No description available.

Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus lupus) share genotypes, which are nearly identical, but their behavioral phenotypes are very different. It has been repeatedly hypothesized that these adult behavioral differences are the result of heterochronic changes, or differences during the course of development. This dissertation investigates three major behavioral differences between these two morphs: (1) Interspecies socialization: both dogs and wolves are capable of forming interspecies attachments, most commonly with humans, but wolves require more intense exposure to reach a less intense attachment. (2) Expression of species-typical motor patterns: while dogs and wolves have the same species-typical motor patterns, they express them at different rates and in different frequencies. (3) Frequency of barking: while both dogs and wolves bark, dogs bark at a much higher frequency than wolves. The primary objective of this dissertation is to determine if behavioral differences between polymorphs of the genus Canis are the result of heterochrony. Fifty-two Canis pups including, both mother- and hand-reared dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) represented by two breeds (Border collies and German shepherds) and hand-reared wolves were observed. Frequency of motor pattern display was recorded from two to eight weeks of age in all groups. Responses of pups to olfactory, auditory, and visual stimuli were also tested weekly from two to seven weeks of age. Groups were then compared on the timing of the onset and frequency of expression of foraging motor patterns (orient, eye, stalk, chase, and grab-bite) and the onset of their ability to orient towards olfactory, auditory, and visual stimuli. My results demonstrate that small changes in the timing of the critical period of socialization in relationship to the development of the sensory systems do account for differences in the ability to form interspecies social attachments between dogs and wolves. The data also demonstrate that there are heterochronic differences in the development of species typical foraging motor patterns between dogs and wolves. However, these changes alone do not explain the fragmenting of breed-typical sequences in relation to functional wolf sequences. Investigation of barking frequency was accomplished by searching previous literature to define acoustic measurements, which distinguish the bark from other vocalizations. This definition was then used to determine in what situations the bark occurred in dogs, wild Canis species, other mammals, and birds. Barking occurs in a large variety of mammals and birds, and is motivated by conflicting internal states associated with mobbing. This is supported by the acoustic structure of the bark itself and the contexts in which mammals, including dogs and other members of the genus Canis, and birds use the bark vocalization.

Despite recent economic growth over the last decade and high insurance penetration, the provision of insurance services to low-income households in South Africa is still neglected owing to pervasive information asymmetry. Even though households identify the importance of insurance, this has not translated into changed behaviour. According to KPMG, while 74% of households recognise their need for insurance, an overwhelming 34% lack any plans to address their perceived risk. Furthermore, there exists an incongruity between the perceived risks (such as job loss or loss of income) and the dominant insurance product in the market – which continues to be funeral cover. The study assessed the impact of microinsurance on the household welfare measured as household income per capita. The analysis draws on the nationally representative 2015 FINSCOPE survey, which contains in-depth data on the financial inclusion of 5000 households. Descriptive statistics were assessed to determine the nature of the identified variables and the relationship between them. The study performed multiple linear regression analysis using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation. The empirical results provide evidence that microinsurance has a positive and significant effect on household welfare. Specifically, the results reveal that health and life insurance contribute favourably to household welfare, whilst credit life and funeral cover depict an inverse correlation. This suggests that health and life insurance better enable households to effectively manage risk and cope with adverse shocks. Furthermore, using household income per capita as a proxy for welfare, we observe that household size, dependency ratio, geographical location, gender of the household head, and marital status are statistically significant determinants of household welfare. Consistent with previous studies, where the educational attainment of the household head is at secondary and post-secondary level, households are empowered to utilise financial services to improve welfare and reduce incidence of poverty. Conventional insurance products do not appropriately serve the needs of lower income groups as often it is either too expensive or mismatched as coverage is possibly excessive, therefore we advocate for the creation of uniquely designed products and distribution systems that promote greater insurance inclusion for this segment of the market.

This study explored the experiences of Social Services Professionals in rendering services to children with disabilities in the iLembe Municipality. The study focused on their overall experiences, any challenges that they may face when rendering these services and any recommendations that they may have regarding the current state of the services they render to children with disabilities. According to the Integrated National Disability Strategy (1997), there is often a low life-expectancy for people with severe disabilities living in rural areas due to inadequate care, support and access to some of the most basic services. A high level of knowledge and access to resources is required when caring for children with disabilities which places more pressure on social workers to seek other forms of alternative care for these children (Mitchell, 2013). The research study utilized a qualitative approach using semi structured interviews with 23 Social Services Professionals from various non-governmental organizations and the Department of Social Development. The non-probability sampling method was used for the selection of participants. The findings of the study revealed that Social Services Professionals find rendering services to children with disabilities to be both rewarding and challenging. Their main challenges in rendering these services included: insufficient facilities; policy limitations; training needs in the field of disability; misuse of the disability grant and a lack of support. They also face various challenges in placing children with disabilities in alternative care. Namely limited facilities and resources; lengthy application processes; reluctant foster parents; a lack of co-operation from stakeholders; and a lack of involvement from the government. Social Services Professionals felt that they were not adequately equipped to provide services to children with disabilities. Which they attributed this to a lack of training. Participants felt that alternative care for children with disabilities should be explored as a last resort and they recommended that state support should be the main intervention in providing better services to children with disabilities. Recommendations from the study are that there should be a prioritization of funding to train Social Services Professionals. Funding that is focused on issues of disabilities in order to educate communities should also be prioritized.

