D.Comm. / This thesis endeavoured to assess whether the government can simultaneously achieve the objectives of sustained economic growth, income redistribution and fiscal discipline, as stated in the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy. The simultaneous realisation of these objectives of the GEAR policy brings about controversies between the South African government and other interest groups, such as the trade unions and some academics. Empirical analysis such as econometrics and computerised general equilibrium (hereafter referred to as CGE) techniques were used in an attempt to solve the research question. The Kalman filter technique was applied to model total factor productivity and to establish the link between social services expenditure and economic growth in South Africa. The structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) technique was applied to assess the dynamics of fiscal shocks on output growth and determine the type of taxes that are distortionary in financing the increase in social services expenditure. The study’s main contribution is the application of the CGE technique to assess whether the above three objectives can be reached simultaneously. A new CGE model was built, based on the standard CGE model by Thurlow and Van Seventer (2002). In the new CGE model, some taxes were changed to endogenous variables instead of exogenous variables or parameters as in the standard model. The model introduced a number of government macro closure rules to clear the government balance. The research lead to the following conclusion: When constraints on employment are removed across all the labour categories in South Africa, and the government uses compositional shift of its expenditure to finance the continual increase in social services expenditure, the three objectives, namely fair redistribution of iv income, fiscal discipline and sustained economic growth, will be reached simultaneously. It is recommended that the government fix conditions in the labour market to remove impediments to employment in South Africa (such as lack of appropriate skills for specific activities), as this will enable the government to achieve most of its objectives.

LL.M. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The ever increasing expenditure and investment in information technology (IT) has been accompanied by an increasing demand to measure the business value of IT. The impact of IT on improving the productivity and performance of organisations has been varied. While some organisations have realised gains, other organisations have found the business value of IT to be elusive. In most organisations a large portion of senior management’s time is being spent on finding methods to measure the contribution of the organisations’ IT investments to business performance. IT investments in organisations are huge and increasing rapidly year on year and yet there is a lack of understanding of the impact of proper IT investment evaluation processes and practices in these organisations. This is applicable to South Africa and thus one can argue that a detailed program of research into the current practice and process of the business value of IT in South Africa is warranted. This masters dissertation which, has evolved from IT evaluation literature, is to highlight the differences between IT literature and what occurs in practice. The research objective utilised an existing questionnaire which was sent to large South African organisations to assess the understanding and activities performed by these organisations regarding the business value of IT. The aim was to investigate the business value of IT and benefits management and realisation in South African organisations so as to highlight the current practices and norms in this area and to serve as a basis for understanding and communicating findings and implications for South African organisations in general. / Mrs. D. Groenewald

M.Sc. / The aim of this study will be to analyse the functioning and evolution of the South African monetary policy system since the Second World War. We are particularly interested in how international events, developments and experiments have influenced and been influenced by changes in economic sentiment and insight and how this has moulded South African monetary policy into the system in operation at the present day. Moreover, this study will highlight the fact that monetary policy in South Africa as well as abroad has in deed been an 'instrument of the times.'

M. Comm. (Financial Management) / The threats of climate change have become too serious to ignore. It has thus become necessary for humans to consider the environmental impact of their decisions, including the decision regarding which agricultural practices to use. Organic agriculture is believed to be a mitigating factor when it comes to climate change. It has the additional benefit of contributing to human health due to the fact that the consumption of organically grown food reduces exposure to potentially harmful pesticides. In this study the perceptions of organic farmers regarding the benefits and disadvantages of organic agriculture, from a financial and nonfinancial perspective, were gauged. A convenience sample of 26 farmers was obtained. The utility of a convenience sample was necessary due to the unavailability of a complete database of organic farms in South Africa. The results of the study indicated that the non-financial benefits of organic agriculture were considered to be the most important consideration for the decision to farm organically irrespective the high input cost associated with it. Indeed, high input costs were identified as the greatest disadvantage of organic agriculture. The results of the study contribute to the existing body of knowledge of the trade-off between the financial and non-financial benefits of organic agriculture in South Africa.

D.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Com. (Econometrics) / This dissertation investigates the ability of different models to predict a recession in South Africa (SA) by choosing a best performing model based on the smallest prediction errors made by the models. One of the purposes of using econometric models is to predict a recession, with the goal to uncover the probability of a recession or real GDP growth rate as accurately as possible. Although linear and non-linear models prediction strength is frequently compared, none of the studies within SA compare the prediction ability of the four models used in this dissertation. The intent of this research is to ascertain the best prediction model for SA so as to advise policy makers on the soundest model to use if there is suspicion that SA could enter a recession in the future due to global and domestic uncertainty. This is done by comparing the prediction ability of the linear ARIMA, VAR and ARMV models’ and non-linear dynamic probit model; thereby contributing toward the standing literature. It is verified which model outperforms the others in predicting future real GDP growth by comparing the Mean-Square-Error (MSE), Mean-Absolute-Error (MAE) and RMSE percentage. The importance of predicting real GDP growth is accentuated so that policy makers are in the position to develop or apply policies that can stimulate growth in the economy, should a recession occur. By adding dynamics to the system, predictions are improved. The linear VAR model outperforms the other linear and non-linear model based on the RMSE, MAE and RMSE percentage.

M.Com. (Business Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Phil. (Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract