No description available.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MANAGEMENT IN FINANCE AND INVESTMENTS Of WITS BUSINESS SCHOOL March 2015 / The paper investigates the presence of two calendar anomalies; the day of the week or Mon-day effect and the Month of the year or January effect by modelling volatility of the industrial index returns on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) pre and post the multi-currency sys-tem. The procedure is carried out by employing non-parametric models from the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) family; GARCH, Exponential GARCH (EGARCH) and Threshold GARCH (TGARCH). The models are better suited in modelling daily and monthly seasonality as they can capture the time-varying volatility of the stock return data. The period of analysis is from the January 2004 to April 2008 (pre-dollarization period) and the second period of analysis is from the post-currency reform which runs from February 2009 to December 2013. The results obtained from the study are mixed. The day of the week test finds significantly negative returns on Monday, Wednesday and Friday pre the currency reform whilst a nega-tive Wednesday effect is found post the currency reform period. The TGARCH model is the only one that captures a negative monthly effects on all the months of the year with the ex-ception of January pre the currency reform period. No monthly effects are found on the ZSE post the currency reform period by all models employed. The absence of monthly seasonality effects and the reduced number of days of day of the week effects from all the GARCH mod-els employed can infer that the currency reform had a positive impact which translated to market efficiency.

This thesis is articles-based submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It consists of articles that were submitted and published, and others that were submitted and awaiting comments. This thesis makes a contribution to the ongoing debate on the most appropriate method of measuring poverty for interventionist purposes in rural areas. It is infonned by the Zimbabwe experience that income-based measures may not always adequately target those most in need of social support. A new approach is posited that focuses on the nonincome component of poverty. The aim is to assist 'technocrats' to better target the poor in need of a social safety net in crisis situations. The search is for a 'credible' measure that will be acceptable to various interest groups including the poor. Thus the proposed measure derived by means of a consensual approach meets this objective. The literature review describes and discusses the weaknesses of conventional poverty measures, divided into two broad categories of those pre- and post-dating Sen's introduction of the capability concept. The thesis then uses these to explore the conventional approaches (the dominant income measures) and flag their operational deficiencies, and then postulates an asset threshold model, the minimally adequate asset level (MAAL), based on the consensual approach. It also postulates the Poverty Diagnostic Model (PDM) which helps to describe and analyse factors that impact poverty at the individual level and helps in unpacking the linkages between the detenninants of poverty given its multi-dimensionality and how these are conditioned by both internal and external factors. Additionally to the contributions, this thesis posits drawing asset-poverty lines as well as combined asset and income poverty lines as a new contribution to yield asset-based Foster-Greer- Thorbecke (FGT) index, asset-income FGT index, networth FGT index and asset-gini coefficient. It also provides new tools with differentiating capacity to identify those who are either asset poor or income poor or both; as well as those who are 'networth poor', understood as asset-income threshold less debt. It advocates scaling of assets to enable capturing of the asset-holding of the poorest of the poor to fonn intensity scales on which an asset threshold is based. A further contribution of this thesis is the introduction of the notion of enclavity within a family around husband/wife relationships as a new fonn of resilience/collectivity due to deepening poverty. There is evidence to suggest that ethics and networks breakdown as a result of poverty. The final contribution of this thesis is the definition of a poverty line on the basis of an asset threshold using the consensual approach as postulated by Mack and Lansley (1985): thus this thesis posits an asset-by-asset point index. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

According to the World Development Report 2008, if the world is committed to reducing poverty and achieving sustainable growth, it would unleash the powers of agriculture because the majority of the world’s poor depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The financial sector can play an important role in supporting agriculture through the extension of agricultural credit. Literature shows that this can only be successfully achieved when financial institutions operate under stable macroeconomic conditions. This study explores the experience of giving agricultural credit under volatile macroeconomic conditions. It focuses on a case study of Zimbabwe, whose hyperinflationary levels reached over 3 000% in 2007 and a monthly rate of 79,6 billion percent in mid-November 2008. Findings from interviews with informants from stakeholder institutions in the agricultural sector revealed that the problem of agricultural credit in Zimbabwe was not only due to hyperinflation but also due to poor institutional capacity and dual agricultural policies. Some of these problems existed before hyperinflation. The paper argues that the future of agricultural credit in Zimbabwe is anchored on three pillars. The first is a stable macroeconomic environment. This involves bringing down hyperinflation, establishing land tenure security and other rights and improving rural infrastructure. The second is development of financial institutions and systems (building institutional capacity, building a culture of loan repayment and capitalisation through private partnership). Finally, the third is necessary political will. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The pattern of a classical hyperinflation is an acute acceleration of inflation to levels above 1000% generally associated with printing money to finance large fiscal deficits due to wars, revolutions, and the end of empires or the establishment of new states (Coorey et al, 2007: 3). After World War I, a handful of European economies succumbed to hyperinflation. Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Russia all racked up enormous price increases, with Germany recording an astronomical 3.25 million percent in a single month in 1923 (Reinhart and Savastano, 2003: 1). Since the 1950s, hyperinflation has been confined to the developing world and the transition economies. Zimbabwe currently has the highest rate of inflation in the world with an annual rate of 7982.1% in September 2007 (RBZ Website, 1/11/07). This paper examines the impact of hyperinflation on Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Harare, Zimbabwe with aims of revealing how SMEs were affected by hyperinflation and other factors linked to the phenomenon. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The anchor of this research was to analyze the implementation process of Zimbabwe’s IEEP. Implementation of policy has been the Achilles heel of most African countries it has been proven that it is a disease of the continents. In this research the focus is on analyzing what happened between the tabled idea and the implemented policy, this is because the implemented policy had a tremendous contradictory impact to the world as it disempowered the investors in an attempt to economically empower its citizens. The tabled idea was great it had its own flows because it lacked clarity in some of its definition and the goals, objectives and how the policy were to be implemented are not clear there is basically lack of clarity pertaining to the policy. This study made use of two theories the Top- down approach and the politics and administration dichotomy, these two theories are in favour of an autocratic way of policy implementation which follows a chain of command. These two theories highlighted that administrators are being covered be politicians and that administration as a practice and discipline are dead. This has lead to policies being made implemented first before they are formulated because there are no administrators. This study reviewed that the implementation process of the IEEP is not clear or rather it does not exist; there is little or no transparency on the events that took place between the tabled idea and the implemented policy.

