While conventional economic theory posits that price is determined by the interplay between the forces of supply and demand, review of literature reveals that the findings of industrial surveys and empirical studies of the pricing behaviour of firms have cast doubts on the validity of this hypothesis. A close scrutiny of the literature shows that there are two main hypotheses of pricing, namely, the excess demand hypothesis and the mark-up hypothesis. The former is associated with the conventional view that price is determined by the interaction of demand and supply, while the latter hypothesis is often associated with business practice in the real world. A majority of empirical studies lends support to the mark-up hypothesis. However, there is also a sizable number of studies that lend support to the excess demand hypothesis. This study uses data for the South African manufacturing sector to test the validity and the explanatory power of these hypotheses. The difference between this study and most of the previous studies is the fact that in the present study an attempt is made to use disaggregated data in the actual testing of the hypotheses. While the results of this study demonstrate overwhelming support for the mark-up hypothesis, they also demonstrate that the role played by demand can not be dismissed. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

This study investigates self-employment in South Africa focusing particularly on earnmgs differences among the self-employed. A large earnings gap is present among Blacks and Whites in self-employment and the study examines how much of this earnings gap is attributable to differences in observed characteristics of the self-employed, and how much derives from differences in the returns to these observed characteristics. I estimate earnings equations using data from the September 2004 Labour Force Survey and find that variables representing individual, household and employment characteristics of the self-employed are determining part of their earnings. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique, I however, establish that only 55 percent of the earnings differential between Blacks and Whites in self-employment is attributable to differences in observed characteristics. The remainder of the earnings differential may reflect the effects of omitted (unobserved) characteristics, or it may reflect differences in the returns to observed characteristics. Different returns to endowments may be the results of discrimination among the self-employed, including consumer discrimination and discrimination in access to credit or product markets. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009. / This dissertation examines the challenges of poverty alleviation in Malawi, with particular reference to the period 1995 to 2005. Malawi is a small landlocked country, considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Some of the major indicators of poverty in Malawi are inequality in income distribution, attainability of basic needs and low levels of development. The Integrated Household Survey (IHS) of 2004/5 revealed that 52.4 percent of the Malawian population was living below the poverty line in 2005 (National Statistics Office (NSO), 2005: 139). Poverty reduction strategies in Malawi have had a slight impact on reducing the level of poverty. Nevertheless, the government of Malawi remains committed to the implementation of redistributive measures and economic reforms in its quest for economic growth, poverty reduction and enhanced employment opportunities in the country (Malawi Government, 2006:1). This study uses an econometric analysis to examine the effects of government spending on socioeconomic services, foreign aid and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth on the levels of poverty in Malawi, using data for period 1995-2005. The regression results indicate that in GDP growth and government expenditure on socioeconomic services, particularly on education, have a significant impact on reducing poverty levels in Malawi. To address poverty, Malawi should thus pursue an economic growth enhancing strategy, with expansion of human capabilities that also facilitates fiscal redistribution. The regression results show that if GDP growth is increased by 1 percent on average, this would decrease the headcount poverty by 0.237 percent, ceteris paribus. The model also shows that, on average, a K1 million increase in government expenditure on education will decrease the headcount poverty by 0.1 percent, ceteris paribus. The regression results therefore indicate that GDP growth and government expenditure on education will have to increase in order for poverty levels in Malawi to decrease in the long run. The results of a similar comparative regression analysis for Botswana further confirm the consistency that education is a significant factor in reducing poverty.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1989.

Armed conflict in Ituri since 1996 to the present day has resulted in the widespread and severe violation of human rights that include massive killings, rape, torture, mutilation and property destruction that has infringed peace and security in the province. Many studies on Ituri armed conflict point out land, minerals and identity as underlying causes of this social breakdown that lead to continued insecurity in Ituri. While acknowledging that there are many things that threaten the lives of individuals in times of war, this study focuses exclusively on the perceptions of the people from Ituri about the meaning and threats to peace and security as well as building human security in the province. To investigate these perceptions, I use the concept of human security which is a new way of thinking about peace and security. Although, this concept has a broad meaning, I mostly focus on its components that promote the protection of civilians against severe and widespread threats and as a people-centred approach, it advocates for the responsibility to protect civilians by their governments and the international community while the latter is given the full mandate by the UN, through its Security Council to intervene in countries whereby, governments are the perpetrators of violence on its own civilians or whereby governments are unable to contain violence perpetrated by warring fractions on innocent civilians and causing the displacement of millions from their home. I used a qualitative approach that sought to obtain as many as possible the views of participants which in turn were described thoroughfully so as to obtain patterns and themes that explain exactly what participants think is the meaning of peace and security and what could be the possible threats that make them feel insecure. To reach my goal, I used participant observation, focus group and semi-structured interview methods. 105 participants were selected randomly to participate in the research, that is, 94 in focus groups and 11 in semi-structured interviews. An additional 31 participants were also interviewed in Johannesburg to validate the data collected previously. Content analysis was used to analyse data. The study finds that there are various meanings to security and that threats to peace and security depend on the kind of meanings that people from Ituri perceive to be the meaning of security. The meaning of security depends on the context in which people live. Both victims and perpetrators ‘should’ work towards the achievement of peace and security. From the findings, it was concluded that the international community should not play both arsonist and fireman roles, rather engaging honestly and sincerely in building peace and security in the province of Ituri. This may lead to sustainable peace and security in the province. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1976.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006

