Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))--University of the Witwatersrand, 1985.

Estimates of the value of manufacturing sector output enter into many economic indices, especially those measuring productivity. The South African Central Statistical Services has twice made substantial errors in the output series. Revisions to correct the first of these raised the growth rate in manufacturing over the period 1970-80 from 2,6 per cent per annum (compound) to 5 per cent. This episode is not common knowledge. After examining the conceptual difficulties involved in producing output stimates, a practical technique for detecting errors in the series , the Euler Consistency Test, is presented. Developed, refined, and then applied to the South African data, it predicted, retrospectively, the first set of errors (using only the information available at the time those errors were made), then detected another set of errors , not previously known to exist. The study records the process by which the CSS was made to concede this second error. Acknowledgement only came after protracted correspondence and an examination conducted by a special committee formed to investigate my complaints. With 1979 set equal to 100, the output level in 1988 was originally given as 113,8. After investigation, the CSS raised this to 126,1. The magnitude of this second error is equivalent to the omission of the total output of the two SASOL plants commissioned during the early 1980s. Estimates of productivity growth by the National Productivity Institute using these incorrect figures are shown to have created a misleading picture of the sector's performance, especially in the sensitive debate over the relationship between wage and productivity growth. An attempt is made to lay the groundwork of an analytical framework for comprehending (from a Marxist point of view) the activities of ideological state apparatusses like the NPI. A review of the literature on theory choice is conducted, and the necessarily political nature of this activity is explored. The relative impotence of I science' in the face of ideology in a conflict-ridden society is considered. The question of the significance of disagreements between economists is examined, and prospects for convergence and consensus on certain issues are weighed. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-Unversity of Natal, 1994.

In many respects a gold mine could be viewed as South African society in microcosm, for it hes many of the same structures and features of its macro-society. In most societies it would be inappropriate to regard an industrial setting as the microcosm of the larger society as, in most societies, people are hardly aware of authority or of the legal system. The principal source of contact with such systems for most people would be of an irritant kind, associated with parking and traffic misdemeanours. This does not apply to the black person in South Africa, where freedom of movement, place of residence,position at work, use of public facilities, etc. are severely circumscribed. In fact, it is not unusual for black persons to be accosted by the police from time to time to determine whether they are permitted to be where they are, or to be removed from premises by white officials. Moreover, most white persons abrogate unto themselves the right to give instructions to any black person, a situation not unfamiliar on a mine. In the South African macro-society and the mine micro-society the top echelon of jobs, the best living conditions, salaries, hours of work, conditions of employment, opportunities for advancement and other privileges are reserved for whites, and blacks have no authority to effect changes to these conditions. It is postulated that change in South Africa for blacks is likely to take a form similar to change on a mine. Consequently, by studying change to the quality of life of black workers on a mine, useful insights may be gained into the reactions of black persons to change in the macro-society. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1983.

Moll (1991) has criticised the proposal that demand restructuring should act as the impetus for economic growth in a post-apartheid South Africa on the grounds of, a lack of empirical support. The demand restructuring thesis is premised on two empirically testable assertions: firstly that realisable economies of scale are greater in labour-intensive wage goods sectors than in luxury goods and secondly that in manufacturing as a whole labour can easily substitute for capital. While a number of studies employing either the Cobb-Douglas (Cobb & Douglas, 1948) or Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) ( Arrow, Chenery, Minhas & Solow, 1961) functions have attempted to quantify these features of technology, their conclusions are potentially invalid. Both functions impose the maintained hypotheses of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability a priori. As primary hypothesis tests regarding the magnitude of parameters depend on the validity of both the hypothesis being tested and the underlying maintained hypotheses, the plausibility of maintained hypotheses is an important consideration when choosing a functional form for econometric analysis. Homotheticity and homogeneity constrain the theoretical determinants of economies of scale and seperability. The theoretical determinants of substitution thus limit the contexts in which functions which embody these hypotheses are likely to be appropriate. The mathematical concept of duality has permitted the development of flexible, general functions, such as the Transcendental Logarithmic Cost Function (Christensen, Jorgensen and Lau, 1971, 1973), which rather than imposing, permits the testing of the most commonly imposed maintained hypotheses. By applying this function to three sub-sectors of South African manufacturing both the validity of the commonly imposed maintained hypotheses and the empirical premises of the demand restructuring position are assessed in this dissertation. This application indicates that not only are the hypotheses of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability invalid but that the inappropriate imposition of homotheticity, homogeneity and seperability invalid but that the inappropriate imposition of homotheticity biases estimates of scale downwards. Evidence also emerges to challenge Moll's (1991) assertions regarding the empirical validity of demand restructuring. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

