M.Comm. / Hierdie studie sal poog om die volgende doelwitte te bereik: Om te bepaal waarom bestuurders nie altyd daarin slaag om aspekte van finansiele bestuur te integreer in die bestuursmetodes wat elke dag in hul maatskappye beoefen word nie; Om die belangrikheid van hierdie probleem aan die dag te le; Om te bepaal of dit moontlik is om die struikelblokke tot hierdie probleem uit die weg te ruim; Om praktiese gereedskap vir bestuurders daar te stel waarmee hulle finansiele bestuursaspekte kan integreer in hul daaglikse take. Laasgenoemde is ook die belangrikste van al bogenoemde doelwitte

This dissertation examines a number of theoretical and practical issues that arise in international asset allocation. This dissertation consists of three essays. "An Equilibrium Based Asset Allocation Model," presents an asset allocation model that allows for estimation of the elements of the inverse of the variance-covariance matrix of asset returns from market value weights, excess returns, and factors for each constituents of the portfolios. Models representing differences in investors opinion regarding excess returns, factors affecting returns, and the elements of the inverse of the variance-covariance matrix are derived. A simple proxy for the differences in expected excess returns is presented and found that this method appears to be more reliable and stable than the estimates of expected returns themselves which allows managers to follow conservative or aggressive portfolio policies. "Nikkei 225 vs. S&P500 Futures: A Comparison of Mispricing Patterns," provides empirical evidence on pricing relationships in the two largest stock index futures markets, the S&P 500 futures in the U.S. and the Nikkei 225 index futures traded in Japan with an emphasis in Japan on arbitrage inventories to market direction and open interest changes contemporaneous with the observed mispricing. This essay differs from most prior research in that trends in valuation are assessed for both the nearby contract and the calendar spread; in particular, the cost/benefit of rolling positions forward reveals the effectiveness of an index futures market in replicating long or short equity exposure on an ongoing basis are incorporated. "International Interest Rates, Exchange Rates, and Forward Rates, in a Cash-In-Advance Framework," provides a theoretical model for interest rates, exchange rates, and forward rates in the cash-in-advance framework. Using cash-in-advance model, closed-form solutions for the term structure of interest rates, exchange rates, and forward rates in a two country framework are obtained. The closed-form solutions are fairly general and accommodate various shapes of term structure of interest rates. Results show that short-term rates are different due to differences in the stochastic and deterministic components of growth rates in gross domestic products and money supplies, while long-term rates differ due to the deterministic parts of the money supply growth rates.

Thesis (M.A.) (Public Administration) --University of Limpopo, 2009. / The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) (as amended by Act No. 29 of 1999) is one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by the first democratic government in South Africa. The Act promotes the objective of good financial management in order to maximise service delivery through the effective and efficient use of the limited resources. The key objectives of the Act are to modernise the system of financial management in the public sector; enable public sector managers to manage, but at the same time be held more accountable; ensure the timely provision of quality information; and eliminate the waste and corruption in the use of public assets. The Act, which came into effect from 1 April 2000, gives effect to Sections 213 and 215 to 219 of The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 for implementation at the national and provincial spheres of government. These sections require national legislation to establish a national treasury; to introduce uniform treasury norms and standards; to prescribe measures to ensure transparency and expenditure control in all spheres of government; and to set the operational procedures for borrowing, guarantees, procurement and oversight over the various national and provincial revenue funds. The Public Finance Management Act adopts an approach to financial management that focuses on outputs and responsibilities rather than the rule-driven approach of the previous Exchequer Acts. The Act is part of a broader strategy on improving financial management in the public sector. The Public Finance Management Act replaced or superceded the various national and provincial Exchequer Acts and the Reporting of Public Entities Act. The study concerns itself with the evaluation of compliance with the Public Finance Management Act by the Department of Labour in Limpopo. The objective of the study is to analyze and assess the implementation and execution of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and to evaluate the compliance of Public Finance Management Act by the Department of Labour in Limpopo Province. Quantitative research methodology was chosen for this study. Data collection strategy used was questionnaires. The researcher employs a strategy of inquiry, such as survey, to investigate a research question. The findings of this research were that communication barrier and lack of training in financial related matters is a challenge for the Department of Labour in Limpopo. The researcher also found that the Accounting Officer at DoL Limpopo did not introduce a system of internal audit under the control and direction of an Audit Committee as it is a prerequisite of the Public Finance Management Act.

No description available.