A stable money demand function and exogeneity of prices is at the core of planning and implementing a monetary policy of monetary targets. This thesis examines both the stability of M2 money demand and price exogeneity in Rwanda for the years 1980 to 2000. We estimate and test the elasticities of the determinants of Rwandan money demand function. We include in this demand function those variables which economic theory indicates must be part of any empirical investigation of money demand. All coefficients had the signs as required by economic theory. We estimate the money demand function for Rwanda using cointegration analysis and an error correction mechanism. The results show real income, prices and M2 to be cointegrated. We employ three tests to show that the estimated demand function for Rwanda is stable. We then test the second requirement for coherence in monetary aggregate targeting that money determines prices. The results show that prices are exogenous to money. But before we can definitely conclude that an inflation targeting regime is feasible from monetary policy perspective, we point out that future research on this important topic must account for exchange rate movements, measure permanent income and specify interest rate changes correctly. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

A stable money demand function is the essence of planning and implementing monetary policy. This thesis explores the stability of the M2 money demand function in Uganda for the period 1980-2002. We estimate and interpret the elasticities of the determinants of the money demand function. After analyzing the dynamics of money demand determinants, the variables crucial to money demand estimation in this thesis were established as being: real income, the nominal rate of interest on Treasury bills, the actual rate of inflation and the change in the exchange rate. All variables had the correct signs as required by economic theory, where real income was found to be positive whilst the nominal rates of interest on Treasury bills, the actual rate of inflation and the change in the exchange rate all have negative signs. We estimate the money demand function for Uganda, using cointegration analysis and an error correction mechanism (ECM) on quarterly data over the sample period 1980-2002. The results from the Johansen and Juselius (1990) cointegration test suggest that real income, the nominal interest rates on Treasury bills and real M2, are cointegrated. The results of the error correction mechanism suggest that in spite of major policy reforms in the years 1987 and 1993 such as the introduction of new financial instruments, and liberalization of the financial system, the estimated money demand function for Uganda is stable only in one time period 1994-2002 that is after major policy reforms. The results of the study show that M2 is a viable monetary policy tool that could be used as an intermediate target to stimulate economic activity in Uganda. We also conclude that the feasible approach for conducting monetary policy in Uganda is to adopt an inflationary targeting regime. However, monetary policy might continue to benefit from other economic indicators by monitoring the impacts of changes in interest rates and the change in exchange rates on real money demand in Uganda. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

This study is about government expenditure in South Africa for the 1960 - 1993 period. It seeks to investigate (i) the sources of growth of government expenditure, (ii) the relative contribution of the major functional categories (i.e. general administration, economic services, social services, and defence expenditure) to the aggregate government expenditure, and (iii) to estimate the future growth in government expenditure given the rate of growth of the economy. The analytical approach adopted in the study is based on the framework developed by Abedian and Standish (1984). In this framework, the contribution of each expenditure category to total expenditure is obtained as the ratio of the product of the percentage change in an expenditure category and the share of that expenditure category in the total to the percentage change in total expenditure. To investigate the sources of the expenditure growth, a model relating expenditure to its determinants is specified and estimated to obtain the expenditure elasticities, which are then used to determine the impact of the changes in each determinant on the expenditure in question. Finally, using the rate of growth of domestic income (GDP), and the long-run income elasticity of demand for government services, the maximum permissible growth of expenditure is determined. With these estimates, the expected shortfall between the desired and actual expenditure is then determined. Our results show that the income elasticities of all the functional expenditures and the total non-defence expenditure were found to be greater than unity, suggesting the presence of the Wagner's law in South Africa during the 1960 - 1993 period. This implies that government expenditure increased more than the proportionate increase in income. Expenditure on administration was the largest contributor to the level of government spending. However, in 1990, social services became the largest contributor and remained at that high level until 1993. The higher the growth in the economy, the larger will be growth in government expenditure. A significantly high growth in the economy was accompanied by a significantly high growth in government expenditure. When the growth in the economy turned to negative, the growth in government expenditure also became negative. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc. ; Economics) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.