This study examined the effects of government expenditure on different components of economic growth in South Africa using quarterly data from the period 1970Q1 to 2016Q4. The six key policy variables employed in the analysis were derived from the Ram (1986) production model and the New Growth Path (NGP), a macroeconomic framework designed to address the main challenges (unemployment, poverty and inequality) facing the economy as a result of its political past. The analysis of the relationship was carried out using the VECM while the findings from the analysis revealed that though there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. The long-run estimates showed that aggregate private consumption expenditure and employment-to-population ratio are significant but negatively, related to economic growth. However, the net inflows of foreign direct investment and gross fixed capital formation are negatively related to gross government expenditure. This implies that excessive public capital expenditure might reduce the positive impact of the two variables on economic growth. The study therefore suggests that government should consider increasing its expenditure on the significant variables that support labour and capital development, in order to enhance economic growth in South Africa. / Economics

This thesis argues that the financial sector played a positive, but limited role in British economic growth from 1850 to 1913. It examines empirically the role played by different types of financial institutions: commercial banks, stock markets and merchant banks. To this end, the thesis uses recently developed time series and dynamic panel methods for the econometric analysis, alongside new data on different parts of the financial system. The results suggest that at a national level, the growth of commercial banks had a limited impact on British economic development over the long run, and stock markets had no impact. However, changes in bank lending influenced economic growth to a significant extent in the short term. Growing conservatism in bank lending practices did not significantly increase credit constraints, as had been previously suspected. Findings from new geographically disaggregated data indicate that the spread of bank offices improved the economic performance of English and Welsh counties. Increased concentration of the banking industry did not hinder economic growth, a result that challenges widespread suggestions in the relevant literature. Moreover, the development of provincial stock exchanges – exchanges outside London - did not influence county-level economic growth, contrary to the view that they were important for the expansion of local industry. Finally, this thesis is the first to assess econometrically the role of merchant banks. It demonstrates that their trade financing activities were beneficial not only for the growth of British international trade, but also for that of the domestic economy.

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-07-03T11:58:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 23.pdf: 947947 bytes, checksum: 06d4c30cbfbb326f6b1a35c2c21b5583 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-03T11:58:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 23.pdf: 947947 bytes, checksum: 06d4c30cbfbb326f6b1a35c2c21b5583 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-27 / Nenhuma / Houve um aumento da riqueza e uma melhora na qualidade de vida das nações ao redor do mundo, notadamente desde o início do século XX. Neste contexto de crescimento econômico, percebe-se que nem todos os países cresceram da mesma maneira e que aproximadamente uma em cada seis pessoas vive em extrema pobreza atualmente. Uma alternativa para resolver este problema é a ajuda internacional e tem se estudado e debatido como ela pode acelerar o processo de crescimento econômico. Inúmeros fatores são mencionados na literatura como essenciais para este avanço. O presente trabalho debate os resultados de recentes estudos empíricos quanto aos impactos da ajuda internacional sobre o crescimento econômico dos países receptores. Assim, a partir da perspectiva das possibilidades de atuação para apressar o desenvolvimento econômico e abreviar a desigualdade de renda, este estudo avalia o crescimento econômico dos países menos desenvolvidos, sobretudo a pobreza, enfatizando o comportamento do continente africano. A seguir, são expostos os conceitos referentes à ajuda internacional para os países e sua evolução ao longo do tempo, buscando decompor os gêneros de assistência e suas finalidades. A revisão de literatura também contempla diferentes maneiras testadas na avaliação da eficácia da ajuda para os países favorecidos, identificando os métodos e indicadores que buscam elucidar a relação entre ajuda e crescimento. / Since the beginning of the XIXth century the world has been living in an era of economic prosperity and quality of life improvement. In this context of economic growth, there have been different kinds of growth among countries and there are about one in six people in the world that live in extreme poverty. One alternative that has been discussed to reduce poverty is foreign aid and how it can haste this process. The literature mentions several factors as essential to this progress. Thus, from the perspective of possibilities to accelerate economic development and shorten the income inequality, this paper aims to address the international aid as a motivator of progress. Initially, the study assesses the economic growth of less developed countries, especially the issue of poverty, emphasizing the behavior of the African continent. Then foreign aid is delimitated by actors, types and purposes. The literature review also addresses the different ways tested in evaluating the effectiveness of aid in recipient countries by identifying and selecting methods and indicators that explain the relationship between aid and growth.