<p> Small private colleges are an important part of the higher education system. The cost of attending a small private college has increased along with student debt. This has become an issue in the recruitment and retention of students. Loan repayment assistance programs represent a possible solution to the student debt issue for small private colleges, and a path to their continued viability. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to investigate the changes to freshmen enrollment after the implementation of a loan repayment assistance program at a small private college. The proposed study examined changes between the pre and post implementation of a loan repayment assistance program for incoming freshmen. The student variables examined were the total number of newly enrolled freshmen, their SAT scores, and their initial loan balances. The population for the study was a small private college in Salem, Oregon that recently implemented a loan repayment assistance program. The results showed no statistically significant difference in the number &chi;&sup2; (1) = .69, &rho; > .05 or the SAT scores <i>t</i> (383) = .10, &rho; > .05 of the 2014-15 versus the 2013-14 freshman classes. However, the results did show a statistically significant different in the initial loan balance <i> t</i> (383) = .006, &rho; &lt; .05. Freshman students had larger loan balances after the implementation of a loan repayment assistance program. </p>

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Not available / text

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Revenue Assurance is an emerging discipline in the Communication Service Provider (CSP) industry. It is a fast changing and maturing field driven by proactive CSPs and industry providers of Revenue Assurance technology and services. Two practice guideline bodies, the TeleManagement Forum and the Global Revenue Assurance Professions Association (GRAPA), have issued various practice guidelines, maturity assessment models, and the first attempts to certify practitioners in this discipline. The discipline, however, lacks a working set of definitions. Industry writing is of commercial value with little contribution from an academic perspective. This study provides a provisional taxonomy as basis for introducing a working' set of definitions to support academic enquiry into the discipline of Revenue Assurance. The study employed Grounded Theory and document analysis techniques to code and analyse data available in the public domain. The result is a set of grounded concepts, re-conceptualised into a taxonomy, which provides structure to academia as primary users. It is hoped that the proposed taxonomy will provide a common base of understanding, which will guide future dialogue and expansion of the field, with contributions from both industry and academia.

Magister Legum - LLM

Submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Doctorate degree in Technology, Department of Public Management and Economics, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / Identifying the best level of debt financing within corporations and its determinants is one of the main issues in financial management theory, as the use of debt is believed to have an important influence on the performance of corporations. The majority of studies on debt financing have been undertaken using data from developed economies, focusing more on private sector non-financial corporations. This study investigated the factors influencing debt financing and whether the use of debt positively or negatively influences the financial performance of state corporations in Kenya. The “financial leverage”, which is the proportion of debt financing of state corporations in the Kenyan region, based on the total debt and the total assets, was the object of analysis for the period 2007 to 2011. Applying both descriptive and inferential statistics, and a hybrid of cross sectional and longitudinal quantitative surveys, primary data from questionnaires, and secondary data from the corporations’ financial statements, were utilized. The sample size used was 50 income generating state corporations in Kenya. Using the primary and secondary data, the study, in addition, determined the extent of debt financing and analysed the different types of debt financing used by the various state corporations. It focused on the use of financial ratio analysis to identify the financial performance of the corporations by applying a pooling of cross-section analysis. Moreover, the “financial leverage” ratio was analysed in correlation with the financial performance ratios, in order to identify the potential of anticipation for future financing options for state corporations in Kenya. Further, the regression analysis result was used to demonstrate whether there is a relationship between the corporation’s “financial leverage” and its financial performance ratios and the debt financing theory suitable for explaining debt capital structure within the state corporations. The panel data for financial performance helped in identifying whether there was a significant relationship between “financial leverage” of corporations and their financial performance. The results identified the main factors influencing debt financing within state-owned corporations in Kenya to include profitability, asset tangibility and corporation growth. It was also determined that debt financing is inversely related to financial performance of state-owned corporations in Kenya. In addition, the results revealed that state-owned corporations from developed and developing economies use capital market debt securities, such as bonds and notes, and derivative financial instruments, such as swaps, options and forward contracts. In contrast, these types of debt are not common within the Kenyan state-owned corporations. The developed and developing economies state-owned corporations are perceived to have embraced the new public sector financial management reforms agenda and operate in more developed and efficient capital markets. However, in Kenya, the new public sector financial management agenda may have not been implemented positively within the state-owned corporations and the country’s capital market may still be efficient. It is expected that the findings of this study would have vital policy implications for Kenyan state-owned corporations, in particular, and the government, in general.