Relationships between „madams‟ and „maids‟ have been the subject of various South African works, detailing the lives of domestic workers and their daily struggles. This study however aims to turn the focus on the madam and questions the complex intimacy at work between her and her maid. It is this intricate association between „madam‟ and „maid,‟ as well as the context of the home, which creates a site for a unique personal relationship that extends beyond the constraints of the working contract. In order to investigate this relationship, I explore the preconceived notions Muslim madams of North Beach have when recruiting the ideal domestic worker as well as the way everyday life between madams and maids shapes their relationship. In demonstrating the types of relationships and levels of intimacy between them, this thesis focuses on three aspects of everyday life between Muslim madams and maid. Firstly, I explore the „home‟ as a contradictory location – being both a private space for the employer and a workspace for the maid, paying particular attention to the creation of boundaries and negotiations of space within the home. The second key aspect I examine is the extent to which religion influences the relationship between madam and maid. Religion is a thread running through this thesis as a determining factor in the recruitment of a domestic worker and a way in which space is produced. Thirdly, I discuss the sharing of gender between madam and maid and the question of „sisterhood‟ between them. These are underlying elements of the types of relationships between madam and maid which, I argue are characterised by levels of cultivated intimacy. The project is based on the qualitative results gathered from 20 in-depth interviews with Muslim madams, two focus groups and five key informant interviews with domestic workers. My thesis contributes to the existing research exploring the relationships between madams and maids and opens further avenues for research. It demonstrates that there are key elements besides race and class that shape the relationships between madam and maid, which contribute to levels of cultivated intimacy between them. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

It is frequently claimed that the role of government, especially that at the local level, is to facilitate the creation and sustainability of a conducive environment in which business may flourish. Indeed, in the National Framework for Local Economic Development, municipalities are urged to promote the conditions in which business enterprises may flourish, economic equitability may be achieved and jobs will be created. (DPLG, 2006) When the exact nature of a conducive environment is considered, however, there is little clarity as to the elements that contribute towards such an environment. In various endeavours to define the desirable elements of a conducive or enabling business environment, agencies, among them the World Bank, have commissioned or produced reports on this subject. In most cases, however, it is a regulatory arena that has been given attention, and this often at the national rather than local level. The primary concern of this study is not a regulatory framework, which in South Africa is only mildly influenced by local government, but the ways in which municipalities create or inhibit hospitable conditions for business through policies and strategies which often appear to be devoid of understanding as to how business operates and what it requires to flourish. The researcher's experience as the manager of a chamber of commerce over fourteen years during which he has engaged with local businesses and their difficulties and successes, has provided a sense of what the factors are that, particularly, inhibit business growth. Respondents, which are companies of all sizes and types within chambers of commerce in various parts of the country, were asked to assess the extent to which these factors inhibit or promote business. They were also asked to add any others that had not been listed already. The suggested elements fall into various categories ranging from the delivery of municipal services in various spheres to assessments of the skills capacity of local communities. It was expected that the responses would enable the researcher to describe more accurately what constitutes a conducive environment in the experience of business enterprises. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) was interested in, and sanctioned, this research which, it is believed could be expanded later into the development of a Hospitability Index by which municipalities may benchmark their establishment and maintenance of an environment conducive to business. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Objective of the study. This study is about the intergovernmental fiscal relations in South Africa. The primary objective is to review the international experience of fiscal decentralisation with the view to providing answers to the issue of revenue sharing, problems of expenditure and revenue assignment, and the impact of the whole decentralization on the size of the public sector in South Africa. Methodology. The methodology adopted in this study includes (1) a review and comparison of the practise of fiscal decentralisation in four countries, and (2) an econometric investigation into the impact of fiscal decentralisation on the size of the public sector, using time series quarterly data for the period 1993/94 to the second quarter of 1998/99. Regarding the econometric investigation, a single linear regression model including fiscal decentralisation, fiscal collusion, income and population are assumed to influence the size of the public sector. Study Findings. Our analysis provides certain interesting results. First, the countries reviewed tend to assign functions in a manner that is consistent with the public finance theory that functions that are distributive in nature and those that are meant to ensure the country's stability should be reserved exclusively for the federal or national government. Whereas the Australian, Canadian and Brazilian's revenue decentralization show a number of significant taxes that are devolved to the lower levels of government, Germany represents a strong collection at the center. The discrepancy is compensated for by the use of equalization grants in the German model. Second, fiscal decentralisation is found to exert a negative influence on the size of the public sector, although the impact is statistically not significant. The insignificance of the impact of fiscal decentralisation on the size of the public sector is explained in terms of the fact that there has, in fact, been very little decentralisation in South Africa. The size of the provincial and local government own source revenue relative to the consolidated general government expenditure is very little, pointing to the serious lack of revenue raising powers by the sub-national governments and thus the absence of any meaningful extent of decentralisation. Third fiscal-collusion exerts a significant negative influence on the size of the public sector. That is, the size of the public sector will reduce if provinces and local authorities are granted enough power to raise their own revenues. This result indicates that the massive transfers of revenue from the national government to the provinces and local authorities (revenue sharing) significantly reinforces the expanding influence of the decentralised expenditures financed through revenue transfers. Fourth, the overall size of the country's population is found to be inversely related to the size of the public sector supporting the argument that as population increases, economies in providing services are reaped. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