Submitted by Fabricia Fialho Reginato (fabriciar) on 2015-08-11T23:52:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SegundaTavares.pdf: 560605 bytes, checksum: 8ee10552b6d266c9dd6fd51da9956e10 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-11T23:52:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SegundaTavares.pdf: 560605 bytes, checksum: 8ee10552b6d266c9dd6fd51da9956e10 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Nenhuma / O objetivo principal desta dissertação é analisar a base que sustenta o crescimento econômico em Angola, abordando os principais gargalos existentes nesse processo e as potenciais oportunidades a serem aproveitadas, visando promover o desenvolvimento socioeconômico do país. Apresenta-se uma revisão teórica sobre o tema do desenvolvimento econômico, levando em consideração a estrutura econômica subdesenvolvida de Angola. Ademais, situase historicamente a economia angolana, fazendo-se uma análise da formação econômica de Angola até o cenário atual. A partir das observações das teorias de desenvolvimento econômico, da estrutura histórica da economia angolana e de um levantamento bibliográfico dos relatórios de agências internacionais sobre a economia do país, determinam-se os principais gargalos que ameaçam o forte crescimento econômico atual de Angola. Além disso, especificam-se as principais oportunidades para que a economia possa deixar o estado de subdesenvolvimento socioeconômico e trilhar, em um futuro próximo, o desenvolvimento socioeconômico. / The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze the base that sustains economic growth in Angola, addressing the main bottlenecks in the process and the potential opportunities to be harnessed to promote the socioeconomic development of Angola. At first, characterized a theoretical review on the topic of economic development, taking into account the underdeveloped economic structure of Angola. Moreover, historically stood the Angolan economy, making an analysis of the economic formation of Angola to the present scenario. From the observations of the theories of economic development, the historical structure of the Angolan economy and a bibliography of reports of international agencies on the economy of Angola, it was determined the main bottlenecks that threaten the current strong economic growth in Angola. In addition, it was specified key opportunities for the economy to leave the state of economic underdevelopment and tread in the near future socioeconomic development.

Moving beyond a focus on institutional frameworks to the deeper forms of politics and power relations that determine their functioning, this thesis explores the political dynamics of growth and structural transformation in Kenya. Deploying a conceptual framework that combines political settlement analysis, which explores how the underlying structure of power shapes incentives for elites to adopt developmental forms of governance, with two concepts from the state business relations literature, the deals and rents spaces, which together link macro level political settlement analysis with a meso level analysis of specific economic actors, the thesis offers new understandings for Kenyas economic development. It argues that Kenyas period of comparatively good growth during the 1960s and 1970s, generally attributed to the inheritance of reasonably coherent institutions at independence as well as favourable external dynamics, actually owed more to Kenyas relatively stable political settlement, which allowed ruling elites to unveil a closed ordered deals regime that provided favoured investors, predominantly from President Kenyattas Kikuyu ethnic group, but also foreign firms, with sufficient credible commitment to invest in productive activities. Similarly, the thesis finds that Kenyas declining performance during the 1980s and 1990s, explained in the literature by worsening external conditions and the capture of increasingly outdated colonial era institutions, was driven more by the ruling coalitions increasing vulnerability, which incentivised then President Moi to prioritise short term politics of survival over sound economic management, particularly after the transition to multi party politics in the 1990s. This resulted in an extremely closed and increasingly disordered deals space, undermining investor confidence and growth. However, a key finding of the thesis, and one that challenges a general view within the literature that corruption permeated all areas of Kenyas economy during the 1980s and 1990s, is that key sectors like horticulture and garments, which made vital contributions to foreign exchange and vote winning employment, were relatively insulated from these political dynamics, helping to explain why Kenya did not suffer a complete growth collapse. Finally, the thesis finds that improved economic outcomes from the early 2000s did not flow from the enactment of donor demanded reforms, as the literature suggests, but rather from increased order within the deals space. This was driven by a reduction in the ruling coalitions vulnerability as well as the ideological predilections of President Kibaki, Mois successor, whose deeply held ideas drove him to implement his economic vision in the face of countervailing political incentives. Critically, the thesis finds that Kibaki enforced ordered but closed deals in Kenyas financial services industry, giving influential banking and telecommunication firms the regulatory space and certainty that they required to innovate with products like mobile money, kickstarting a financial services revolution that has, amongst other things, significantly improved the availability and costs of credit. However, a key finding is that the closed deals predominant in banking and telecommunications, combined with the open deals found in export focused sectors like horticulture and garments, where firms have utilised their increased holding power to push for further openings in deals, has led to the emergence of a dualistic deals space that, if not tackled through incremental governance reforms, undermines the prospects for Kenya achieving a long term growth acceleration and structurally transforming its economy. These findings inform the thesis policy recommendations, which include a focus on how pockets of effectiveness can play a critical role in promoting growth in otherwise unfavourable governance contexts.

