Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Economics, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1992. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement and English abstract inserted. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-300).

The effect of FDI on economic growth is not a straight jacket. Literature has shown that the effect of FDI on economic growth can be either positive or negative. The positive effects of FDI can be caused by increase in output stimulated by new technological innovations and increase in capital flows. The negative effects could result in a ‘crowding out’ effect on domestic investments, external vulnerability and dependence, destructive competition of foreign affiliates with domestic firms, and market stealing effect due to poor absorptive capacity.This treatise will attempt to shed light on the effect foreign direct investment has on economic growth in South Africa in order to ascertain whether a positive or negative relationship exists between these two variables. This study thus aims to investigate, analyse and estimate the extent to which FDI impacts economic growth in South Africa. The findings of this research will provide policymakers, commercial businesses and scholars with relevant updated theoretical and empirical results that will assist relevant government policy makers in generating effective measures of attracting FDI if it proves to be beneficial for the host country. If the results of the study prove that FDIs do not generate positive spill over effects then the policymakers are thus obliged to formulate policies that will discourage FDIs from penetrating the host country’s economy.

Thesis (MTech (Tourism))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / This dissertation deals with an audit of community tourism projects that were invested in, in the Eastern Cape as part of government intervention to create job opportunities and contribute to the growth of the Eastern Cape economy through the tourism industry. The focus is on projects that received capital allocations for infrastructural development rather than operational costs. The study sought to achieve the following objectives: • Determine the status quo of publicly funded capital tourism projects developed since 2004. • Determine the modus operandi followed with regard to capital tourism projects. • Determine the reasons for the successes or failures of these projects. • Provide recommendations to address gaps and failures in tourism projects. The key informants to the study were steering committees that were established to implement community tourism projects. The steering committees are represented by government officials (local, provincial and national), consultants and community trusts or any community structure that represents the broader community. The study revealed three types of community projects, namely: • Projects that are operational – although there are projects operating, the number is insignificant and it is unlikely that they would achieve the objectives that they were built for. The overall operational status does not warrant the R500m that was invested by government. • Projects that operated before but closed hence, referred to as ‘white elephants’ – there are a number of projects that were in business but currently closed due to poor management and lack of skills. • Projects that were under planning during the survey – these are projects that have been under planning for a very long time.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Text in English / This research study aimed to investigate and provide a comprehensive analysis of Zambia’s whole-of-government monitoring and evaluation system (WoGM&ES) in the context of national development plans (NDPs) within the broader agenda of good governance and poverty reduction. The study considered the period 1964 to 2021—a period covering all the seven (7) NDPs for Zambia since independence. The study focused on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) arrangements in the public sector as articulated in these NDPs and other government policies as well as structural operations. The research was centred on five (5) secondary objectives, namely a) justifying the theoretical significance of Zambia's WoGM&ES to improve public-sector good governance and poverty reduction agenda through the theory of change; b) presenting Zambia as a case study in terms of the results-based WoGM&ES; c) identifying gaps inhibiting the implementation of a results-focused WoGM&ES for Zambia’s public sector; d) establishing cornerstones necessary for building a results-based WoGM&ES for Zambia’s public sector; and e) proposing a new model for the enhanced WoGM&ES for Zambia’s public sector. Striving for functional M&E systems is a global phenomenon that requires commitment by all stakeholders and M&E of development interventions has become a vehicle that assists development agencies globally to demonstrate results to show to their stakeholders and beneficiaries. Thus, the starting point was to contend that M&E had increasingly become a useful tool towards good governance and that more institutions and governments had adopted it. The study then demonstrates how an M&E system, and, more so, a WoGM&ES, was crucial to implementing a thriving M&E culture for any country or organisation. In terms of scope, the study drew respondents from across government functionaries at national, line ministry, province and district level. Respondents from non-state institutions and M&E practitioners were also part of the study. The research was exploratory and investigatory and used the qualitative research approach to guide its design, data collection, collation and analysis, conclusion, recommendations and presentation. Further, purposive sampling was used to select respondents from these various institutions. Data collection benefited through the use of closed and open-ended questions from both secondary and primary sources. Nvivo software, text analysis as well as the analytical tool called LEADS comprised of a 5-point scoring scale were adopted and used for discussion and analysis of field data and information. The analytical instrument adopted to guide the research comprises of six components, namely: i) policy, ii) methodology, iii) organisation, iv) capacity, v) participation of actors outside government, and vi) the use of information from M&E. These components form the diagnostic checklist (analytical framework) used to assess the current status of Zambia’s WoGM&ES. In many ways, Zambia’s public sector system for M&E was found to be weak. At all levels—national, line ministry, provincial and district, M&E arrangements and practice were found to be poor. Both the supply side and the demand side of Zambia’s country