The economic boom in South Africa following the 1994 democratisation led to increased welfare of the citizens and their purchasing power. This further resulted in increase in electricity consumption. The electricity supply did not increase proportionally to the increase in electricity consumption leading to the 2008 shortage of electricity which nearly damaged the power generating circuit. The literature review has shown that electricity supply and consumption have a positive impact on economic growth. It further showed that employment enhances economic growth. Conversely, it showed that power outages negatively affect economic growth. The research serves to investigate the relationship between electricity supply and economic growth in South Africa and to examine the impact of power outages on economic growth. It also seeks to find the appropriate structure for electricity supply industry that will lead to increase in economic growth. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds approach was used to find the relationship between economic growth, electricity supply, power outages and employment using quarterly data from 2000 to 2012. The ARDL technique was chosen over the conventional models such as Johansen technique for the research because it uses a single reduced form of equation to examine the long run relationship of the variables as opposed to the conventional Johansen test that employs a system of equations. The ARDL technique is also suitable to use to test co-integration when a small sample data is used and does not require the underlying variables to be integrated of similar order. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) Granger causality was also employed in the study to establish the causality between economic growth and electricity supply. It was chosen for its ability to develop longer term forecasting, when dealing with an unconstrained model. The results from the ARDL bounds test showed that there is a long run relationship between economic growth, electricity supply, power outages and employment. Based on the causality tests, the findings showed a unidirectional causality flowing from electricity supply to economic growth. This implies that electricity supply affect economic growth in South Africa. The results further showed no causality flowing from economic growth to electricity supply which indicates that when economic growth is booming fewer funds are used for improvement of the electricity generation. Lastly, the results showed that power outages negatively affect economic growth in the long run. To sum up, electricity supply is an important factor for economic growth in South Africa. It is therefore necessary that South Africa must put in place measures aimed at stimulating electricity supply. One of the measures aimed at increasing output of electricity is to unbundle the electricity sector. This process involves allowing entry of the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Independent System Operator (ISO) and Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs). This will lead to increased supply of electricity and competitively lower prices of electricity. The study further recommends that renewable energy sources should be used to produce electricity instead of coal and nuclear fuels as they failed to produce enough electricity for the nation.

Property development, by its very nature is an element of the economy and can be regarded as a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that include the development of undeveloped land by constructing residential, commercial and industrial buildings, either for leasing or selling. Based on the aforesaid, property development therefore has direct, indirect and induced impacts on the economy. Economic impact refers to the effects, positive or negative, on the level of economic activity in a given area. Measuring economic impact requires a baseline assessment conducted before the activity (property development) occurs and a second, comparable assessment conducted after the activity (property development) occurs. By using the Input- Output Model methodology, various anticipated direct and indirect economic impacts can be quantified. These economic impacts are derived using an understanding of economic cause-effect relationships. The principle of cause-effect is that for any economic action, there can be a multitude of different economic reactions (effects). For the purposes of this treatise, the main cause/action is the implementation of the proposed Alphen Aan Den Rijn Retirement and Lifestyle Village development in Oudtshoorn. The result is a number of direct potential/probable effects, which also have a range of indirect potential/probable effects. Based on the findings of the Input-Output Model, it is clear that the implementation of Alphen will have significant positive socio-economic benefits, e.g. additional business sales, additional GGP and additional employment for the local and regional environment. To ensure that these positive impacts are maximised for the benefit of the overall economy of Oudtshoorn as well as the population of Oudtshoorn, management strategies and mechanisms pertaining to the following are suggested for incorporation into the development proposal: • Workplace Skills Plan; • Labour Contracts; • Service Carrying Capacity Management Plan; • Economic Sustainability; and • Social Sustainability.