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Climate variability and climate change have become important research topics also in economics. The objective of this thesis is not to forecast the future but to learn from the past by studying how two important climate change-related topics have affected Indonesian households. Delayed monsoon onset, El Niño, will become more frequent with climate change whereas palm oil production is a contributor to climate change. The first essay examines how variability in monsoon onset affects rural households' welfare in terms of household expenditure and farm profits. Using the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) data I find that households in the middle tercile of the expenditure distribution face the biggest albeit temporary losses from delayed monsoon onset. Half of the expenditure decline is due to increase in household size. Conditional on onset, rainfall intensity has only minor effects. The second essay uses the IFLS data to study how schooling and child labour are affected by delayed monsoon onset. The probability of continuing from primary to secondary school is reduced when a delayed onset coincides with the transition year. In other respects, monsoon onset does not affect education of rural children. However, riskier distribution of rain postpones school entry for young children. Moreover, delayed onset increases child labour. Using district-level data on palm oil production and area planted and national household survey (SUSENAS) the third essay studies the impact of oil palm expansion on household expenditure and health. Instrumental variable estimates exploit the historical production and district forest area as an exogenous source of variation. I find that smallholder production has a weak negative impact on household expenditure but this effect is not present among rural households. More, total production increases incidence of asthma in Kalimantan. The findings suggest that palm oil is not a panacea to increase rural welfare.

This thesis presents a critical reflection on what is meant by a 'Green Revolution' within the current, narrow 'productivity-technology fix' paradigm. It shows the current focus on productivity is creating a limited view of technology as the principal means to address food insecurity in Africa, as opposed to a more comprehensive view that takes into account economic, social and political factors. The research combines a socio-technical systems approach with an actor-oriented analysis to examine two input-support programmes in Kenya. It focuses on input-support programmes due to the current interest in subsidies as the mechanism to address food insecurity and deliver agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers. It examines the political, social and institutional factors that influence the creation, design and implementation of these programmes. A multi-level approach (global, national and local) is used to map out the key narratives and actor networks operating in and across the different levels to highlight the dynamic interactions as they come together through these programmes. The thesis demonstrates how intermediary factors (institutions, policy and social networks) significantly affect programme outcomes. The two case studies show that policy and practice often diverge through changing actors, networks and funding flows. Each programme implementation is mediated through socially differentiated beneficiaries, creating interactions that unfold in numerous ways due to distinct social, political and economic factors, as well as to unique institutional and delivery mechanisms. The evidence suggests that technology-based programmes that fail to take account of these critical factors will encounter difficulties in uptake. Therefore, policymakers must consider context-specific approaches that appreciate the diversity of local conditions and the importance of socio-economic, institutional and political factors. The underlying message is that the impact of agricultural technologies on the practices and perceptions of smallholder farmers cannot be understood in isolation; end users constantly adapt technologies through complex social interpretations, local institutions and political processes.

Decentralisation policies have been adopted by most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in the expectation of improved service provision. The benefits expected are two-fold: a) decentralisation will lead to better coordination and collaboration between different parts of the state at the local level and b) decentralisation will lead to increased consultation and responsiveness of local governments to their citizens. In this thesis I seek to explain why these benefits are realised in some contexts and not others. In most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the predominant form of decentralisation is a combination of devolution and deconcentration. Often these two policies are ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. What are the processes through which such mixed systems work? This thesis attempts to understand how mixed systems of devolution and deconcentration work in practice through a comparative study of Five Municipal Health Directorates in Ghana. The study explores the three sets of relationships that are critical for decentralisation to work well in such mixed systems a) between the Health Directorate and the District Assembly administration, b) between the Health Directorate and the elected members of the District Assembly and c) between the Health Directorate and selected civil society organisations working on health. The work is based on detailed qualitative interviews in the five municipalities. The main finding is that informal ties between the Health Directorate and the three sets of actors mentioned above are helpful in explaining why coordination and consultation seem better in some municipalities than others. Four kinds of ties are found to be important: ethnic/tribal links, family/kinship/neighbourhood relations, political party affiliations, and old-school networks. These ties between Municipal Health Directorates and senior officers of the Municipal Assemblies were found to facilitate Municipal Health Directorates' access to District Assemblies' Common Fund, which was controlled by the Municipal Assemblies. The existence of these ties between Municipal Health Directorates and elected Assembly members of Municipal Assemblies were found to enhance the quality of Municipal Health Directorates' policies and helped to gain public support. Finally, such ties between Municipal Health Directorates and leaders of selected Civil Society Organisations that mobilised around HIV and AIDS programmes were found to facilitate implementation of Municipal Health Directorates' policies around HIV and AIDS. The thesis' contribution is that it shows that informal linkages between different local bodies and between local government and civil society organisations seem important for improved coordination and collaboration among various actors, and better consultation with elected representatives of citizens and leaders of CSOs for effective service delivery at the local level.

The thesis verifies the relationship between education and economic growth using economic theory and current data about education in the Czech Republic. After verifying this relationship the current state and the form of Czech education are analyzed. Demonstration of declining results of Czech primary and secondary education with the usage of international comparative investigations follows together with the detection of the absence of similar data in tertiary education. These findings direct the main goal of the thesis to ascertain the causes of the declining results of primary and secondary schools and their impact on the quality of higher education. Subsequent analysis of the Czech tertiary education identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the higher education system and also positive and negative trends in this area during the last decade. Final identification of the causes determining the current level and quality of tertiary education leads to the submission of recommendations to improve the quality and increase the competitiveness of Czech universities in international comparisons. Providing top quality education is one of the decisive factors influencing the competitiveness and future economic growth of the country.