Japanese monetary authorities used to employ various intervention techniques to adjust the level of the dollar/yen exchange rate and reduce its volatility. Application of the GARCH-in- mean model for estimation of the effect of these operations demonstrates that depreciating interventions reduced volatility effectively from 1995 until 2002. Frequent interventions of the small scale had a tendency to increase volatility during period 1991-1995. Foreign exchange interventions conducted by US Fed have increasing, means negative, effect, on the conditional variance. Frequent interventions of the great scale do not affect the volatility; it is determined mostly by the persistent level of the conditional variance from the latter periods. Recent interventions conducted by the Bank of Japan after the financial crisis do not show any considerable effect on both the volatility and the level of the exchange rate.

The type of exchange rate regime a country should adopt and ideal level of the currency have has been an ongoing debate amongst academics, politician and trade unionists. The South African economic debate is currently dominated by debates on the appropriate level of the exchange rate of the rand. With the high volatility of the rand and the rapid appreciation of the rand in 2010 there have been calls for various sectors for government to intervene and devalue the rand. The premise is that devaluation will help counter the volatility of the rand and help stimulate South Africa’s export sector thereby resulting in an improvement of the trade balance. The aim of this research was to determine if there is a relationship between South Africa’s exchange rate and the trade balance and to determine if devaluation of the rand would have a positive influence on the trade balance. Furthermore the extent to which the trade balance would follow the J-Curve effect following devaluation was investigated. Using the long term trade balance model and Autoregressive Distributed Lagged (ARDL) model between the analyses was done between South Africa and the BRIC countries. The conclusion reached was that a devaluation of the rand would not necessarily lead to a long term improvement of the trade balance and no evidence of the J-Curve effect was found. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Melanie M. Derby / Oil-water separation is an important process in the petroleum industry. This research investigates the use of surface tension forces to improve current oil-water separation technologies. An understanding of oil-water flows in surface tension driven mini-channels is necessary. This work investigates the effects of mini-channel wall material and tube diameter, along with oil viscosity, on flow regimes and pressure drops in mini-channel oil-water flows. A horizontal closed-loop, adiabatic experimental apparatus was constructed and validated using single-phase water. 2.1-mm and 3.7-mm borosilicate glass, 3.7-mm stainless steel and 4.0-mm Inconel tubes, resulting in Eötvös numbers of 0.2, 0.6 and 0.7 were tested. The experimental data were analyzed and compared using two mineral oils (i.e., Parol 70 and 100) with densities of 840 kg/m³ for both and viscosities of 11.7 and 20.8 mPa-s, respectively. Experiments included a wide range of oil superficial velocities (e.g., 0.28-6.82 m/s for glass, 0.28-2.80 m/s for stainless steel and 0.21-2.89 for Inconel) and water superficial velocities (e.g., 0.07-6.77 for glass, 0.07-4.20 m/s for stainless steel and 0.06-3.86 m/s). Flow regimes were observed and classified as stratified, annular, intermittent, and dispersed flow regimes. Effects of tube diameter were observed. For example, the 2.1-mm glass tube had the smaller range of stratified flows and the larger range of annular and intermittent flows compared to the 3.7-mm glass tube. At the same oil and water superficial velocities and relatively the same flow regime, stainless steel and Inconel always displayed higher pressure drop than the glass tube. However, pressure drops were a strong function of flow regime; lowest pressure drops were found for annular flows and highest pressure drops for dispersed flows. Flow regime maps and pressure drop graphs were created. Overall effects of oil viscosity were modest; however, an increase in oil viscosity enhanced flow stability which affected flow regime transition points.

