Proprioception is recalibrated following reaches with misaligned visual feedback of the hand, such that one’s sense of felt hand position is shifted in the direction of the visual feedback provided (Cressman & Henriques 2009). In the current experiment, we examined the ability of proprioceptive recalibration to be retained over an extended period of time (i.e. 4 days), and the benefits of additional training on retention in the form of recall and savings (i.e. faster re-learning on subsequent testing days). Twenty-four participants trained to reach to a target while seeing a cursor that was rotated 30° clockwise relative to their hand on an initial day of testing. Half of the participants then completed additional reach training trials on 4 subsequent testing days (Training group), whereas the second half of participants did not complete additional training (Non-Training group). Participants provided estimates of their felt hand position on all 5 testing days to establish retention of proprioceptive recalibration. Results revealed that proprioceptive recalibration was recalled 24 hours after initial training and that there was no benefit of additional training. Retention in the form of savings was observed on all days for the Training group and on Day 5 in the Non-Training group. These results reveal that proprioceptive recalibration does not benefit from additional training but is retained in the form of recall and savings. Taken together, results from the two groups of participants showed that the sensory system’s ability to change over time appeared to saturate early on, within two days of training. Moreover, the different time scales (i.e. 1 day for recall versus 4 days for savings), suggested that distinct processes may underlie recall and savings of proprioceptive recalibration.

This graduation theses analyses typical financial products that families use in the Czech Republic. It is current account, saving account, fixed account, depositor's passbook, building savings, supplementary pension insurance, life insurance and shares funds. At the close of the thesis are case studies demonstrative possible family finance management.

The main task of this thesis is to clarify the impact of demographics on the rate of gross national savings which is considered one of the main elements of economic growth. Demographic trends and theoretical background are presented, which contributes to the understanding of the relationship of savings and the age structure of the population. The assessment of the relationship is done based on cross-sectional analysis of data from period 2009 -2013 for 133 countries, while the effect of demographic forces is studied through dependency rates of unproductive population. In the analysis partial estimates and analogous research with the pre-crisis data are performed. The results suggest that demographic forces leading to the growth of dependency rates negatively influence the savings rate. However, the important role is played by the level of development of individual countries or regional specifics since the effect of demographics between developed and developing countries is considerably different.

This thesis is focused on study of global imbalances as they appear in these days. The deepening global financial imbalance as an impact of international capital flows is considered to be one of the most important. The study is also focused on other tendencies that could possibly endanger the future prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic civilization from the view of savings, consumption and problems with accumulation of capital regarding the demographic aging of the society. All these aspects are now more visible because of the financial, economic and on-going debt crisis. The situation looks unsustainable and needs changes that could be essential for avoiding a major decline of the Europian society in the view of the rest of the world.

Saving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing theirSaving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing their finances. These findings can be traced back to this class’s previous exclusion from the main economy. The recommended outcome of this paper indicates that the South African government should implement budgeting as part of the curriculum in primary and high schools. People leaving employment before retirement should not be allowed to cash out more than 50% of their pension fund, and the private sector should be involved in educating its employees with regard to budgeting and the benefits of saving, while creating an environment that facilitates access to financial providers. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This paper investigates how individuals in emerging markets, specifically South Africa, approach their savings decision. The researcher attempts to identify those attributes most desirable to emerging market consumers, in so far as the allocation of their disposable income to saving is concerned. In the wake of one of the biggest financial crises to hit the modern world, there is going to be increased scrutiny into how financial institutions and countries capitalise their balance sheets. The manner in which financial advice is given to individuals will face similar scrutiny as such the subject matter requires even greater understanding. Human beings in some parts of the world are living increasingly longer. Longevity risk is the risk that people may live for longer than the average expected. This poses risks of uncertainty of the quantum of financial assets to build up in preparation for retirement. These are pertinent reasons for the need for a study of this nature. The research found that stereotypical understandings of the profile of a typical emerging market individual are being challenged. As such organisations looking to take advantage of business opportunities present in these markets need to be cognisant of this change in shaping their business strategies. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