According to the canons of conventional economic philosophy the process of economic interpretation should be value neutral and strictly fall within the bounds of normative science. This approach is concerned not with goal setting but only with the technical possibilities of alternative means of successful tactics in a given overall strategy. It is the author's thesis that such premises patently ignore the fundamental truths of development problems, and that there exists a genuine need to bridge the gap that demarcates theory from practicality and truth from illusion. To seek "development" implies a challenge to the "status quo" of menial existence and perpetual servitude to the inhospitable forces of ones own environment. This attitude is in itself a value judgement, and in underdeveloped societies it is more than a mere academic quibble. Accordingly, this paper not only implicitly assumes "development" to be a desirable goal but also that it is necessary, and the objective of this study of an underdeveloped community shall be to examine the theoretical relevance, or otherwise, of general and partial theories of underdevelopment against the quantitative and qualitative evidence of the course of events that have in the past, and are likely in the future, to influence the development of the "Rhodesian economy".

Migrant remittances have been cited as one of the most rising forms of development financing. Migration-development scholarly debates have often made comparisons between migrant remittances and some of the most popular forms of development financing such as development aid. The development-migration debates have often contended that migrant remittances are fast growing and surpassing the popular forms of development financing. This study sought to examine the developmental role of migrant remittances in the rural district of Tsholotsho in Zimbabwe. Given that there are millions of Zimbabwean migrants working in South Africa, the study sought to examine the possible use of migrant remittances in the creation of sustainable livelihoods. In addition, the study focused on examining the skills and opportunities that are necessary in the creation of an enabling environment for investment as well as assessing the multiplier effect that result from the inflow of migrant remittances within the local economy. The study followed a mixed methods methodological approach wherein a quantitative survey and qualitative in-depth interviews were used to gather data. The findings of this study revealed that migrant remittances are central in the livelihoods of poor people in Tsholotsho and they have potential to create sustainable livelihoods. While skills and opportunities to drive entrepreneurial activity exist, there is need to deal with structural barriers in order to create an enabling environment for the creation of sustainable livelihoods through savings and investment. The study recommends the prioritization of education, improved access to the credit system and the development of cooperatives. These could assist in achieving sustainable livelihoods through migrant remittances.

This study examines the challenges of organisational transformation in emerging economies with special reference to Zimbabwe. It is an inductive study using grounded theory, rooted in case study methodology, based on Eisenhardt's (1989) eight steps of building theory from case study research. A longitudinal multiple case study design is used to capture transformation experiences of four companies (covering four business sectors) spanning from 1980 to 2000. Fourteen constructs from the within-case analysis form the basis of data collection and these are refined through cross-case analysis. Nine themes and sixteen challenges emerge from the study. The challenges and themes are used to identify points of convergence and divergence. Issues that trigger organisational transformation are spotted and best practices explored. Ultimately, the nine emerging themes are crystallized into seven. Both the emerging model - the Madzivire Transformation Model (MaTra) - and the elaborated model - the Madzivire Collaborative Transformation Model (MaCoTra) - are constructed from the seven themes. MaCoTra is a refinement of MaTra with the following differentiating features: * The metaphor of choruses signifies the centrality of collaboration from an African perspective; * MaCoTra reflects non-linear and linear linkages between choruses; * Choruses depict the significance of songs in African bonding; * A personal commitment to transformation calls for collective bonding around values, visions, missions and strategies; * MaCoTra is a remarkable departure from steps, phases and stages espoused in most Western change literature; * MaCoTra's philosophical base is Ubuntu - `I am because we are'- focusing on independence and interdependence; * Change interventions may be through individual or multiple MaCoTra choruses; * The organisational song connects all organisational members in a choir of transformation. MaCoTra addresses the sixteen challenges and exceedingly covers challenges cited in enfolding literature. MaCoTra was tested in and outside the study sample. I assert that MaCoTra is usable in Zimbabwean companies and may be generalized through replication studies in Africa and other emerging economies. Areas of further study towards the achievement of more generalisability of the theory/model are suggested. This study addresses the existing knowledge gap and prescribes the Madzivire Collaborative Transformation Model - MaCoTra - for companies in emerging economies. / Business Management / D.B.L.

Inequalities in levels of development between regions within a country are frequently regarded as a problem. The magnitude of the problem is more severe in developing countries than in developed countries. Zimbabwe, as a developing country, is no exception and the country is characterized by severe regional inequalities. This research is concerned with the spatial patterns of socio-economic development in Zimbabwe. The composite index method was used to rank administrative districts of Zimbabwe according to level of development. The composite indices together with socio-economic characteristics were used to demarcate the administrative districts into development regions according to Friedmann's (1966) model. Attention was given to the spatial development policies applied in Zimbabwe. Friedmann's (1966) guidelines, for the development of the different regional types in his model, were applied to the Zimbabwean spatial economy. Suggestions were made regarding possible adjustments to previous strategies used in Zimbabwe, for spatial development planning. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A.