level M&E system were unable to provide stakeholders with required and adequate information to inform critical development processes, such as policy-making, decision-making, planning, budgeting, resource allocation and advocacy. Gaps were identified in all the six components of the diagnostic checklist and improvements will be necessary as suggested and recommended under each one of them to make the WoGM&ES viable to meet the expectations of stakeholders. While the supply side of the system was relatively found to be well developed, the demand side was worse off. On the supply side, the study found that the policy and methodology components were fairly well developed. However, the component on the use of information by stakeholders, on the demand side, was found to be poorly developed. Further, various capacities in M&E were acknowledged as lacking across the WoGM&ES. The participation of actors outside government in strengthening the country system for M&E was also found to be weak, in many cases presented with lots of parallel and fragmented stand-alone systems. The policy environment in support of M&E strengthening and expansion was equally reported as one of the key areas that required attention from both political and technical powers that be. Although Zambia’s WoGM&ES was found to be weak in many aspects, it is noteworthy to mention that it has the necessary features for success. The study established that at national level, there were currently efforts to make M&E work in government. Such activities as creating a structure responsible for coordinating M&E across government, automating data management and information flows as well as developing a national M&E policy were reported to be ongoing efforts. To improve and enhance Zambia’s WoGM&ES, this study has proposed a model. Firstly, the new model recommends a structural shift in the manner M&E is coordinated at national level. The presidency was identified as the most appropriate location or entity to hold the responsibility of overseeing the WoGM&ES and in constantly as well as dedicatedly demanding for development results. The model is proposed as a transformational and long term strife and commitment by the current and successive governments. It was established that the current arrangement where the Ministry of National Development Planning (MNDP) was overseeing the WoGM&ES had led to operational gaps related to weak funding to M&E activities and high level policy clout. Generally, there is lack of influence (both political and technical) to spur an M&E transformational agenda for the country, let alone within the public sector. Therefore, the proposed model advances that the presidency will have the motivation and capacity to resolve these weaknesses a great deal. Specifically, the model suggests the establishment of an evaluation structure under the presidency to work as an apex institution to drive and champion the cause for a robust results-based WoGM&ES for the Zambian public sector. To formalise this arrangement, a well-defined M&E legislation will be needed. In addition, the proposed model has made salient recommendations on how to build and strengthen both the supply side and demand side of Zambia’s WoGM&ES. These two sides are considered vital for success of the country system for M&E and government and its stakeholders and partners will do well to invest in building and sustaining the supply and demand sides. In proposing a new architecture for Zambia’s WoGM&ES, the proposed model has acknowledged and incorporated the current positive practices and arrangements. Finally, the study has among others recommended that all government levels should create formal structures mandated to undertake M&E functions. These entities should be equipped with skilled staff in M&E, funding, technologies and relevant equipment. This research has also enriched literature on M&E and its relationship with good governance. Equally, a number of M&E issues such as political, technical and international best practices have been raised to prompt future research and development. / Development Studies / Ph.D. (Development Studies)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000. / "February 2000." / Includes bibliographical references. / Three studies were conducted to analyze the relationship between public infrastructure investment and regional economic performance. The first study examines the literature on economic development and productivity growth. I show that conflicting results from studies by other analysts are the likely result of poor public capital data spanning to short an interval, and an inadequate modeling framework. Public investment may generate small improvements in productivity, but models understate economic impacts owing to the public goods character of some forms of public capital. The second study explores the relationship between economic distress and public infrastructure investment. I use a sample of U.S. counties to analyze public investment according to level of economic distress. With simple investment models, I estimated infrastructure needs for counties with apparent shortfalls. I analyzed the needs-estimates in a series of case studies in which jurisdiction planning and budget personnel were consulted about the accuracy of the estimates. I show that short-run economic distress is not to be linked to public infrastructure investment. Over the long-run, investment varies by level of distress, but as a consequence of private residential investment. The needs-estimating models were reasonably accurate, but missing investment data proved troublesome. Counties proved to be a poor unit of analysis for infrastructure needs, as since significant variation was observed among jurisdictions within counties. The third study demonstrates the need for better estimates of public infrastructure capital stock. I prepared new capital stock estimates for two regions using local investment data and survey-based public capital service lives. I surveyed one thousand jurisdictions in the New England region and the state of Texas. Survey-based service-lives seem to differ significantly from estimated lives. Stock estimates using local investment data and survey-based service-lives produce dramatic differences compared to estimated stocks at the state and regional level. The new data, however, performed just as poorly as other series when used to estimate aggregate production functions. Prior analysts' understanding the relationship between economic performance and public infrastructure investment has been limited because of poor data, and inadequate appreciation of infrastructure's inherent complexity. The research presented here demonstrates that significant improvements are possible and worth undertaking. / by Nicholas O. Rockler. / Ph.D.

