This paper analyzes municipal expenditures in the light of horizontal fiscal interactions. I investigate total expenditures and a set of non-earmarked expenditure subcategories in the largest German federal state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The empirical analysis is based on a Spatial Durbin Model in a panel for the years 2009-2015. Using a two-regime spatial matrix, I also examine the impact of agglomeration on the intensity of public expenditure interactions, thus testing the hypothesis that an agglomerated region can decrease the amount of public goods without losing mobile factors to the periphery. The findings indicate that significant municipal expenditure interaction effects do exist. The reaction functions also vary for different expenditure subcategories. Unlike spillover effects and fiscal competition, yardstick competition is an insignificant source of potential interactions. Expenditure interaction is fiercer if there is less agglomeration in a municipality. Urbanized and populous municipalities appear to benefit from agglomeration economies, a fact that enables them to spend less. Robustness checks confirm the findings.

Theoretical and empirical literature suggest that public expenditure plays very important role in economic growth, especially in the developing countries. Available statistics show that Nigeria’s 5-year average annual real public expenditure/GDP ratio grew during the greater part of the study period 1981-2015, while the 5-year average annual real GDP growth and real GDP per capita growth rates are positive during the same study period, except for 1981-1985 and 1986-1990, respectively. The incidence of poverty, however, maintained upward movement, except for 2006-2010. The foregoing interactions have been seldom, the focus of empirical studies in Nigeria. This study examines the effects of public expenditure on economic growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria from 1981-2015, using variants of two models and simulation exercise: augmented Solow growth model and growth-poverty model. Real public expenditure/GDP ratio is used as the policy variable and the simulation duration is for 5-years, 2016-2020. We use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure by Pesaran et al. (2001) to estimate the two models, given that the annual data used for the models’ estimations were integrated of order I(1) and I(0) and small sample size. The results from the two models confirmed that public expenditure increases economic growth, though not significant, while economic growth does not reduce poverty. The same findings are confirmed through the simulation exercise. We, however, offer measures that would ensure growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria; public expenditure switch that encourages more investments in capital public expenditure, social sector public expenditure and private capital investment. / Central Bank of Nigeria

Share-based payments have become a popular form of employee remuneration, largely for its potential to address the agency problem and are especially effective when made to senior employees. Accounting standards require companies to report share-based payments made to employees as expenses in their financial statements, but extant South African tax legislation does not permit a deduction where shares are awarded to serve as incentives for senior employees. This is due to the fact that the courts do not view the issue of a company‟s own shares as “expenditure”. South African tax legislation presently contains a special tax deduction for shares awarded to employees, but this provision‟s low monetary limit and restrictive requirements are considered to be inadequate, where the intention is to provide adequate incentives to senior employees in order to address the agency problem. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether sufficient grounds exist, based on the principles of sound tax policy, for the legislature to enact a special tax deduction for share-based payments, which would serve as an adequate incentive to senior employees. The evaluation found that the current tax position infringes upon several principles of sound tax policy and that an intervention by the legislature is required. / MCom (South African and International Tax), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Share-based payments have become a popular form of employee remuneration, largely for its potential to address the agency problem and are especially effective when made to senior employees. Accounting standards require companies to report share-based payments made to employees as expenses in their financial statements, but extant South African tax legislation does not permit a deduction where shares are awarded to serve as incentives for senior employees. This is due to the fact that the courts do not view the issue of a company‟s own shares as “expenditure”. South African tax legislation presently contains a special tax deduction for shares awarded to employees, but this provision‟s low monetary limit and restrictive requirements are considered to be inadequate, where the intention is to provide adequate incentives to senior employees in order to address the agency problem. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether sufficient grounds exist, based on the principles of sound tax policy, for the legislature to enact a special tax deduction for share-based payments, which would serve as an adequate incentive to senior employees. The evaluation found that the current tax position infringes upon several principles of sound tax policy and that an intervention by the legislature is required. / MCom (South African and International Tax), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Renal replacement therapy, in the form of dialysis or transplantation, is the cornerstone of management for end-stage renal disease. UK renal registry shows nearly half of those needing renal replacement therapy are treated by dialysis – predominantly by haemodialysis. Patients on renal replacement therapy have increased mortality risk compared to age matched general population. Moreover, some specific subgroups of patients on haemodialysis have increased risk of mortality than expected. The survival benefit seen in women in the general population is attenuated resulting in similar survival for men and women on haemodialysis therapy. In addition, obese individuals and those of