). Also available in print.

In order to be able to determine the contribution of the tourism sector to the KwaZulu-Natal economy, the study starts by reviewing some economic indicators that show the contribution of different economic sectors to GDP and to the economy in general. Where possible a comparison was made with other provinces and the RSA. These comparisons showed that the KwaZulu-Natal economy still has many problems, such as a relatively low gross geographical product per capita and a high unemployment rate (32,2 per cent). However, it has the potential to be the largest contributor to the GDP of the country despite the political problems that are still prevalent in some areas of the province, and also the fact that it has the largest population compared to other provinces. The manufacturing sector is the highest contributor to GDP and during 1988 to 1994 its average contribution was 30,3 per cent, followed by trade and government sectors with 16 per cent and 13,4 per cent respectively. The study reviewed the economic principles underlying the tourism industry, and also attempted to put the tourism industry into perspective with other economic sectors. This revealed that the tourism industry by its nature falls into the category of service industries and that it is governed by the same economic principles that govern any market namely, demand and supply forces. Most importantly however, is the realisation that this industry has a significant macroeconomic impact, for example, on inflation, employment, balance of payments and economic growth. The study has attempted to elicit the views of those involved in tourism activities and through the use of secondary sources examined the position of the South African tourism industry to that in the world and more importantly the relative position of the KwaZulu-Natal tourism industry. This data showed that there is a steady increase in the tourists inflow from 1985 to 199 5 (from 728 000 to 4.5 million) and also revealed their spending patterns. Based on this data, projections were made for 1998 to 2006, and these projections are in line with most of the economic analysts' speculations that there will be a steady increase of foreign tourist arrivals for the next five to ten years. Thus, the study has taken both a qualitative and a quantitative approach. It was also found that in order for the tourism industry to contribute successfully to the economic growth of the province, it has to be properly developed and managed, which means that there has to be a policy that will guide the actions of all the interest groups, and all the appropriate structures has to be put in place following market development principles. The roles of different institutions, whether government, private sector or non-governmental organisations have to be defined and co-ordinated towards the same goals, that is, to have a tourism industry that is economically viable and that benefits all the communities. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Economics / unrestricted

The essential characteristic of the future is uncertainty. A basic feature of the economy, and life in general, is that decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty-the future is unknowable. Having reliable guidelines or indicators that provide discipline and signposts to the future is required for the process of successful investing. Conditions are constantly changing, and there are no rewards for replaying the same old game over and over. To answer for this demand, continued from the previous studies (Choi, 1996; Choi et al., 1997a; Choi et al., 1997b; Choi et al., 1999), this study developed the restaurant industry business cycle models and examined financial practices of the high and low performing firms over the industry cycles. The U.S. restaurant industry demonstrated three cycles (peak to peak or trough to trough) for the period of 1970 through 1998. The restaurant industry peaked in 1973, 1979, and 1989. The industry troughed in 1970, 1974, 1980, and 1991. The mean duration of the restaurant industry cycles is 8 years (SD: 2) calculated by peak to peak and 6.5 years (SD: 2.08) calculated by trough to trough. Expansion takes an average of 6 years in the restaurant industry but declines sharply after it reaches the peak taking average 1.33 years. The restaurant industry experienced high growth (boom) every five years on average. The troughs of the growth cycles, contrasted to the peaks of the growth cycles, coincided with those of the restaurant industry business cycles in each case except one (1985). During that year a low growth phase interrupted industry business expansion but did not terminate it. Restaurant industry growth cycles, then, tend to be relatively symmetrical: since 1970 the average duration was about 2.25 years for both expansion (L-H) and contraction (H-L). In contrast, the restaurant industry business cycles in the same period show a strong asymmetry: the expansions lasted on the average 6 years; the contractions, 1.33 years. The expansions have varied in duration much more than the high growth phases have (the respective standard deviations are 2.58 and 0.95 years). This study supports the view that the cyclical fluctuations of the growth of the restaurant industry can be projected by measuring and analyzing series of economic indicators and each economic indicator has specific characteristics in terms of time lags, and thus can be classified into leading, coincident, and lagging indicators. This study formed a set of composite indices with twelve indicators classified in the leading category, six as coincident, and twenty as lagging. The high performing firms' financial practices regarding investment decisions measured by capital spending, and price earning ratio, and part of financing and dividend decisions measured by market value of common share outstanding are independent of the cyclical fluctuations of the industry cycles. But, their practices regarding dividend decisions measured by the earning per share, investment decision measured by cash flow per share, and financing decisions measured by asset value per share and long term debt level are dependent on the events (Expansion/Contractions) in the Restaurant Industry Cycles. Conclusively, high performers exercise their capital investment (reflected by capital spending) and equity management (reflected by common share outstanding and P/E ratio) independently while being less influenced by the industry swings. They exercise, however, their working capital management (reflected by cash flow per share), earning management (reflected by EPS), asset management, and long term debt management quite dependently while being more influenced by the industry swings. The financial practices exercised by the low performing firms are independent from the events in the industry cycle. Although some financial practices are related to the events in the industry cycle, the directions are opposite to the events in the industry cycle. Specifically, for all of the selected financial strategies except common share outstanding and long-term debt, the low performers practice them independently from the cyclical fluctuations of the industry cycles. Even for common share outstanding and long-term debt strategies, they practiced their strategies in opposite directions to the events (Expansion/Contractions) in the Restaurant Industry Cycles. It is expected that the above results can be used for improving investment performance through understanding the cyclical behavior of the economy and the restaurant industry. With that model, investors should be able to take part in the upswings while avoiding the cyclical downturns, and to structure a portfolio that keeps risk to a minimum. This should then presumably result in competitive investment decisions of firms, thereby improving the effectiveness of resource allocation. / Ph. D.