This study examined the relative information content of earnings and cash flow from operations data in predicting future (one-year-ahead) cash flow from operations across prevalent economic sectors in South Africa. Firstly, the ability of aggregate earnings is compared to that of cash flows from operations in predicting future cash flow from operations, and secondly, the study examines if there is any incremental benefit to disaggregating aggregate earnings information into cash flow from operations and accrual components in predicting future cash flows from operations. The study utilises a sample of 925 South African firms listed on the JSE over the period of 1994 to 2018 (25 years). The methodology made use of panel data regression techniques and instrumental variable regression techniques to estimate the relevant regression models. Moreover, to evaluate the robustness of the prediction performance of the regression models, both in-sample estimation tests over 1994-2015 and out-ofsample estimation tests over 2016-2018 were undertaken. The findings reveal that cash flow from operations is a superior predictor of future cash flows from operations as compared to aggregate earnings with respect to the full sample and the following economic sectors: (1) basic materials; (2) industrials; (3) consumer cyclicals; (4) consumer non-cyclicals; and (5) other. However, there is no evidence of either aggregate earnings or cash flow from operations being superior to one another in predicting future (one-year-ahead) cash flows from operations as it relates to either the financials or technology sector. The results further show that there is clear evidence of the explanatory gains with respect to disaggregated earnings data in predicting future cash flows from operations insofar as it relates to the full sample and the following economic sectors: (1) basic materials; (2) industrials; (3) consumer cyclicals; (4) consumer non-cyclicals; (5) technology; and (6) other. However, there is no such evidence of these same explanatory gains insofar as it relates to the financial sector. It follows that earnings disaggregated into cash flow from operations and accrual components is the best prediction model of future cash flow from operations for all sectors, excluding the consumer cyclicals sector, the financial sector as well as the full sample. Cash flow from operations and earnings disaggregated into cash flow from operations and accrual components are considered to be the best prediction models for the full sample and the consumer cyclicals sector with no apparent superiority of one over the other, whereas for the financial sector, the evidence is inconclusive as to the best model/s to utilise in predicting future cash flow from operations. In summary, this study highlights the explanatory variables that have a statistically significant effect on future cash flow from operations as well as the difference in persistence of the explanatory variables across economic sectors, thereby providing further insight into the unique cash flow generating process of each prevalent economic sector in South Africa. Therefore, users of cash flow information must consider the heterogeneity that exists amongst firms, industries and ultimately economic sectors when undertaking a study of this nature as such a consideration will enhance the identification of information content that is relevant to generating superior predictions of future cash flow from operations.

The topic of literacy has received a decent amount of attention over the years both academically and from various institutions and forums across the globe. The increased focus on addressing illiteracy drove the global illiteracy rate down from 40% in 1970 to 25% in 1990. Initiatives to promote universal literacy began as far back as the early 1950s yet the latest available data on literacy from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) indicates that 750 million adults in the world are still illiterate. With a world population of approximately 7.6 billion, that translates to one in every 10 people. Regionally, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Southern Asia host the world's lowest literacy rates with a combined 20 countries holding literacy rates of below 50% while Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Europe and Northern America have literacy rates close to or at 100%. South Africa was rated number 50 out of 50 countries that participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of grade four learners in 2016. Against this background, this study sought to provide insight on the social and economic impact of literacy in South Africa with a focus on how literacy influences unemployment, the HIV prevalence rate, crime and income inequality. The study employed fixed and random effects techniques to estimate a panel data of nine (9) provinces between 2008 and 2017. A provincial average of 90.79% for the literacy rate was derived from the data ranging from a minimum of 81.13% to a maximum of 98.10%. Gauteng had the highest literacy rate while the Northern Cape had the lowest. Gauteng also came out as the province with the highest average GDP per capita (GDPPC) while the Northern Cape had the lowest average crime and unemployment rates. The provincial averages for the dependent variables were 25.70% for the unemployment rate, 17.50% for the HIV rate, 1.13% for the crime rate and ZAR63,029 for GDPPC. The results showed that literacy was positively related to unemployment, HIV and GDPPC which indicate that increases in the literacy rate resulted in higher unemployment and HIV prevalent rates and higher income per capita across the nine provinces in South Africa. When the crime rate was analysed as the dependent variable, the results showed a positive correlation with literacy in the absence of unobserved variables and a negative correlation with literacy when unobserved variables were included. On the back of this study's results, which indicated a positive relationship between literacy and unemployment as well as GDPPC, policymakers need to consider an expanded view and focus of literacy by including financial, health and technology literacy and investing in those in addition to functional literacy. Furthermore, government needs to initiate a nationwide literacy campaign which targets communities with high illiteracy rates 2 across the country. This campaign would focus on reducing illiteracy with the primary objective of educating the community not only about HIV but the importance of HIV testing as well. Lastly, literacy campaigns need to integrate education on how the community can work with the police to combat crime as greater community participation could lower the crime rate