It has been generally accepted within the developed and developing countries of the world that SMES contributes significantly to employment creation as the world population increases and that it also contributes to the economic growth of the areas they are situated in. Finance is the blood (life) of any business, for a business to be successful it needs steady successful access to funds and post financial support which leads to actualization of ideas, leads to investment and expansion, improves access to market amongst others. This is why the impact of development finance can never be over emphasized. The aims of the study are: To understand the extent to which small and medium businesses are supported through the availability of financial assistance in Matjabeng Municipality. To establish the survival rates of businesses that has been funded and or supported and whether they are or not sustainable. In achieving the aims and objectives of the research, the researcher looked at development funds both from the supply side and the demand side. The supply side which involved semi structured interviews with consultants of government parastatals (the FDC and DETEA) who are involved in financing Small Medium Enterprises in Matjhabeng municipality. The demand side involved administering of questionnaires to Entrepreneurs in the municipality who are registered with the Local Economic Department (LED), which led to the acceptance of the hypothesis of the research that development finance actually helps in the growth of small medium enterprises but in conjunction with post financial support such as bookkeeping, accounting, monitoring and evaluation. The researcher also discovered some findings amongst others which includes: The most effective ways entrepreneurs heard about funding in the municipality are through the media and word of mouth. Most of the entrepreneurs that received some type of funding are startups. More entrepreneurs that had access to funds also got some post financial business support. Financial assistance to entrepreneurs yielded improvements after respondents received financial assistance, the range of goods offered was improved and more jobs were created, entrepreneurs were able to obtain better business premises either by renting or buying and entrepreneurs had access to better equipment. Some of the recommendations of this study includes; The municipal government should help small and medium enterprises in the municipality by linking them to new markets. Effective monitoring and evaluation systems should be put in place by development funders and non-financial support services. Entrepreneurial skills development should be provided by the public and private agencies by organizing workshops for aspiring entrepreneurs in order to expose them to business opportunities that are sustainable and viable.

This study examines the relationship between state-wise development expenditures and observed levels of development under the umbrella of the Reserve Bank of India’s implicit guarantee of state bonds. By analyzing the correlation between certain variables outside of each state’s control and levels of development, this thesis aims to determine which Indian states outperform or underperform their predicted levels of development. Moreover, it will aim to identify patterns of development expenditure that led to outperformance or underperformance. States that underperform predicted levels of development while spending above the state-wise average on relevant development sectors can be said to have squandered development expenditures, while those that outperform predicted levels while spending below the state-wise mean likely spend more efficiently. Both of these observations have implications for the central bank’s implicit guarantee policy.

The dynamic dual sector model of this thesis is constructed in the notions of John C.H. Fei and Gustav Ranis as expressed in their book, Development of the Labor Surplus Economy.¹ The construction takes the form of three stages of balanced economic growth which are demarcated by the value of the agricultural marginal product of labor; stage one is concerned with the time period when this equals zero, stage two when it lies between zero and the real agricultural wage, and stage three, which is omitted, when it is equal to the real agricultural wage. The model shows that in the large labor surplus type of underdeveloped economy, successful development is more a question of domestic policy, rather than foreign aid or trade. The distinctive features of the type of economy analyzed are "disguised" unemployment and institutional wage in the agricultural sector coupled with a small, growing industrial sector. The solution for development lies in the relocation of this surplus labor in the agricultural sector to the industrial sector, with a consequent increase in productivity per capita in the agricultural sector, where a smaller percentage of the total labor force now provides the entire economy with food and basic inputs. This, then, is accompanied by an increase in the industrial employment and development, the expansion of which depends on the two real resource components, the agricultural "surplus" and agricultural labor force which are provided by the agricultural sector. The essential feature of the industrial sector is seen to be the absorption of surplus labor from the agricultural sector, which in turn results in the expansion of the industrial output and economic growth. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This diploma thesis deals with the development of world coffee market and impacts for economic development of Ethiopia. First part is focused on characteristics of and trends in the world coffee market in terms of cultivation demands, world production, exports and domestic consumption in coffee growing regions. The analysis of world coffee prices, consequences and potential solutions of the global coffee crisis builds the core of the first part. The second part continues with analysis of economic development and economic structure of Ethiopia, from which follows the enormous economic importance of coffee for this poor country. Further, the coffe market and its developments is characterized - as far as produced and exported volume and prices paid to producers in the country are concerned. In conclusion of the second part the implications of Ethiopian development strategies into coffee sector are examined.

The enlargement of the EU in the year 2004 and 2007 represents a unique moment in the history. Ten former socialist countries with lower economic level (in comparison to old member states) became members of the EU. This master thesis deals with economic development of the EU 10 countries between 2004 and 2008. To describe the development basic macroeconomic indicators are used (growth of GDP, inflation rate, unemployment rate, public balance, general government debt, current account of balance of payments and external debt). The main part of the thesis is divided into chapters according to territorial principle. The thesis concludes with comparison of economic development of the EU 10 countries.