This study was aimed at analysing structural relations between the State and the non-governmental organizations (NGO) sector. It focused on the relations between two NGOs, namely the Labour Research Service and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa on the one hand and the National Development Agency on the other. The National Development Agency is a State intermediary structure established to facilitate funding and policy dialogue between the State and the NGO sector. The three institutions have been included in order to analyse the way in which a state-designed institution relates with NGOs and in turn the NGOs responded in general.

Thesis (MS en S)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Of all the strategies available to help eradicate poverty and enhance the quality of life of people living in marginalized communities, the provision of a formal retail centre would not stand out as a number one strategy. Nevertheless, the Nomzamo Business Centre was built as part of a local economic development initiative to help local businesses to develop. The primary goal of this study was to establish whether the residents of Nomzamo perceived the development of the centre as a contributing factor towards improving the quality of their lives. Although the retail sector is well represented in these marginalized communities, in the form of spazas and other informal businesses, these businesses desperately lack the bearings of formality. The Nomzamo Business Centre provides a formal business premises at affordable rates, for local business people and gives them the opportunity to develop skills through business training courses and the provision of information. As the study concludes, the residents of Nomzamo perceived the centre as an enhancement towards their quality of live, even though many of them still do not make use of the centre. Established shopping habits are hard to brake especially if the centre does not provide any real magnetism. The centre failed to attract an anchor tenant and although Eskom's presence at the centre does provide some form of attraction, the benefits have not yet spilled over to the other shops. At this stage the Nomzamo Business Centre cannot be deemed a success. The centre fails to compete with local informal businesses. What is needed in most of these communities however is a change in the local economic structure. Local economies in most cases are retail based, with no or little representation in sectors like manufacturing. Although the Nomzamo Business Centre will not contribute much towards a more balanced local economy, it does provide the foundation for future changes to take place. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Van al die strategieë beskikbaar om te help met die uitwissing van armoede en die verbetering in die kwaliteit van lewe van mense wat in marginale gemeenskappe bly, sal die voorsiening van 'n formele kleinhandelsentrum beslis nie as 'n nommer een strategie bekend staan nie. Nogtans is die Nomzamo Besigheidsentrum, geleë tussen die Strand en Gordonsbaai, gebou as deel van 'n plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkelingsinisiatief om plaaslike besighede te help ontwikkel. Die primêre doel van die studie was om vas te stel of die inwoners van Nomzamo, die ontwikkeling van die sentrum as 'n bydraende faktor in die verbetering van hul lewenskwaliteit waarneem. Alhoewel die kleinhandelsektor goed verteenwoordig is in die marginale gemeenskappe, in die vorm van spaza-winkels en ander informele besighede, ontbreek die besighede aan die nodige formaliteit. Die Nomzamo Besigheidsentrum bied 'n formele besigheidperseel teen bekostigbare tariewe vir plaaslike besighede en gee hulle die geleentheid om vaardighede te ontwikkel, deur kursusse in besigheidsopleiding en die voorsiening van informasie. Die studie kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die inwoners van Nomzamo wel die sentrum as 'n verbetering in hul lewenskwaliteit waarneem, selfs al maak meeste van hulle steeds nie gebruik van die sentrum nie. Gevestigde inkopie gewoontes is moeilik om te verander, veral as die sentrum geen werklike aantrekking bied nie. Die sentrum het misluk in die poging om 'n anker huurder te lok en alhoewel Eskom se teenwoordigheid by die sentrum, 'n vorm van aantrekking bied, het die voordele van Eskom se teenwoordigheid nog nie na ander winkels oorgespoel nie. Op hierdie stadium kan die Nomzamo Besigheidsentrum nie as 'n sukses verklaar word nie. Die sentrum misluk om met plaaslike informele besighede mee te ding. Wat egter benodig word in die gemeenskappe is 'n verandering in die plaaslike ekonomiese struktuur. Plaaslike ekonomieë is in meeste gevalle op kleinhandel gebaseer, met min of geen verteenwoordiging in sektore soos vervaardiging nie. Alhoewel die Nomzamo Besigheidsentrum nie sal bydra tot 'n meer gebalanseerde plaaslike ekonomie nie, bied die sentrum 'n platform vir toekomstige veranderinge om op plaas te vind.

