Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 164 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-108).

Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 26, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

The primary object of the study was to determine the effect foreign aid in the form of grants, loans and direct investment has had on the economy of Botswana since 1980, and also to identify specific sectors within the economy that received foreign aid in the form of grants, loans and direct investment and how they compare with those sectors which did not receive the same. It has been the conclusion of this study that foreign aid in the form of grants, loans and direct investment played a very important role in the economic development of Botswana since 1980. Initially the role played by British aid from the early 1960s until 1972-73, with capital, recurrent and technical assistance support, when little other assistance was available, was vitally important since it enabled Botswana to lay the foundations for future development. Many of the features that attracted later donors are directly traceable to this period. The financing of the copper-nickel complex at Selebi-Phikwe by a consortium of donors under the co-ordination of the World Bank was also crucial. It must, however, been diversified. be pointed out that the economy has not In 1990, half the GDP emanated from mining; manufacturing's share has actually halved since 1966, while agriculture's languishes at only 3%. There is a massive task of diversification ahead which must succeed if an unemployment ctisis is to be avoided. Even if Botswana can sustain the sound policies that served it so well in the 1980s, continued success is far from certain. / Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 1993. / gm2014 / School of Public Management and Administration / Unrestricted

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Tourism is one of the many external forces influencing the direction and options for local economic development. A truly legitimate and practical discussion on tourism development must take place in and with the communities that are being influenced by tourist industry development. The tourism sector is the fourth largest generator of foreign exchange in South Africa and lies third, after manufacturing (24.4%) and mining and quarrying (8.6%), in its contribution to the economy, at 8.2%, but poverty and unemployment still persist, especially in rural areas. In line with the conceptual and theoretical framework derived from both demand and supply factors, this research was conducted to explore and develop a conceptual framework to examine how prices are established in local markets for tourism andassess the level of community participation in the tourism business ventures at Senqu Local Municipality in South Africa. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research have been applied throughout the study. The views of the community on their socio- economic conditions and their willingness to participate in tourism business ventures were also sought. The findings of the study lead to the conclusion that the socio-economic living conditions of the community of SLM are very poor and that empowerment and participation of the community could be an answer to alleviation thereof and provide a contribution to local economic development.

Various surveys conclude that regulation stifles the growth of South African SMEs. It is not known how regulation impacts on public companies.The literature identified certain unintended consequences of regulation that result in companies’ growth being stifled. Elements of an ideal strategic response that would prevent regulation from stifling companies’ growth were also identified. The perceptions of fifteen compliance officers in public companies were tested as to whether there was evidence of firstly, the presence in public companies of the unintended consequences identified in the literature and secondly, elements of the ideal strategic response. The research process consisted of a gathering of data through face-to-face interviews and a questionnaire. Snowball sampling was used to select compliance officers in public companies for interviews. Data was analyzed through a combination of content and frequency distribution analysis. The study confirmed that regulation does stifle the growth of public companies, but for different reasons than reported in the literature. Whilst some elements of the ideal strategic response were identified, companies’ overall strategic response to the regulatory environment can be improved upon. The conclusion of the research is that companies can thrive in the regulatory environment if the ideal strategic response, which was developed through the study, is adopted. Lessons learned from the research are discussed and recommendations for companies and regulators are indicated. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Certified Emission Reduction certificates (CERs) are created by reducing carbon emissions in a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. Very little CER price information is available to the public, as most of the deals are traded over the counter. The aim of this research is to model the price of CERs from a CDM project. The research methodology comprised of interviews with CDM experts to determine the risk factors influencing CER price and possible valuation methodologies which can be used in pricing CERs from a CDM project. It became evident that while the risk factors influencing CER price are well known, little is known about the impact these factors have on the final price of CERs. The final model developed was based on a combination of cash flow discounting and hedging using theoretical call options. Using a private equity hurdle rate to indicate project risk, forward selling CERs as EUAs to generate future cash flows, and using implied CDM risk, yields an equation for the price of CER. The model was extremely useful in linking the publicly quoted four tier price category by Point Carbon to a percentage of risk associated with a CDM project. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to improve Local Economic Development (LED) through effective communication strategies between Local Government and the Private sector in Nelson Mandela Bay. The study has been carried out by means of a literature and a primary study. Effective communication is one of the key elements which contribute to the success of Local Economic Development implementation. The communication strategies in Local Economic Development have been discussed and analysed to determine the ineffective methods of communication in Local Economic Development implementation. The literature indicated that a good communication strategy is determining the most effective method of communicating with ones’ target audience. The findings of the primary study revealed that the communication strategy between the stakeholders was not fully maximised in improving Local Economic Development implementation. It also revealed secondary factors that contributed to the ineffectiveness of Local Economic Development implementation. In order to improve the current communication strategies, the researcher recommended that new forms of communication medium between Government and the Private sector could be introduced. Lastly, the secondary factors which contribute to ineffective Local Economic Development implementation were analysed and recommendations were suggested.