Nessa pesquisa nos concentramos na urbanização turística litorânea e nos grandes projetos urbanos promovidos por investimentos públicos em Belém (PA) e Fortaleza (CE) entre 1990 e 2010. Esses são realizados no espaço público dessas cidades onde o turismo acontece, e neles, geralmente, quantidades consideráveis dos recursos públicos são investidas e, justamente por isso, devem ser bem aplicadas. Assim, questionamos o modo como essas intervenções urbanas são atualmente planejadas e conduzidas a partir do estudo do fenômeno em duas regiões metropolitanas. Demonstramos quanto custou e quem pagou as intervenções, qual foi sistema e a participação estatal nesse montante; quais equipamentos (turísticos) foram criados, qual foi o impacto no entorno, principalmente no espaço público, e qual o impacto para a população, ou seja, se os novos equipamentos foram socializados. Na capital paraense o enfoque está na série de projetos realizados pelos governos municipal e estadual na orla, mas principalmente no projeto da Estação das Docas, realizado a partir da revitalização de três armazéns do porto, enquanto que em na capital cearense a atenção está voltada para o Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura construído no bairro da Praia de Iracema. Conforme procuramos evidenciar, esses grandes projetos urbanos aliados a outras políticas governamentais foram muito importantes na revitalização dos espaços públicos, e se configuram numa peça importante para o desenvolvimento do turismo nesses lugares beneficiando milhões de pessoas. P / In this research we focus on tourist development in coastal and great urban projects promoted by public investments in Belém (PA) and Fortaleza (CE) between 1990 and 2010. These are held in public spaces of these cities where tourism takes place, and they usually considerable amounts of public funds are invested, and rightfully so, should be well implemented. Thus, we question how these urban interventions are currently planned and conducted from the study of the phenomenon in two metropolitan areas. We show how much it cost and who paid the interventions, which was the state system and the participation by this amount, what equipment (tourist) were created and what was the impact on the environment, especially in the public space, and the impact on the population, ie, if new equipment have been socialized. In the state capital of Pará is the focus on a series of projects undertaken by municipal and state governments on the waterfront, but mainly in the design of the Estação das Docas, made from the revitalization of three warehouses of the port, while in the state capital of Ceará attention is focused on Centro Dragão do Mar de Arte e Cultura built in the neighborhood of Praia de Iracema. As we seek to show, these large urban projects coupled with other government policies were very important in the revitalization of public spaces, and make up a major component for the development of tourism in these places benefiting millions of people.

This thesis explores 1) the ways that three Vietnamese infrastructure development projects undermine their cities' climate change adaptation goals and 2) the political and economic forces driving these developments. In-depth interviews highlight four main perspectives of planners and decision makers, which explain why these infrastructure projects often undermine cities' climate resilience goals. I describe how the mainstream climate change adaptation planning approach, with its emphasis on participatory planning, good governance and green growth, implicitly reinforces the neoliberal growth model, even as it seeks to ameliorate the inequality and ecological destruction that such a growth model creates. My research reveals how Vietnam's growth-first economic model and its dependence on international finance means that its climate adaptation priorities are increasingly shaped by the interests of financial institutions, and not necessarily the public interest. I argue that even if the strategies proposed by Vietnamese planners and climate adaptation practitioners are adopted, maladaptive projects will continue in Vietnam, unless the underlying economic growth imperative is addressed.

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