Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015. / Food price inflation has been an important subject of debate internationally since 2008. This sharp increase in food prices experienced during 2008 lead to intense research into the causes, dynamics and responses to this particular instance of food price inflation. The international literature attributed food price inflation to such factors as climate change, increases in energy costs and speculative activity in financial markets for agricultural commodities. This research report undertakes a review of the measurement of food price inflation in South Africa, broadly assessing how it is to be linked to the poor in South Africa. The research report focuses on the work of institutions concerned with the measurement of food price inflation in South Africa. Different methodologies of identifying foods as food staples are looked at. Food prices and trends are analysed using CPI data from January 2008 until October 2008, using selected consumer price index series from Statistics South Africa. The research report finds that the institutions studied show evidence of that higher food price inflation is correlated with demographic markers of poverty, although the traditional measure, the CPI, does not suggests that this is very extensive. This, it is argued, is due to the calculation methodologies used in the published CPI, and the data period. The research report then ends with an overview of the political economy of food in South Africa, thereby makes recommendations as to why the measurement of food price inflation is important for the poor.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, 2012. / The purpose of this study is to investigate if the International Comparison Program (ICP) methodology could be used to examine the different buying power (worth) of the currency on the same products or goods amongst South African provinces. The method will be tested on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) food data collected from January 2006 to December 2006 from the main cities in the provinces. The food basket is obtained via the Income and Expenditure Survey (IES), which is generally updated every 5 years. South Africa (SA) has disparities and differentials in economic indicators such as the CPI, Gross Domestic Product and employment, amongst the provinces which are caused by among other things geographic set-up, urbanisation, inflation rates, and expenditure patterns. We use the monthly data to do an inter-provincial comparison of food prices by deriving annual purchasing power parities (PPPs) for each of the provinces, using the Country Product Dummy (CPD) method recommended as best practice by the World Bank. The CPI data is validated using the SEMPER software developed by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The validated data is examined for variability over the months and between the provinces using Analysis of Variance. Significant price differences are found for various products over the months and between provinces. The validated data was used to compute PPPs at the group and basic heading level. PPPs were investigated for differences in the provinces on grouped level of food products using Analysis of Variance. The reliability of PPPs between provinces is investigated both at grouped and basic heading level of products using the Cronbach-alpha statistic. The results show that there are no significant variations in PPPs across provinces. This could be due to the similar business opportunities or developments in the provinces or due to the aggregation of prices from the individual product (basic heading) to the main product group level. This implies that the cost of the food basket is the same across provinces.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance & Investment in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management Wits Business School at the University of the Witwatersrand 2017 / This thesis empirically examines the stock market reaction to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announcements in South Africa, and also analyses the effects of the method payment. Data was collected from 34 acquisitions, consisting of acquirer and target companies in the same industry listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, (JSE). The transactions were of mergers and acquisitions for the period 2003 – 2013. The event study methodology was used to calculate cumulative average abnormal returns for the acquiring companies over the total event window. Parametric t-tests were then applied to test the significance of the cumulative average abnormal returns, and a comparison of the pre and post-announcement returns was done over the event window. A comparison is also done for cash and share acquisitions over the entire event window (-10, +10). From the findings, it is clear that there were no significant abnormal returns or significant differences between the pre and post announcement returns. Comparing the two payment methods (cash and share payments), the results also show that there were no significant differences between these methods. The study therefore concluded that merger and acquisition announcements did not create any value for shareholders of acquiring companies during and around the announcement period. / MT2017

Leung Lok-yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction and Literature Review --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Methodology --- p.4 / Chapter A. --- Momentum Strategies / Chapter B. --- Relative Strength Indexes / Chapter 3. --- Data --- p.13 / Chapter 4. --- Emirical Findings --- p.15 / Chapter A. --- Momentum Strategies / Chapter B. --- Relative Strength Indexes / Chapter 5. --- Conclusion --- p.37 / Chapter 6. --- Tables --- p.39 / Chapter 7. --- Bibliograhy --- p.70