This study is focused on the comparison of the economic development of the two Asian countries, Iraq and Afghanistan from the end of the 2nd World War to the present. During this period both of these countries faced many political turbulence in the form of changing authoritarian regimes, numerous national or transnational conflicts as a direct threat of terrorist organizations. The presence of foreign actors in both countries, especially in the early 21st century when the US declared war on terrorism after the air attacks of 11 September 2001, brought to the destruction of important economic infrastructure on one side and humanitarian aid to long distressed civilian population on the other. The current economic situation is therefore strongly influenced by both international political developments as well as national apparatus which often lacks transparency, legitimacy and effectiveness. Despite considerable analogy in development of Iraq and Afghanistan the study shows that Iraq due to the oil industry was able to use its economic potential while Afghanistan is regularly placed on the lowest rungs of the economic development.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the economic development of selected African economies, analyze the sources of their economic growth, identify the factors which may limit their economic development and assess the evolution of poverty and human development in these countries. Theoretical part focuses on the definition of the phenomenon of economic development, selected theories and finally defines the factors affecting the economic development of the country. The practical part analyzes the economic development of the African continent as a whole, and then analyzes the economic development of selected countries: Rwanda, Ghana and Tanzania. The key factors of the economic development of these countries can be considered: fundamental institutional reforms and political and macroeconomic stability. On the other hand, limiting factors can be considered underdeveloped infrastructure, bureaucracy or persistent low productivity in agriculture and industry. The analysis also shows that economic development in selected countries is connected to the improvement of indicators of human development and reduction of poverty of population in these countries.

The purpose of this study is to show there is no special economic or general development theory tailor-made for West Africa. Maybe, when all general theories are valid, some are more valid than others. The recent emergence of "development theories" from academics in the "Third and Fourth World" countries is both an expression of serious doubts with orthodox development theories, as well as a serious search for self-assertion. These attempts to devise an appropriate theoretical concept geared towards the interpretation and analysis of the development process in these regions are, at bottom, also a response to the dynamics of economic and social change. The growing awareness of these views reflects the extent to which these processes of change are at work. As we shall soon observe, the attempts by the various orthodox authors of development theories to diagnose the underlying causes of development, the link with the world systems and the proposed future strategies, have very little in common. Take, for example, the economic system of the sixteenth century that generated modern industrial capitalism. This system was made up of three interdependent parts: a developed core in Western Europe, a partially developed semiperiphery in southern and eastern Europe, and an underdeveloped periphery of the rest of the world. From this, one can see, with some persuasion, that the dynamic of capitalism (or of a fully developed market economy) is based on the structural imbalance created by integrating the West Africa economies at different levels of development in what Prof. Wallerstein called a "world-system." There are probably few who would quarrel with this part of the formulation - although its neglect as a serious theory of economic development by economists, is, to this author, certainly one of the more interesting occurrences in modern history. The question that is open to debate is the degree to which this imbalance (in West Africa) tends toward permanence - the degree to which "underdevelopment" develops along with development to become a relatively stable economic adjustment. None of the development theories reviewed in the thesis has sufficient time depth to assess the question of permanence with empirical data, nor do they attempt to do so. Instead, the problem is tackled as follows. The nonindustrial nations of the world have not developed because they have failed the preconditions for it - a market mentality, local economic differentiation, "modern" socio-cultural institutions receptive to economic development (entrepreneurship). But none of these holds in the indigeneous societies of West Africa where there is no lack of entrepreneurship and little in the way of social and cultural impediments to growth. The most common alternative explanation is that the "surplus" necessary to endogenous growth is being drained in export-import trade with the developed systems. This thesis explores the dimensions of development in the economies like those of West Africa which are in a period of drastic change and dissatisfaction with the conventional paradigms. Structurally, this study has been divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter defines the uniqueness of the West African case. This uniqueness arises from uncensured acceptance of Western norms and models and reliance on growth - through capital-intensive imported technology. Coupled with this is also the idea of measuring the successes (if any) and the failures with the yardsticks accepted and applicable in the West, Chapter two will review the general literature in development (Dualism, Strategical, Foreign Trade, Sociological and Psychological, and Marxist theories) and then prescribe an indigenous model, Self-Reliance, as an alternative to the reviewed theories. Chapter three examines the physical environment and economy of the region. Chapter four deals with the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis that is, when all general theories are valid, some are more valid than others and Chapter five deals with the policy implications and conclusions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Unknown