non-Caucasian origin have better survival outcome. Though the underlying reason for these findings is not clear and is likely to be multi-factorial, it has been hypothesised that this paradox could be due to the current practice of normalising dialysis dose to total body water. A number of metabolic factors – body surface area, resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure – have been proposed as alternative to total body water for scaling dialysis dose. There were two overarching aims of this work – one was to study the effect of declining renal function on resting and total energy expenditure and to study the influence of various energy expenditure measures on uraemic toxin generation. The second was to study the impact on survival outcome of using these alternate parameters for normalising dialysis dose and to derive dialysis dose adjustments based on these metabolic parameters. In order to study these aims, studies were designed to explore different aspects of energy expenditure measures along with a longitudinal study to examine the impact of these parameters on survival outcome. The relationship between energy metabolism, body composition and uraemic toxin generation was studied with a retrospective analysis of 166 haemodialysis patients in whom urea generation rate was used as surrogate marker of uraemic toxin generation. It was found that total energy expenditure and fat-free mass predicted uraemic toxin generation after adjustment for other relevant variables. This study provided the preliminary data which was useful in designing further studies for this work. The effect of renal function on resting and total energy expenditure was studied in 80 patients with varying stages of chronic kidney disease who were not on renal replacement therapy. Resting and total energy expenditures were measured directly using gold-standard methods. It was found that declining renal function did not have a significant influence on either of these measures. This supports the hypothesis that metabolic rate is the driving force for glomerular filtration rate and not vice-versa. The directly measured energy expenditure measures were also found to have a moderately strong relationship with urea generation rate in these patients not on renal replacement therapy. The impact of physical activity on uraemic toxin generation, and thereby dialysis requirement, was studied in a prospective cross-sectional study of 120 haemodialysis patients in whom the physical activity was measured by an accelerometer device. Results from the study showed physical activity level to be a significant predictor of uraemic toxin generation after adjustment for gender and body size differences. This study results stressed the importance of adjusting dialysis dose based on individual’s physical activity level. To study the impact of using metabolic factors as normalising parameter for scaling dialysis dose on survival outcome, a large-scale longitudinal study was conducted with 1500 maintenance haemodialysis patients recruited for the study. Dialysis dose-related parameters and survival outcomes were collected at baseline and at various time points during the follow-up period of 18 months. Study results were analysed in two parts - the theoretical basis for using these metabolic factors as scaling parameters was explored which showed that current minimum target dialysis dose risks under-dialysis in certain subgroups of patients and using these alternative parameters may provide a more equivalent dialysis dose across individuals of different body sizes and gender. With these results arguing for potential use of the alternative parameters, the impact on survival of using them were examined. It was found that all three parameters performed better than the current parameter (total body water) with regards to predicting mortality. Total energy expenditure was found to be the best parameter with the lowest hazard ratio for risk of death. The study data was also analysed to derive an algorithm for adjustment of minimum target dialysis dose based on body size and physical activity level. This newly derived minimum dose target was also shown to impact on survival with those underdialysed based on this criteria having poorer survival outcomes. To understand the impact of whole body protein turnover on resting energy expenditure and uraemic toxin generation, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 12 patients with advanced CKD – 6 each in pre-dialysis CKD and haemodialysis group. It was found that haemodialysis patients had higher rate of protein turnover compared to pre-dialysis patients. Whole body protein turnover was found to contribute significantly to resting energy expenditure and had a moderately strong relationship with urea generation rate. In the course of these studies, two questionnaire tools have been validated for use for clinical and research purposes – one is a self-report comorbidity questionnaire and the other, the Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire. The comorbidity questionnaire was developed as part of this work and was validated against Charlson Comorbidity Index. The Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire was validated for physical activity data collection and energy expenditure calculation against the gold-standard doubly labelled water method. In conclusion, it has been demonstrated that metabolic factors such as body surface area, resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure are more closely related to uraemic toxin generation compared to total body water. It has also been demonstrated that physical activity contributes to metabolic waste production and may necessitate changes in dialysis requirement. It has been shown that these metabolic factors, when used as scaling parameter for dialysis dosing, may predict survival better than the current parameter in use. The algorithm for dialysis dose adjustment and the questionnaires validated in this work have provided novel tools for further research studies and clinical practice. The central hypothesis of this work is that some metabolic factors may be better markers of uraemic toxin generation compared to total body water. It is hypothesised that modifications in dialysis practice based on these factors may improve the quality of haemodialysis and favourably impact on survival outcome for patients with end-stage renal disease. The work presented here largely supports this hypothesis.