The main target of the thesis is analysing of short-term indirect cross-sectoral impacts of taxation of electricity, solid fuels and natural gas on particular sectors of NACE in the Czech Republic, especially impacts on production prices. The key instrument for the analysis is the short-term price model for the Czech Republic, created as a component of the thesis. A secondary target is focused on the analysis of direct impacts, especially impacts on prices and expenditures of particular sectors of NACE. Within the scope of the main target, there are five different variants of taxation. For each of them the impact of taxation of particular commodities on changes in production prices of particular sectors of NACE is simulated. Than two different variants, both of them including taxation of all commodities, are compared. The thesis includes also two hypotheses, which are going to be confirmed or disproved on the basis of obtained results. For achieving the main target the methodology of Leontief input -- output analysis was chosen (Leontief, 1966). This is the key instrument for creating short-term price model for the Czech Republic. This method is suitable especially for analysing short-term cross-sectoral impacts, however under necessary condition of no changes in current technologies, agreements and cross-sectoral relations. This condition represents strict limitation for the price model created for the thesis. Regarding scientific contribution, the main asset of this thesis is creation of macroeconomic short-term price model for the Czech Republic, which is based on methodology of Leontief input -- output analysis. The additional contribution is calculation of the short-term impacts of new environmental taxation on production prices of particular sectors of NACE. Considering available information, environmental taxes in the Czech Republic have not been analysed by Leontief input - output methodology yet. There is not also sufficient analysis of environmental taxes impacts on particular sectors of NACE in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided to seven chapters. The first chapter focuses on introduction to environmental tax regulation issue. The second chapter presents theories and concepts of taxation impact analysis. The third chapter focuses on models and empirical research in environmental taxation area. The fourth chapter is dealing with basic practical aspects of introduction of new energy taxation in the Czech republic and presents data useful for the following analysis. The fifth chapter consists of describing of applied methodology and describing of creation of the price model. The sixth chapter summarises results of simulation of direct impact of taxation on average prices for companies and on expenditures of particular sectors of NACE. The seventh chapter presents results of cross-sectoral analysis of indirect macroeconomic impacts for all variants; the chapter includes also testing of hypotheses and comments of final results.

The foreign exchange market plays an important role in global finance, as it is considered to be among the largest financial markets in the world because of the significant amount of money involved in the foreign exchange market's transactions. Economic theories show that the exchange rate market may interact with the stock market index, but empirical studies on the interaction between the exchange rate market and the stock market index produced mixed results. Thus there is no empirical agreement regarding the interactions between the stock prices and exchange rate. This study examined the interaction between the real exchange rate and the stock market index in South Africa, with the aim of identifying the effect of exchange rate shocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It establishes the direction of causality between the stock market index and the real exchange rate; identifies the long-run and short-run relationships between the South African stock market and the exchange rate and determines the response of the South African stock market to different exchange rate regimes from 1978 to 2008. This study used different econometrics models, including descriptive statistics analysis, Engle-Granger cointegration approach, Error Correction Model and a Granger-Causality test. Variables used in this study include the real values of the JSE all share index and the real exchange rate series (the Rand/U.S. dollar exchange rate) from January 1978 to December 2008. The stock market index responded to changes in exchange rate regimes. Although the response tended to be slightly stronger during the period of the free floating exchange rate, correlation coefficients were insignificant in both fixed and flexible exchange rate regimes. A negative long-run relationship between the real exchange rate and the stock market index was found. The short-run results established that changes in the real exchange rate have no impact on the real stock market index. Granger-Causality tests indicated that there is a bidirectional causal relationship between the South African stock market index and the Rand/U.S. dollar exchange rate. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The theory behind the efficient market hypothesis exerts that it is not possible to consistently outperform the overall stock market by using stock picking and market timing strategies. The argument holds that, in an efficient market, all stock prices are appropriately priced and there is no over- or undervalued stocks to be found. Nevertheless, deviations from true stock prices can occur according to the hypothesis, although these deviations are mostly random occurrences. Thus, the only way an investor can outperform the overall stock market is by luck alone. However, the efficient market hypothesis is a controversial topic where it is often discussed within modern financial circles where academic theory has strong arguments both for and against the theory. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether it is feasible to outperform the overall stock market through investing in stocks that appear undervalued according to enterprise multiple (EV/EBITDA) and the price-earnings ratio. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 67-68).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / "February 2006." Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-144). Also available via the World Wide Web.