published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The relationships between types of wealth components and consumption expenditures were investigated as a means of better understanding retired elderly household well-being. Specifically, the concept of mental account was used to identify the characteristics of different types of wealth components, and four mental accounts were identified: flow of investment, current asset A, current asset B, and future income. Based on the traditional life-cycle hypothesis, the behavioral life-cycle hypothesis, and neo-classical demand theory, the consumption functions for the total and 17 subcategorical consumption expenditures were formulated. These consumption functions were formulated to study linkages between household portfolio behavior during the working years and household consumption behavior during retirement. A tobit linear regression model was utilized to estimate parameters in consumption functions. The data were drawn from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, Interview Survey, 1990. The flow of investment mental account includes Social Security benefits, pension benefits, and transfer payments from public programs. The current asset A includes balances in checking and savings accounts, and the current assets B includes balances in stocks and bonds. The future income includes market values of home equity and real estate. The findings supported that the total and subcategorical consumption expenditures are the most sensitive to changes in flow of investment and the least sensitive to changes in future income. Further, among retired elderly households, the four mental accounts differ in influence on subcategorical consumption expenditures. The flow of investment was positively related to food at home, food away from home, utilities, household operation, clothing, transportation, entertainment, personal care, and cash contributions. Current asset A was positively related to health care, reading and education, and alcoholic beverages, and negatively related to food at home. Current asset B was positively related to clothing, transportation, entertainment, reading and education, and alcoholic beverages. Future income was positively related to food at home, utilities, household operation, and personal care. The research findings may help public policy makers understand or predict consumption expenditures as wealth components change in retired elderly households. Further, the economic well-being of retired elderly households should be discussed in terms of different types of wealth components rather than in terms of total wealth. / Graduation date: 1995

The economic revolution which transformed England from a grower and exporter of raw wool, to a producer and purveyor of manufactured cloth, began and was in a large part accomplished during the fourteenth century. [...]

M.B.A. / This study aims to assess the economic growth and development approaches that have been used by South Africa and South Korea. With this in mind, a brief overview at the socio-economic history of each country is given and the various plans implemented by both countries are considered. In chapter one, a brief comparison between the histories of the two countries was made. The intent of this comparison is to highlight the disparities between two countries who were once economically on par. In chapter two, the different approaches to economic growth and development is discussed. The role of human capital and its effects on a countries economy is highlighted. The question of which approach to use is also considered. Should it be purely one approach or can it be a combination from the various models? Chapters three and four deals with the various programmes that have been implemented by South Korea and South Africa, respectively. The approach used and also the outcomes (where possible) are evaluated. In the South Korean situation the difficulties that have shaped the nation and the lingering effects that are still prevalent in its policies (budget allowance for defence and education) can be discerned. In the South African situation it is apparent that the government is also trying to deal with the lingering effects of apartheid. The true results of the programmes (RDP, GEAR) implemented thus far is not clear. The aim was to explore, by means of a literature review, what the economic growth experiences are of both South Africa and South Korea for their respective time periods under review, namely, from 1995 to 2003/4 and 1960 to 2003. the objectives of the study were, to explore the social and economic history of South Korea and of South Africa in order to determine, by means of comparison, policies and or strategies that South Africa might be able to use (if any) in order to establish and maintain economic growth.

According to the canons of conventional economic philosophy the process of economic interpretation should be value neutral and strictly fall within the bounds of normative science. This approach is concerned not with goal setting but only with the technical possibilities of alternative means of successful tactics in a given overall strategy. It is the author's thesis that such premises patently ignore the fundamental truths of development problems, and that there exists a genuine need to bridge the gap that demarcates theory from practicality and truth from illusion. To seek "development" implies a challenge to the "status quo" of menial existence and perpetual servitude to the inhospitable forces of ones own environment. This attitude is in itself a value judgement, and in underdeveloped societies it is more than a mere academic quibble. Accordingly, this paper not only implicitly assumes "development" to be a desirable goal but also that it is necessary, and the objective of this study of an underdeveloped community shall be to examine the theoretical relevance, or otherwise, of general and partial theories of underdevelopment against the quantitative and qualitative evidence of the course of events that have in the past, and are likely in the future, to influence the development of the "Rhodesian economy".