Bakgrund Barn med fetma har lägre fysisk aktivitetsnivå än normalviktiga barn. Låga nivåer av fysisk aktivitet vid ung ålder leder ofta till låga nivåer av fysisk aktivitet som vuxen, vilket ger ökad risk för metabola syndromet. Ökad fysisk aktivitet ger ökad AEE och kan leda till ökad FFM, vilket hjälper till att höja TEE som är viktigt vid långsiktig viktminskning. Syfte Syftet med studien var att undersöka skillnad i total energiförbrukning, TEE, och aktivitetsrelaterad energiförbrukning, AEE, uppmätt med accelerometer på barn med övervikt eller fetma vid inskrivning, jämfört med efter minst ett år. Syftet var också att se om det var någon skillnad inom respektive kön i total och aktivitetsrelaterad energiförbrukning samt om det fanns något samband mellan dessa med förändring i kroppssammansättningen. Metod Data från två undersökningstillfällen där 28 barn genomfört mätning av BMR, kroppssammansättning och aktivitetsutredning med accelerometer samlades in. Jämförande statistik mellan undersökningstillfällena genomfördes på energiförbrukningsvariablerna TEE och AEE. Resultat TEE hade minskat (p=<0.01) och AEE hade minskat (p=<0.01) vid årskontrollen. Resultatet för respektive kön visade för pojkar att det var en skillnad mellan undersökningstillfällena i både TEE (p=0.004) och AEE (p=0.009). För flickor var det en skillnad i TEE (p=0.005) men inte i AEE (p=0.091). Det fanns en korrelation mellan TEE och FM (r=-0,47, p=0,014), och FFM (r=0,47, p=0.014) i procent. Slutsats Barnen i denna studie hade lägre TEE och AEE ett år efter de blivit inskrivna på överviktsenhet samtidigt som de blivit mer överviktiga. Med tanke på studiegruppens storlek bör detta resultat tolkas med försiktighet. / Background Children with obesity have a lower level of physical activity than normal weight children. Low levels of physical activity at a young age suggests low levels of physical activity as an adult, which increases the risk of the metabolic syndrome. Increased physical activity increases AEE and can lead to increased FFM which helps to increase TEE which is important for long term weight loss. Aim The aim of this study was to examine difference in total energy expenditure, TEE, and activity-related energy expenditure, AEE, measured by accelerometer on children with obesity at enrolment, compared to at least a year later. Furthermore, the aim was to see if there was any difference within each gender in total and activity-related energy expenditure and if there was any correlation between these with the change in the body composition. Method Data from two examinations where 28 children completed measurements of BMR, body composition, and activity registration with accelerometer was collected. Comparative statistics between the examinations were carried out on the energy consumption variables TEE and AEE. Results TEE has decreased (p=<0.01) and AEE has decreased (p=<0.01) at the year follow up. The result for each gender showed for the boys that there was a difference between the examinations in both TEE (p=0.004) and AEE (p=0.009). While for girls there was a difference in TEE (p=0.005) but not in AEE (p=0.091). There was a correlation between TEE and FM (r=-0.47, p=0.014), and FFM (r=0.47, p=0.014) in percent. Conclusion The children in this study had lower TEE and lower AEE one year after they were enrolled at the obesity unit while they have become more obese. Considering the size of the study group this result should be interpreted with caution.

Thesis (MAcc)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the question whether a company that issues shares in exchange for assets or services incurs expenditure for purposes of the Income Tax Act No 58 of 1962. It is concluded that a company may, in terms of the Companies Act No 61 of 1973 and the Companies Act No 71 of 2008, only issue shares once it has received consideration for those shares. Unissued shares have no value and are not considered to be assets of the company. Die ordinary meaning of the word expenditure requires the action of spending an amount of money, funds or other resources. In light of this meaning it is further concluded that the issue of shares does not qualify as expenditure actually incurred by the company. It is further concluded that the principles of what expenditure entails for income tax purposes, laid down in CSARS v Labat Africa Limited, are accurate and should form the basis whenever it is necessary to consider whether expenditure was actually incurred. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie is ʼn ondersoek na die vraag of die uitreik van aandele deur ʼn maatskappy, ten einde bates of dienste te bekom, sou beteken dat die maatskappy onkoste werklik aangegaan het vir doeleindes van die Inkomstebelastingwet No. 58 van 1962. Daar word bevind dat ʼn maatskappy ingevolge die Maatskappywet No. 61 van 1973 en die Maatskappywet No. 71 van 2008 slegs aandele mag uitreik sodra die teenprestasie ontvang is en dat onuitgereikte aandele geen waarde het nie en ook nie bates is van die maatskappy nie. Die gewone betekenis van die woord onkoste vereis ʼn aksie of handeling van betaling of uitgee van ʼn bedrag geld, fondse of ander hulpbronne. In die lig hiervan word daar bevind dat die uitreik van aandele nie onkoste is wat werklik aangegaan word deur ʼn maatskappy nie. Daar word verder bevind dat die beginsel van wat onkoste behels vir inkomstebelastingdoeleindes, soos neergelê in CSARS v Labat Africa Limited, korrek is en die basis vorm wanneer daar oorweeg word of onkoste werklik aangegaan word.