There is a constant need to seek new catalysts for economic growth in various regions of the world, particularly within Sub-Saharan Africa. Financial development and remittances could be potential catalysts, but this has been strongly debated in empirical research. This study, therefore, analysed the financial development-remittance-growth nexus, but from the context of the Southern African Development Community from 2004 to 2014. The aim of this study was two-fold. Firstly, it analysed the short-run dynamics of interaction between various aspects of financial development and remittances on the economic growth rate (real gross domestic product). Secondly, it analysed the long-run dynamics. In this study four broad institutional channels of financial development were analysed, namely, access, depth, efficiency, and stability. The empirical model was estimated using the two-stage least-squares technique and the two-step system generalised method of moments technique. The empirical findings showed a significant relationship with the interaction between financial efficiency and remittances on the economic growth rate, but only in the short run (ceteris paribus). However, this study could not establish whether this interaction had a positive or negative effect on the economic growth rate. Nonetheless, financial access and financial stability had a significantly negative effect on the economic growth rate, both in the short and long run (ceteris paribus). Remittances and foreign direct investments generally had an insignificant effect on the economic growth rate (ceteris paribus). Further findings suggest that remittances were a-cyclical in nature. Overall, it is recommended that policy discussions analyse implications of increasing competition among financial institutions and remittance service providers to reduce intermediation costs.

Electronic (internet and mobile) banking is inevitably the future way of banking across all market spectrum in Namibia. Although most business categories have migrated to the technological banking, small and medium enterprises (SME) business operator are still utilising the conventional and traditional method of banking particularly those in the least developed area of the country. The objective of this research is to study and assess the factors that influence the behavioural intention to use and actual usage of electronic (mobile and internet) banking services among SMEs in Namibia. This study utilizes quantitative approach by administering survey questionnaires to collect data from the targeted sample of 132 SMEs in three towns of Otjiwarongo, Oshakati and Outapi. The study has used structured questionnaires based on the UTAUT2 model to assess and provide answers to the factors that affect the behavioral intention to use and usage behaviour of mobile and internet banking. The data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis to examine the reliability, composite reliability and average variances explained of the constructs assessed. Finally, ordinary least squares and logistic regression techniques were employed to identify the explanatory of behavioural intention to use and usage behaviour of electronic banking services. From the analysis, the results shows that factors such as performance and effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions influence the acceptance of the banking technologies however habit has been found to have a considerable prediction power in explaining the behavioural intention to use internet and mobile banking among SMEs in Namibia to adopt the electronic banking while facilitating condition and habit are the strongest drivers of the acceptance of technology in the consumer settings. The study provides practical recommendations and challenges to banks, regulator and mobile operator to develop alternative strategies to absorb the SME sector into the new banking platform.

Includes bibliographical references. / The effect of energy on inequality and poverty is not well understood and its role in growth-inequality-poverty nexus has not been adequately studied. A country's energy mix can playa significant role in economic growth and poverty alleviation. Policy authorities and donors increasingly lend support to modem energy provision, especially Rural Electrification (RE). This thesis investigates which energy types contribute to poverty alleviation in South Africa and through what mechanisms. Theory indicates that poverty alleviation comes by growth boosting and inequality reducing policies. As such, the investigation of the pro-poor effects of any policy or factor would naturally culminate in studying the effects on economic growth (or production) and income distribution. Theory suggests endogeneity on one hand between energy and GDP and on the other between GDP and inequality. This necessitates a system of equations rather than the traditional single equations approach. There are other (South Africa-specific) reasons why the inequality-development relationship and the role of energy should be investigated. First, South Africa has been under-researched due to lack of data. Recent data released by the Presidency of South Africa (AMPS Dataset) makes such analysis possible. Secondly, the Kuznets' inequalitydevelopment hypothesis can be tested with time series data rather than the cross-section analyses found in earlier literature. Third, energy's role in economic growth or production has been analysed with aggregate energy measures and aggregate GDP. This work argues that such an approach will mask energy type-specific and sector-specific details and undertakes a more disaggregated analysis. Fourth, the multiracial nature of South Africa requires sub-group decomposed inequality rather than national aggregates.

Includes abstract. / Includes bibliographical references. / This study focuses on what has changed and what has remained the same for women in post 1994 South Africa as far as women informal traders in the City of Cape Town (CBD) are concerned. The study shows that despite Legislative and Constitutional changes at the practical level women remain economically and socially disenfranchised.