This study aims to scrutinize Turkey’s uneasy democratization process during the post-Helsinki period (1999-2010). The research design of the thesis takes the form of a single case study as it seeks to critically link Turkey’s democratization problems with the wider theoretical literature on secularism, post-Islamism and democratization. Rather than witnessing the clear-cut victory of liberal democracy over non-democracy as espoused by Fukuyamian eschatology, the advent of the Post-Cold War Era witnessed the proliferation of hybrid grey zone which stood between the continuum of democracy and conventional non-democracy. As a result, many scholars opted to construct ‘hybrid regime typologies’ in order to capture the incongruous yet enduring coexistence of partially democratic and non-democratic features within each political unit. In line with contemporary developments in the democratization literature, this thesis opts to construct a multi-dimensional hybrid regime typology for the case of Turkey. Besides seeking to capture the core regime principles of the Kemalist one-party dictatorship (1923-1946) under the label of ‘laic-ethnocracy’, the theoretical framework of the thesis provides an assessable normative benchmark for delineating Turkey’s democratization trajectory since the initiation of the multi-party era (1946-1950). After demonstrating how Turkey’s successive ‘controlled transitions’ (1946-1997) consistently aimed at perpetuating ethnocratic hegemony and obstructing the democratic transformation of incompatible aspects of the Kemalist laicism, the thesis seeks to scrutinize the impact of the EU candidacy in shaping the pattern and outcome of the recent democratization process in the domestic arena. In this respect, the thesis underlines how the ongoing political ‘transition process’ during the post-Helsinki decade (1999-2009) qualitatively differs from all of the previous transitions which had been guided and forcefully controlled by traditional Kemalist state elites. Yet, the thesis also exposes the limited and partial commitment of the post-Islamist AKP government to forge the democratic transformation of Turkey’s enduring ‘laic-ethnocratic’ regime paradigm namely by assessing its reform performance towards the cultural rights of ethnic and belief-rights of the non-Sunni Muslim minorities (e.g., the sizeable Kurdish ethnic and Muslim-Alevi religious minority). Overall, the thesis characterizes Turkey’s ‘post-Helsinki transition’ process as a case of uneasy democratization. In this context, the term ‘uneasy democratization’ does not only highlight the inconsistencies of main domestic political actors in forging clear-cut democratic transformation of Turkey’s enduring ‘laic-ethnocracy’ regime paradigm, but also to a chronic failure to soothe the deeply-seated cleavages within the socio-political arena.

Les libertés publiques ont toujours rencontré des obstacles affectant leur réel exercice en Tunisie. Les transitions démocratiques souvent invoquées par les dirigeants, se sont avérées des périodes au cours desquelles, cet exercice est le plus vulnérable. A chaque période, correspondent des priorités présentées par l’élite dirigeante pour justifier l’ajournement de l’exercice des libertés publiques. Les institutions politiques, l’organisation du pouvoir et le cadre normatif, ne permettent pas de dire qu’ils offrent un terrain favorable aux libertés publiques. Ces d.dernières, sont d’autant plus vulnérables, qu’elles évoluent dans un milieu politico-idéologique peu propice à leur épanouissement. Les affrontements entre les modernistes et les conservateurs, sont la plus part du temps résolus grâce au consensus, fruit d’une alliance entre la modernité et la tradition. Toujours est-il, à chaque ouverture d’une période transitoire, le débat se durcit et aussi la peur de perdre les acquis d’une Tunisie réformiste. / Civil liberties have always meet difficulties to their real exercise in Tunisia. Democratic transitions which are often put forward by political leaders reveal themselves as the most critical periods for freedoms exercise. During each period, priorities are invoked in order to justify delaying the freedom exercise. Political organization and legal rules does not allow affirming that they offer a favorable environment and conditions for freedom exercise. The civil liberties are evolving in a unfavorable ideological and politic context. Confrontations between modernists and conservatives are most of the time avoided by the resort to the agreement in order to reconcile tradition and modernity. Let us underline that at each opening of a transitional period that the debates get harder and the fear losing the rights collectively acquired grows.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The current literature tends to looks at regimes in only two categories; democracy and autocracy. Recognizing that this limits the scope of what is measured, and limited the practical applicability of this research, I chose to combine the current research on war crimes with more modern research on how to measure regime type. I integrate James Morrow and Heyran Jo’s comprehensive dataset on war crimes from 1900 to 1991 with Carston Anckar and Cecilia Fredriksson’s dataset on Political Regimes of the World, and run statistical tests to determine the relationship between these more specific categories of regime type and the types of war crimes they commit. I find that the historical relationship between more specific regime types and certain measurements of war crimes provide few clear answers, but does give us a clear argument against a dichotomous measure of regime type. The relationships seen here provide the basis for more in-depth future research into the characteristics of different regimes, and their behavior in times of war.

South Africa is pursuing the exploration and exploitation of its possible petroleum resources particularly shale gas, following the estimation of just over 400 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of shale gas resources in the Karoo region. This, including the lodgement of five shale gas exploration right applications has necessitated the strengthening of the petroleum regulatory framework as well as the fiscal regime to ensure that South Africa remains an attractive destination for investors and for South Africa to extract maximum economic benefits. This paper has undertaken an examination of the current fiscal regime particularly the non-tax elements as stipulated in the current regulatory framework. Upon its face value the South African fiscal regime appears to be underdeveloped and not necessarily designed to cater for development of shale gas. Furthermore, it is not designed to address the specifics of shale gas development within the South African context. Some aspects of the South African fiscal regime may require to be strengthened while also remaining relevant and competitive internationally. A fiscal regime that is flexible and sensitive to shale gas development specific within a country context is required. Consideration for a differentiated tax construction may also be incorporated to make up for allowances provided at the beginning of the project. This will be in line with South Africa’s objectives for the creation of a sustainable and competitive petroleum industry that provides a win-win solution for both government and the industry. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted