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In this research, we apply data mining techniques to a nationally-representative expenditure data from the US to predict very high-cost patients in the top 5 cost percentiles, among the general population. Samples are derived from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey’s Household Component data for 2006-2008 including 98,175 records. After pre-processing, partitioning and balancing the data, the final MEPS dataset with 31,704 records is modeled by Decision Trees (including C5.0 and CHAID), Neural Networks. Multiple predictive models are built and their performances are analyzed using various measures including correctness accuracy, G-mean, and Area under ROC Curve. We conclude that the CHAID tree returns the best G-mean and AUC measures for top performing predictive models ranging from 76% to 85%, and 0.812 to 0.942 units, respectively. Among a primary set of 66 attributes, the best predictors to estimate the top 5% high-cost population include individual’s overall health perception, history of blood cholesterol check, history of physical/sensory/mental limitations, age, and history of colonic prevention measures. It is worthy to note that we do not consider number of visits to care providers as a predictor since it has a high correlation with the expenditure, and does not offer a new insight to the data (i.e. it is a trivial predictor). We predict high-cost patients without knowing how many times the patient was visited by doctors or hospitalized. Consequently, the results from this study can be used by policy makers, health planners, and insurers to plan and improve delivery of health services.

The minibus taxi industry serves approximately 68% of the South Africans using public transport. It is credited with supporting black South African communities by providing a more accessible alternative to the public transportation. It has also been a primary activity for black entrepreneurship since the early 1970s up to the present. It also provides a strong example of enterprise serving as a platform for creating employment and for fighting poverty. However, its growth and prosperity is hindered by a number of challenges, some of which emanated from the past apartheid laws that restricted black economic policies. Some are related to the industry, such as continuing problems of persistent violence, at times resulting in death and safety concerns. In an effort to address these challenges, the National Department of Transport published a Taxi Recapitalisation Strategy (TRS). The TRS is not only about the replacement of old vehicles with new and safe vehicles, but presents the government with an opportunity to transform, empower and regulate the industry. The key pillars of the TRS are the scrapping of old taxi vehicles, the introduction of new and safe vehicles, effective regulations, empowerment of the taxi industry and law enforcement. This study measures the impact of the TRS on poverty levels and expenditure patterns of the taxi-mode commuters of the Vaal, situated south of Gauteng. It focuses mainly on the few townships identified; where the taxis are the most frequently used mode of transport. It has been shown that regulation of the taxi industry through the implementation of the TRS would lead to a rise in taxi fares and other consequences for the owners and users (passengers). Subsequently, this would result in increased levels of poverty and a change in expenditure patterns of most of the Vaal households. Although the levels of poverty have decreased in the townships of the Vaal as compared to 2003, the severity of poverty still remains in some households. Using the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) as the household's respective poverty line, 45.4% of the households have an income that is less than 50% of their HSL amount, indicating severe poverty. The headcount index was determined at 0.59 in 2006, indicating that 59% of households live below their poverty lines. The poverty gap index was determined at 0.45, reflecting that households lack on average 45% of income to attain a level equal to their poverty line. The impact of increases in taxi fares would then directly have a negative effect on the average standard of living of the Vaal households. To measure the impact of the TRS on expenditure patterns, affordability levels of the households of the Vaal were considered. The three scenarios used (taxi fares increase by 10%, 15%, and 20%) showed that the average monthly transport costs would rise by 9.9%, 10.3% and 10.6% respectively, following the implementation of the TRS. If user-targeted subsidies could be offered that would result in the taxi fare reduction, it could have an impact on expenditure patterns and poverty levels of the Vaal households. Applying the impact assessment model to households living below their poverty lines in the Vaal, increased government subsidy would supplement the existing incomes of these households. For instance, if a subsidy of 20% on taxi fares is offered, that is to make the taxi fare lower than the current fare, the poverty gap would decrease from 0.45 to 0.31 and the headcount index would be reduced from 0.59 to 0.48. This would reflect that households lacking income to attain a level equal to their poverty line is reduced by 14%.This suggests that the recapitalisation of the taxi fleet which is supported by a taxi fare subsidy is critical to ensure the provision of safe, affordable and efficient minibus taxis. In the case of even higher government subsidies, reduction in the cost of transport through government subsidies may supplement the existing income of households to such an extent that the headcount indexes for the population decreases even more. The study therefore concludes that poverty alleviation and improved standards of living among the Vaal households can only be achieved if appropriate subsidies which may lead to the reduction in the taxi fares can be provided. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2008.