Many economists have observed that the financial system has a positive and monotonic effect on economic growth. In this study we reaffirm the finance-growth nexus. We adopt a three-tier approach for the study’s methodology using panel data of 66 countries from 1986 to 2005. Firstly, we test for the finance-growth nexus with particular emphasis on financial sector indicators that best represent the effective financing activity in the economy. Secondly, we examine the financial market type that exacerbates or mitigates the effects of a shock (financial crisis). Thirdly, we investigate the causes of financial crisis by looking at both the macroeconomic and institutional, and micro-level determinants of banking crisis. Our results show that financial development enhances economic growth, more so, in the middle income countries. We also find that increased domestic private credit and activity reduces the effects of a financial shock on growth. In addition, openness of the economy in low income Sub-Saharan African countries is important for growth even where financial development indicators appear not to influence growth. In most economies the investment channel and openness are consistent in explaining economic growth.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1984. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-237). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

M.Com. (Financial Management) / Economically active individuals are frequently faced with the responsibility of making financial decisions which may dramatically impact their financial wellbeing. In today’s world of complex financial products and individuals increasingly being responsible for their own financial wellbeing, higher levels of financial literacy are of the utmost importance. The main aim of this study will be to determine whether students who study towards a diploma in a finance-related field have higher financial literacy levels than those studying towards a diploma in field of study that is not finance-related. A quantitative research methodology will be employed to the study in the form of a survey. The population includes all the diplomas presented on the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Bunting Road campus, and the sample consists of one finance-related diploma and two non-finance-related diplomas. Although the results of the study, in line with previous research, indicated that the finance group performed better than the non-finance group, the margin was smaller than expected and the average financial literacy score of both groups was low. Students performed the worst in the savings and borrowings and the best in the basic concepts content area. Many of the demographic and background characteristics identified by previous research to influence financial literacy could not be analysed as there was not enough variation or adequate representation within the total sample. In contrast to previous research many of the remaining demographic and background characteristics that could be analysed did not influence financial literacy. Only language (Sotho) and funding (NSFAS and my parents and/or family paid) were found to influence financial literacy levels. As this study indicates that the financial literacy levels of final year diploma students in South Africa are low, higher education might have to consider introducing a financial curriculum to increase financial literacy.

No description available.

South African Police Service (SAPS) is mandated by act no 68 of 1996 to ensure a safe environment for all people living in South Africa. Like any other government department in South Africa, SAPS utilises public funds to perform day to day duties and to provide better service to the community in the form of a secure environment for all people living in this country. South African Police Service is regulated by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA act 1 of 1999) in utilising the public funds. PFMA act requires that accounting officer be appointed in terms of section 36 (1) of the act and furthermore, requires that the accounting officer should ensure in terms of section 38 (1) (i) that the department has and maintains effective, efficient and transparent systems of financial and risk management and internal control. It also requires in terms of section 38 (1) (iii) that accounting officer ensures and maintains an appropriate procurement and procurement and provisioning system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. According to the reports by the Auditor General in the previous three (3) financial years (2008/2009 - 2009/2010 - 2010/2011) financial management within SAPS has been unsatisfactory. The Auditor General pointed out same problem year on year of fruitless and wasteful expenditure which in many instances are caused by the penalties for not paying license fees in time. These suggested that control and measures were not in place to eradicate the problem . The report of 2008/2009 by the Auditor General revealed that "the accounting officer at SAPS did not ensure that the department has and maintains an effective, efficient and transparent system and internal controls regarding performance management. The information gathered from the study undertaken in SAPS North West from employees working at Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Finance at Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Mafikeng revealed that finances while managed well, more needs to be done to ensure the effective utilisation of the finances. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure was blamed on management for not following the plan in place and procedures when procuring goods and services. Incompetent employees were also found to be contributing to the rise in fruit less and wasteful expenditures. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

This thesis primarily looks at estimation error problems and other related issues arising in connection with portfolio optimization. With some available assets, a portfolio program or optimizer seeks to distribute a fixed amount of capital among these available assets to optimize some cost function. In this regard, Markowitz portfolio selection basis defines the variance of the portfolio return to being that of the portfolio risk and tries to find an allocation that reduces or minimizes the risk subject to a target mean or expected return. Should the mean return vector and the covariance matrix of returns for the underlying assets be known, the Markowitz problem is said to have a closed-form solution. In practice, however, an estimation is made from historical data for unknown expected returns and the covariance matrix of the returns, and this brings into the domain several problems such as estimation problems and renders the Markowitz theory impracticable in real-life portfolio applications. Estimators necessary to remedy these problems would be made bare to show how possible it is to tackle such issues. In the concept demonstration sections, the analysis starts with the price data of 40 stocks and the S\&P index. The efficient frontier is introduced and used to show how the estimators take effect. Finally, implementation is made possible using the R Programming Language to demonstrate the necessary concepts with the conclusion presented at the end.