The thesis seeks to draw upon and develop theories of governance with attempts to explain the functioning of policy and delivery mechanisms within the area of economic development and regeneration within the Greater Manchester City Region. [GMCR] It seeks to identify and to understand the fine-grained processes underlying the evolution of metropolitan governance using multiple methods. The thesis provides a ‘socio-spatial biography’ of the city-region through the use of Social Network Analysis [SNA] linked to a programme of semi-structured interviews with elite policy actors. It seeks to contribute to work on metropolitan governance by considering the role of actors within meta-governance processes which define their ‘scope at scale’, or their ability to act and to exercise discretion within the structures available to them. This discretion rests upon a highly centralised form of ‘contrived randomness’ under which UK central-local relations are skewed in favour of the frames of reference of national policy makers, with local actors responsible for delivery and implementation. Empirical data are drawn from case study fieldwork within the context of the wider array of bodies, vehicles and initiatives at the scale of the Greater Manchester City Region. The thesis seeks to explore the roles of the ‘Manchester Family’ these ‘quasi-local actors and entities’ [qualgae] their forms and functions and their relationship to economic development and spatial planning in the city region. It seeks to conceptualise the qualgae as a network and to consider the relationships between formalised, mandated local government and the more recent assemblages of single-purpose strategic vehicles. The thesis highlights the tensions between actors involved in these parallel (and sometimes competing) forms of city-regional governance and the power and authority associated with strategic co-ordination and ‘joining-up’. It argues that these tensions are particularly acute where sub-national governance innovations combined with the legacy of multiple initiatives within the field of regeneration and local economic development have left complex institutional and cross-organisational structures. It argues that Greater Manchester constitutes a rich milieu from which future initiatives may spring.

Problems in the theory of economic dynamics are tackled both by theoretical arguments and by use of specific examples. The work is divided into three essays. The first treats optimal control theory from an economic point of view, giving an exposition of the mathematical theory in terms of economic concepts. The idea of the marginal worth of time is introduced and found to be useful in a variety of problems. An interpretation is given of the phase planes of optimal control problems as demand-and-supply diagrams. The second essay makes use of the techniques developed in the first to solve the problem of when and how a firm faced with adverse economic circumstances will choose to go out of business if its operations depend on a stock of some fixed asset that depreciates over time. A straightforward catalogue is presented of different possible outcomes. The third essay deals with a model of urban housing. It contains two main sections. In the first, an equilibrium state is described in which demand by tenants for housing is met by supply from landlords who act as profit maximisers over the whole period of time that their property exists. The rent paid for any particular dwelling is assumed to depend on its state of upkeep, which in turn depends on how much is spent by a landlord on maintenance. The equilibrium is found by a procedure analogous to that regularly used in general equilibrium theory, namely by finding a fixed point of a mapping in a (here infinite-dimensional) vector space. In the second section of the essay, it is assumed that some externality arises which adversely affects urban life and which provokes people to move out to suburbs. The consequences of this are studied and two different kinds of dynamical evolution can be distinguished. One, in which house construction in the suburbs is slow enough to make it necessary for new construction to continue in the city, tends not to be disastrous for the city; the other, in which all urban construction stops when the externality arises, usually leads to complete decay of the city. Throughout the thesis there is an emphasis on the differences in approach between static or quasistatic problems and dynamic ones. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

In this thesis, I contribute to the emerging theoretical knowledge of and policy discourse on sustainable urban infrastructure, as a potential solution to the myriad of ecological and socioeconomic developmental challenges, for middle-income contexts of the global south. To understand this under-studied theme better, this dissertation uses three emblematic case studies of utility departments in the City of Cape Town (CCT) - an in-depth study of the Solid Waste Management Department and supporting studies of the Electricity Services Department, and the Water and Sanitation Department - to determine the prospects and relevance of sustainable infrastructure in such contexts. Through an analysis of urban networked infrastructure, I provide novel insight into the underpinning institutional dynamics that reproduce the service delivery model, and highlight how innovative activities that reflect the principles of sustainable urban infrastructure become embedded within institutional practice. Two conceptual frameworks, developed from the literature, have guided the empirical research and the analysis. The first is a heuristic device that enhances our understanding of sustainable urban infrastructure knowledge and discourse. The second offers a way to understand how it is institutionally mediated. Specifically, these conceptual frameworks are applied to the cases to reveal how the CCT's utility departments respond to an emergent crisis within a sector and how they pursue purposive interventions that reflect the sustainable urban infrastructure theory and discourse. The research was carried out over a period of two years and six months, during which I conducted semi-structured and informal interviews, and extensive document analysis.