There is a clear focus on the environmental question in today’s society. The awareness of energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases is growing which causes the urge to increase energy efficiency and decrease the emissions. This is applied in all sectors, housing being one of them.Approximately a fifth of the entire energy consumption in Sweden accounts for hot water supply and heating of all housing and facilities. About half of all housing in Sweden consist of apartment building’s. A third of the global emission of greenhouse gases is related to the building sector. This motivates a focus on energy saving measures in the housing sector and especially apartment buildings.In this report the consequences, regarding energy savings, economic profitability and emission of CO2 equivalents, of implementing energy saving measures on an old apartment building have been investigated. The energy saving measures that have been considered are Additional insulation of attic, Additional insulation of external wall, New windows and balcony doors and FTX. The reference building that has been considered in this project is a light weight concrete apartment building with brick facade which was constructed in Stockholm 1948. It has 3 floors, a basement and a total of 12 apartments. This project has been preformed in cooperation with AB Familjebost¨ader.The results regarding energy savings have been brought through energy simulations in the software IDA ICE. The reference building was constructed in the software and simulations were done for each energy saving measure. Another simulation was done combining the measures Additional insulation of external wall and New windows and balcony doors and one simulation combining all measures. A reference simulation was also done to validate that the model building is representative to the reference building.The economic profitability and payback time was calculated, using the net present value method considering the discount rate of 4% and the lifetime of 40 years, for each measure and combined measures. The emissions of CO2 equivalents related to the material used for each energy saving measure were calculated. Additionally, the emissions related to consumption of electricity and district heating were calculated, considering three different district heating suppliers. With these numbers the total amount of avoided emissions due to a measure could be calculated.According to the simulation results Insulation of attic had the lowest energy saving with 3.34% and New windows and balcony doors had the largest energy saving with 27.49%. The total energy saving reached 68.51% when implementing all measures. According to the economic calculations only Insulation of attic is profitable with a payback time of 8.42 years. But the measures New windows and balcony doors and FTX might be profitable if the reference building’s increased value, due to implementation of the measure, is considered. The calculations of the emissions of CO2 equivalents suggests that all measures imply avoided emissions if the current district heating supplier is considered. The amount of avoided emissions varies depending on which district heating supplier is considered and in some cases the energy saving measure can causes more emissions compared to no measure.The recommendation form the author is to go through with the measure Insulation of attic since it decreases the energy consumption and is economically profitable Furthermore, it is recommended to investigate how the measures New windows and balcony doors and FTX would affect the financial worth of the reference building, since that may cause those measures to be profitable.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Savings is essential for boosting economic growth. Low savings in a country will have negative consequences for both investment and economic growth. South Africa has continued to expe rience declining saving rates and in recent years, accompanied by declining economic growth. The study evaluated savings in South Africa by decomposing it into household saving, cor porate saving and public saving. The focus was to investigate the determinants of household savings, corporate and public savings. In addition to examining the determinants of savings, the research has also analysed the saving-investment relationship for South Africa. The study used a Bayesian vector auto regressive model to investigate the determinants of household sav ing from 1980Q1 to 2017Q4. The results of the investigation on household saving showed that GDP, inflation rate, and financial deepening determine household saving in South Africa. The Bayesian VAR was also used to identify the determinant of budget deficit between 1980Q1 to 2017Q and found Real GDP, inflation rate, total government debt, investment by general government and the inflation rate to be determinants. The Blundel-Bond Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) was used to investigate the determinants of corporate saving in form of cash holding for 80 non-financial firms listed on the JSE between 2007 and 2017. The results showed leverage, cash flow, debt maturity and previous amounts of cash holding to have significant effect on cash holding in SA. Lastly, the study examined the saving-investment nexus for South Africa using yearly data from 1980 to 2016. Using the Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) and the Error Correction Model, (ECM), the study found a cointegrating relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment. It further found a positive relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment in both the short and long run. Causality analysis showed a unidirectional causality from domestic saving to domestic investment.

Recent studies have indicated that only 6% of South African citizens can maintain their standard of living during retirement. This is of great concern to both the government and individuals. In an attempt to counter this dilemma, the government has implemented several new tax exemptions and deductions to encourage taxpayers to increase their retirement savings. However, uncertainty exists regarding the effectiveness of these exemptions and deductions. For individuals to benefit from same, they will need to be informed on and understand the principles on which they are based. Above all, South African citizens need to grasp the importance of ensuring their financial security during retirement, which will hopefully create a culture of saving for that purpose. South Africans therefore need to increase their level of financial and tax literacy, either by informing themselves in that regard, or by consulting with professionals. This study was conducted from a South African perspective and focused on the probability of financial and tax literacy increasing financial independence during retirement. The data presented in this study was collected by means of two questionnaires, which were emailed to a selection of participants. The purpose of this study was first to determine the financial and tax literacy of South Africans with regard to retirement planning and second, to determine whether financial and tax literacy could increase financial independence during retirement. This study is an empirical study since primary data was collected specifically for this research project. Based on the data obtained by means of the questionnaires, it was concluded that the financial and tax literacy of the majority of South Africans is not sufficient to intentionally benefit from tax-beneficial retirement funds and investments. It was further concluded that although the majority of South Africans are not sufficiently financially literate to be able to optimise their retirement savings, they are willing to improve their level of financial and tax literacy and increase their savings towards retirement once they have been informed and have gained some understanding in this regard. Therefore, financial and tax literacy can potentially increase financial independence during retirement. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Taxation / MCom / Unrestricted

Thesis (MTech (Cost and Management Accounting))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / This study examined the determinants of savings and investment among low-income households in South Africa. Savings and investment play a significant role in improving living standard of people and also act as important factors for state survival in times of economic crises. The benefits of household savings and investment cannot be easily quantified, especially in achieving economic growth. Despite the numerous benefits, low income household savings and investments remain an issue that has characterised the lives of many low-income households in South African since post-apartheid. The study is based on Non-Ricardian Households (NRH) which comprises medium and high-income households, which are involved in the financial market, participate in buying bonds or stocks, and are classified as saving households. Non-Ricardian households comprise low-income households which largely depend on government welfare benefits for sustenance and are classified as the low savings and hence low-income households. The research used National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset wave one to five. Four different panel models were analysed in determining the socio-economic characteristics of NRH in South Africa. The panel estimators include Pooled OLS, fixed and random effects methods. The results show that households’ income, household size, household geographical local and household grants among others are major determinant of households’ savings and investment in South Africa. Government grants received by households have positive relationship with savings and negative relationship with investment. This is because the low-income households do not save to invest but save for delay consumption. The results have also showed the likelihood of government grants to household’s crowd out household investment as they over depend on the government for both present and future expenditure. The study recommends that government should create a more enabling environment for Non-Ricardian households to engage in productive activities and to also create more low skills jobs and encourage reduction of birth rate among low-income households.