The purpose of this study is to investigate long-term trends in the union membership of South Africa and Germany, and to highlight trends in unionisation in both of these countries over a period of time. The long-term aspect of this study differentiates it from more detailed specific studies concerned with the individual fortunes of confederations or unions. The changing fortunes of trade unions have been associated with changes in work organisation, the influence of institutional pressures, or long term changes in the economic cycle. All these factors may, of course, shape and be shaped by each other. From a comparative perspective this dissertation determines whether the fortunes of unions are ultimately a product of the long waves of an economic cycle, or if other factors, such as variations in union/state relations, changes in the forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market, impact upon union membership and mobilisation. It is hoped that the comparison of a transitional and an advanced economy may shed new light on the causes of union growth and decline, and the impact of specific social, legal and cultural variables thereon. The theoretical frame of reference for this study emerged from literature pertaining to union growth and decline. This literature discusses the historical, economic and sectoral challenges that confront the identity of unions and their ability to mobilise membership within contemporary labour markets. The entire study relies heavily on primary data collected from a wide range of sources in both countries. This method facilitates the comparison and cross-checking of information, which ensures a full and balanced study. A synthesis of the facts obtained led to certain suggestions relating to the areas in which both South African and German labour organisations could adapt their agenda and interests to the changing nature of the employment market in order to avert membership decline. The methodology of this research draws from Skopol’s work which argues that social studies ought to be grounded in historical experience in order to make sense out of specific social events that occur today. The research design utilises an initial comparative historical-political analysis of the emergence of unionism in South Africa and Germany, so as to establish those factors which have, in the past, affected union growth and decline in both countries. Thereafter, the impact of contemporary economic and sectoral trends that reoccur in the South African and German labour markets are examined and compared, in order to establish their influence on the growth or decline of union membership in both countries in the future. This study consists of four sections. The first section comprises a historical dimension that uses Valenzuela’s work relating to the political nature of labour movements to establish those factors which, in the past, have affected union growth and decline. This is done to determine whether the type of insertion of labour movements into historical national political processes, and the links formed between trade unions and political parties influences membership growth or decline. The following three sections deal with the present challenges that may affect the unions in the future. Section Two deals with factors of economic recession (namely, poverty and unemployment) which confront trade unions in the 1990s. Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation is applied to determine if recessive socio-economic factors can account for the strength of decline of unions, as opposed to union mobilisation being purely linked to transitions between long waves of the economy as Kelly suggests. The relevance of these theories to the rise and decline of unionism in South Africa and Germany is compared and contrasted. The third section determines whether changes to more flexible forms of work organisation and shifts in the employment market can account for the contrasting strength of the South African labour movement and the decline of the German labour movement today. The way in which these issues impact negatively upon union strength in South Africa and Germany in the 1990s is compared and contrasted, again using Hyman’s Theory of Disaggregation. The final section establishes whether or not the roles adopted by the South African and German labour movements during their confrontation with labour repressive regimes impacts upon their ability to attract union membership today, despite the constraints imposed upon unions by prevailing economic and structural uncertainties. Therefore the historicity of the South African and German labour movements, (based upon the findings of the first part of this study), is referred back to. At the same time, the reactions of the South African and German labour movements to prevailing economic and structural realities, (as examined in the second part of this research) are re-examined. Three conclusions are reached. Firstly, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, all labour organisations are capable of adjusting to the adverse changes taking place in contemporary employment markets if they prove willing to advance and defend the interests of all who work, including those in the informal sector. If unions continue to neglect the informal labour market, they run the risk of being transposed by social movements that are antagonistic to trade unions or new expressions of the workforce’s latent collectivism. Secondly, in successfully playing a social movement role that led to the downfall of Apartheid in 1994, the South African labour movement has evolved as an energetic body with a dimension of recumbent militancy that attempts to adapt its identity to the changing nature of the employment market. This enables the South African labour movement to continue to attract membership despite the prevailing economic uncertainties. In contrast, forced co-operation and consensus within the German industrial relations arena since World War Two has resulted in a less dynamic union movement that lacks initiative in adapting to the changing nature of the employment market. The result is a decline in unionism. Finally, the fortunes of unions are not, as Kelly suggests, purely a product of economic cycles. Political climates can also influence mobilisation, as has occurred in both South Africa and Germany. This implies that mobilisation is not only activated by the economic dissatisfaction of a union movement.