The present stage of the vast majority of the peoples of the third world is characterized as existing in various stages of underdevelopment. Beyond that, however, there does not appear to he any overriding consensus as to how they got there, or perhaps more importantl;/", what combination of policies are likely to obviate such conditions. Consequently, there has been a proliferation of theories and prescriptions that have resulted in varying degrees of success and failure, without succeeding in-any major way to alleviate the conditions of poverty and oppression. The major problem with such attempts is in their "all-or-nothing" approach'", characterized by the belief that specific changes are either all pervading in their effects or, on the other hand, are not significant enough to warrant any particular distinction. The purpose of this study is to show that such an approach is misleading, First of all, underdevelopment is seen as the result of a specific form of development that has as its basis the relationship of the advanced capitalist and the underdeveloped countries of the third world. Since this relationship is characterized by a host of interlocking arrangements it is necessary, to comprehend them in their totality, if the process is to be understood at all. It should be immediately recognized, however, that though specific changes may not effect the structural contingencies of the relationship, they sometimes are of such significance that they constitute an important change. Such an articulation of the problem has the decisive advantage of noting and recording the specific changes within this relationship while recognizing the all pervasive effects of its totality. The result of such an investigation led us to the following conclusions: (l) the recent change in the attitude of the advanced capitalist countries has resulted in greater flexibility in their dealings with the underdeveloped countries. Most important, in this respect, has been that the "enclave economies" have been largely relinquished. Multinational corporations, at the same time, have been willing and. even calling for local government participation in their activities. (2) Governments of the third world have demanded and subsequently appropriated greater control of the local economy through participation and even nationalization of key sectors. This, in addition, allowed for greater maneuverability on the so called "inter-imperialist battlefield", with the result that they can now appropriately be described as junior partners of the system. Thus", imperialism and development are not contradictory terms; it is simply that dependent underdevelopment is the new form of imperialist control. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Rural areas tied to natural resource-based economic activity are encountering difficulties in preparing for economic growth and development. An important problem facing local officials of such an area, Union County, Oregon, is the identification of county characteristics that may induce the expansion of local businesses and location of new plants. What are Union County's most important locational advantages and disadvantages? This thesis attempts to answer these and related questions through the use of a survey of Union County businessmen. During the summer months of 1975, interviews with 30 percent of all Union County businesses were conducted. The primary locational determinants for firms in all business sectors were found to be personal and market factors. With few exceptions all firms assigned the same importance to these and other location factors, regardless of type of firm, geographic location in Union County, respondent's role in the location decision, year the firm was founded, or future expansion plans. The industry types that would be expected to expand or locate in Union County are lumber and wood products, light industry (small manufacturing), general agriculture, tourism, and wholesale-retail trade. The policies and incentives available to Union County officials are limited due to the role of factors, such as personal preference and market demand, over which the county has little control. Maintenance and improvement of the existing county infrastructure and reevaluation of land use regulations as they affect business location, operation, and expansion offer the most potential for influencing firms to locate in an area that offers both pleasant surroundings and the opportunity to sustain economic growth. / Graduation date: 1977

<p>Safeguards are among the most controversial of all trade remedies, due to the fact that they are contrary to the general principles of international fair trade as articulated in the various ageements governing the relationship between Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Thus, deeloping countries, least developed countries (LDC), South Africa, and other Sub-Saharan African countries, are hard-pressed to deploy and consider safeguards as an option. This thesis rests upon two central interlinked propositions, in essence a two-pronged argument and overarching statement of policy. First, the legal constraints on safeguards, many of which evolve out of the strict Appellate Body decicions, are reasonable on legal and policy grounds even though such controlling measures are applied likewise to fairly-traded and not just to unfairly-traded merchandise. Secondly, developing countries like South Africa should properly be accorded special and differential treatment to apply safeguards.</p>

The overall objective of the research was to evaluate the achievements of reconciliation process in Bugesera district after the Rwandan 1994 genocide. Bugesera district lost over 62,000 Tutsi during genocide, being the most hit in the country. Today, the survivors and perpetrators are living together in the same district. The study is aimed at evaluating the impact of reconciliation mechanisms in place and how these mechanisms can be enhanced to get better results. The research was conducted in Bugesera district and qualitative research methods were adopted where by thirty respondents were interviewed; ten from the survivors , ten from released perpetrators of genocide, five district officials, three from NGOs and two church leaders. The research was based on both primary and secondary data, but primary data was used mostly. Most of the key concepts used in the research were explained in the literature review. From the research, it was revealed that efforts are in place to reconcile the survivors and perpetrators but people are still suspicious of one another. That a gap between survivors and perpetrators still exists, irrespective of government and patterns' efforts in bringing them together. The research suggested a number of recommendations, which would enhance reconciliation in the district. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2008.