No description available.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Commerce. Johannesburg 1993. / This is an exploratory report. It addresses the impact that the quality of the annual report has on the institutional investor's perception of the image of a company and how such quality influences their investment decisions. The resaarch methodology is based upon interviews in which a structured questionnaire was used as a data gathering mechanism. The portfolio managers who responded to the questionnaire are responsible for the combined management of financial funds amounting to R12biliion. The main conclusion reached in this report is that while elle annual report plays a meaningful role in the investment decisions of portfolio managets, it competes with other sources of infornlationwhich are used to make investment decisions. While the preparers of the annual reports have an understanding of the informational needs of institutional investors, it is suggested that greater emphasis should be placed by the preparers on the presentation of future orientated financial information. / AC2017

Thesis advisor: Fabio Ghironi / This thesis includes two essays that analyze some features of the past financial crises. In the first chapter I study the possible reasons why investors reduced their holdings of foreign equities, and, at the same time, they increased their holdings of short-term government bonds, during the 2007 financial crisis that first hit the U.S. economy and soon became a world crisis. More precisely I analyze how the increases in uncertainty during the crisis affected capital flows. I use a two country DSGE model and I assume that there is trade in both goods and financial assets. I assume that each country is allowed to issue equities and government bonds, and I assume that each economy is hit by three types of shocks: Preference, productivity and government spending shocks. I proxy the increase in uncertainty with the introduction of uncertainty shocks, i.e. I allow the variances of the shocks to be time-varying. My findings show that uncertainty is a source of portfolio-dynamics that can contribute to explain, together with the other sources already identified in the literature, deviations of the portfolio from its steady-state. Investors choose their portfolio with the goal to smooth consumption. Therefore they want to hold assets with returns that display a negative covariance with consumption. When uncertainty shocks hit, the way in which the real variables of the model covary with asset returns changes. As a consequence, agents need to re-adjust their portfolios until when the shock has disappeared. I also show under which conditions it is rational for investors to increase their holdings of foreign government bonds and, at the same time, reduce their holdings of foreign equity, in response to an increase in global uncertainty. My findings show that the response of the portfolio to an increase in uncertainty crucially depends on the source of uncertainty. If uncertainty comes from aggregate demand, it is optimal for agents to increase their holdings of foreign bonds and reduce their holdings of foreign equity. If instead the source of uncertainty is aggregate supply, agents find it optimal to increase their holdings of foreign equity and reduce their holdings of foreign bonds. This finding suggests that the movements of capital that took place during the crisis are compatible with an increase in uncertainty coming from aggregate demand. This result is supported by those theories that identify the collapse in demand as the main cause of the slump experienced by the U.S. and by many other economies during the crisis. In the second chapter I study the currency denomination of the debt in emerging countries. Empirical studies have shown that emerging countries are often characterized by the presence of a high share of foreign currency denominated debt. As the debt crises of the 1990s show, the presence of foreign currency debt can be risky because, beyond creating a mismatch in the domestic firms' balance sheets, it also constraints the traditional domestic policy instruments in dealing with home and foreign economic shocks. The reasons why such risky forms of international finance arise in the first place remain an open question. If foreign debt is so dangerous-as it is-it may be worth trying to give a micro-foundation to its emergence. Such a high share of foreign currency debt should be at least in part justified by the presence of some private benefits for the agents that choose this form of finance. The goal of this chapter is to rationalize the choice to borrow in dollars rather than in domestic currency on the international markets. In order to do so, I study how informational asymmetries and heterogeneous expectations can affect the choice of a borrower to expose herself to a currency risk. Furthermore I look at the policy implications of my findings to understand which policies could reduce the incentive of agents to dollarize. My model is a portfolio choice model with asymmetric information that analyzes how agents choose the currency denomination of their debt. The main findings of my model show that when domestic agents have a high informational advantage and/or there is a low level of transparency on international markets, an increase in the degree of dollarization might be observed, if the fundamentals are relatively strong. Alternatively, if there is endogeneity between the exchange rate policy implemented by the monetary authority and domestic agents' decisions, a certain degree of complementarity in borrowers' choices may arise, thus creating a phenomenon of {it moral hazard}. If domestic agents know that a high share of dollar debt in the economy makes the exchange rate more rigid, they may want to coordinate on the equilibrium where all the corporate debt in the economy is denominated in the same currency, even when the fundamentals of the economy are relatively weak. These results have interesting policy implications. A benevolent central bank that strongly bases her policy on the degree of dollarization in the economy, can generate a coordination mechanism among the domestic borrowers that results in a risky degree of dollarization. The solution would be to ex-ante choose a central banker with a strong preference for a flexible exchange rate. My findings also show the importance of transparency. Transparency does not necessarily coincide with public information. My model actually shows that the precision of private sources of information determines the degree of dollarization. If international markets could have access to some sources of private information, they would be more willing to lend in pesos, when the fundamentals are relatively strong. As a consequence the economy would not experience high levels of dollarization and would be better protected against future negative shocks. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.