During the past few years, South Africa established a competitive headquarter tax regime, which was implemented with the primary goal of encouraging foreign direct investment in South Africa. An important secondary goal was for South Africa to be used as a Holding Company location through which multinational entities can invest into sub-Saharan Africa. Although the Headquarter Company regime was developed to prevent any direct losses to the fiscus, it did not create any direct benefits or advantages. Internationally, substance requirements have a two-fold purpose: to encourage resident tax entities to engage in active economic activities, and to prohibit income losses due to tax avoidance or evasion. Some of the most important substance requirements are set out in a country’s policies on permanent establishment, beneficial ownership and transfer pricing. Another effective manner to encourage economic activity is to offer tax incentives to activities usually associated with Headquarter Companies. These activities include, but are not limited to active management, granting loans, leasing, and the provision of intellectual property. This research concludes that the inclusion of substance requirements in headquarter tax legislation will not only directly benefit the fiscus, but it will indirectly benefit the economy as a whole. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Taxation / unrestricted

La propriété foncière représente une question intéressante et fondamentale au Vietnam. Le rapport à la terre a été encadré de différentes manières tout au long de l’histoire de ce pays, dans les périodes tant féodale que coloniale et socialiste. Les différences au niveau de la conception ainsi que de la technique d’administration des sols à chaque époque expliquent la complexité du droit foncier vietnamien contemporain ; complexité accrue dans un contexte d’économie de marché avec l’orientation socialiste maintenue par le Parti communiste. Cette situation ambiguë renvoie à l’image d’un pays qui est prêt à mettre en place des réformes structurelles, particulièrement dans le secteur économique, sans pour autant rompre avec son idéologie socialiste. La question foncière constitue un axe majeur des problématiques actuelles, au centre desquelles réside la confusion entre la propriété publique et la propriété privée. À la suite de lois foncières et d’amendements divers, notamment après la Constitution de 2013, le droit d’usage foncier et la propriété immobilière des particuliers ont mieux été protégés qu’auparavant. L’État du Vietnam a reconnu la nature réelle du droit d’usage des sols, qui a permis l’émergence d’un marché immobilier dynamique et attractif par les investisseurs nationaux et internationaux. D’autre part, l’urbanisation a conduit à de nombreux bouleversements dans l’usage de la terre en zones rurales. Malgré ses efforts, l’État du Vietnam ne parvient cependant pas à s’adapter aux exigences de ce nouveau contexte. Il s’y développe depuis longtemps des débats sur la propriété foncière, sur la notion de droit d’usage et d’autres éléments en rapport avec la gestion foncière. Les dirigeants tâtonnent et l’administration foncière soulève encore de nombreuses difficultés. L’un des aspects les plus remarquables concerne le maintien de la réquisition foncière, procédure qui implique la précarité du droit d’usage des particuliers.Alors, à qui appartient aujourd’hui la terre au Vietnam ? Est-ce que les composantes du peuple vietnamien, surtout les paysans pauvres, en sont véritablement les maîtres ? Le droit d’usage peut-il être considéré comme l’équivalent d’un droit de propriété au sens du droit français ? Toutes ces interrogations, qui se trouvent au coeur de la présente thèse, conduisent à suggérer une nouvelle réforme du droit vietnamien dans un proche avenir. / Land ownership is an interesting and fundamental issue in Vietnam. The relationship to the land has been framed in different ways throughout the history of this country, in both feudal and colonial and socialist periods. The differences in design and soil management technique in each period explain the complexity of contemporary Vietnamese land law; increased complexity in a market economy context with the socialist orientation maintained by the Communist Party. This ambiguous situation refers to the image of a country that is ready to implement structural reforms, particularly in the economic sector, without breaking with its socialist ideology. The land issue is a major focus of current issues, at the center of which lies the confusion between public property and private property. As a result of land laws and various amendments, particularly after the 2013 Constitution, land tenure and private property rights have been better protected than before. The State of Vietnam has recognized the real nature of the land use right, which has allowed the emergence of a dynamic and attractive real estate market by national and international investors. On the other hand, urbanization has led to many upheavals in the use of land in rural areas. Despite its efforts, however, the State of Vietnam can not adapt to the demands of this new context. There has been a long history of debates on land ownership, the concept of the right of use and other elements related to land management. The leaders are fumbling and the land administration still raises many difficulties. One of the most remarkable aspects concerns the maintenance of the land requisition, a procedure that involves the precariousness of the right of use of individuals.So, who owns land in Vietnam today? Are the components of the Vietnamese people, especially the poor peasants, really the masters? Can the right of use be considered as the equivalent of a right of property within the meaning of French law? All these questions, which are at the heart of this thesis, lead to suggest a new reform of Vietnamese law in the near future.