Residual value is defined as the price for which a used piece of equipment can be sold in the market at a particular time. It is an important element of the owning costs of equipment and needs to be estimated by equipment managers for making investment decisions. The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the residual value of selected groups of heavy construction equipment and to develop a mathematical model for its prediction. Auction sales data were collected from two online databases. Manufacturer publications and an online source provided size parameters and manufacturers suggested retail prices matching the auction records. Macroeconomic indicator values were collected from a variety of sources, including government agencies. The data were brought into the same electronic format and were matched by model name and calendar date, respectively. Data from auctions in the U.S. and in Canada were considered for this study. Equipment from four principal manufacturers of up to 15 years of age at the time of sale was included. A total of 35,542 entries were grouped into 11 different equipment types and 28 categories by size as measured by horse power, standard operating weight, or bucket volume. Equipment types considered were track and wheel excavators, wheel and track loaders, backhoe loaders, integrated toolcarriers, rigid frame and articulated trucks, track dozers, motor graders, and wheel tractor scrapers. Multiple linear regression analyses of the 28 datasets were carried out after outliers had been deleted. Explanatory variables for the regression model were age in years, the indicator variables manufacturer, condition rating, and geographic region, and selected macroeconomic indicators. The response variable was residual value percent, defined as auction price divided by manufacturers suggested retail price. Different first, second, and third-order polynomial models and exponential and logarithmic models of age were examined. A second-order polynomial was selected from these functional forms based on the adjusted coefficient of determination. Coefficients for the 28 models and related statistics were tabulated. A spreadsheet tool incorporating the final regression model and its coefficients was developed. It allows performing the residual value prediction in an interactive and intuitive manner. / Ph. D.

<p> This paper attempts to quantify disparate growth in Hamilton's Central Area. The spatial variation over time of three economic indicators was studied to do this. These indicators were property tax assessments, and multi-family and single-family property sales. The Central Area was divided into four geographic zones so that the indicator change could be associated with different parts of the Area. The results indicate that the northeastern sections of the Central Area experienced and are continuing to experience slower economic growth compared to the southwestern sections. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

No description available.

In this thesis, extensive research regarding the relationship between macroeconomic variables and the stock market is carried out. For this purpose the two largest stock markets in the world, namely the US and Japan, are chosen. As a proxy for the US stock market we use the S&P500 and for Japan the Nikkei225. Although there are many empirical investigations of the US stock market, Japan has lagged behind. Especially the severe boom and bust sequence in Japan is unique in the developed world in recent economic history and it is important to shed more light on the causes of this development. First, we investigate the long-run relationship between selected macroeconomic variables and the stock market in a cointegration framework. As expected, we can support existing findings in the US, whereas Japan does not follow the same relationships as the US. Further econometric analysis reveals a structural break in Japan in the early 1990s. Before that break, the long-run relationship is comparable to the US, whereas after the break this relationship breaks down. We believe that a liquidity trap in a deflationary environment might have caused the normal relationship to break down. Secondly, we increase the variable set and apply a non-linear estimation technique to investigate non-linear behaviour between macroeconomic variables and the stock market. We find the non-linear models to have better in and out of sample performance than the appropriate linear models. Thirdly, we test a particular non-linear model of noise traders that interact with arbitrage traders in the dividend yield for the US and Japanese stock market. A two-regime switching model is supported with an inner random or momentum regime and an outer mean reversion regime. Overall, we recommend investors and policymakers to be aware that a liquidity trap in a deflationary environment could also cause severe downturn in the US if appropriate measures are not implemented accordingly.