Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2003.

Fiscal stress is an important and recurring problem that states face. Research to date on state fiscal stress involves, predominantly, cross-sectional and case study analyses and does not address the effectiveness of state responses. Many of these studies use different definitions and measures of fiscal stress compounding the difficulty of comparing fiscal stress findings. The present research effort adds to the fiscal stress literature by (1) clarifying the meaning of fiscal stress in the state context, (2) developing a measure of fiscal stress that operationalizes this meaning and is comparable across units, and 3) using this measure analyzes patterns in and the effectiveness of state responses. Fiscal stress is measured using four indexes: budget, cash, long-run, service-level. Eleven financial indicators, calculated using data from state Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs), are used to create these indexes for all fifty states for the years 2002-2009. Descriptive analysis compares state fiscal stress levels (grouped into low, moderate, and high fiscal stress by cluster analysis) to state economic growth rates, state responses, and institutional factors yielding several findings. First, states do not use an incremental or punctuated equilibrium strategy in responding to fiscal stress; nor do their responses follow the pattern predicted by Cutback Management theory. Second, institutional factors affect both the levels of fiscal stress and state responses to fiscal stress. Regression analysis supports and extends these findings. First, short-term responses of expenditure cuts, tax increases, and rainy day fund use do not affect state fiscal stress levels. Second, these responses have long-term effects on fiscal stress levels. A major implication of this research is that there is very little states can do in the short-term to reduce fiscal stress. However, by balancing expenditures and revenues states can set themselves up to weather the next economic downturn with lower levels of fiscal stress.

Fiscal stress is an important and recurring problem that states face. Research to date on state fiscal stress involves, predominantly, cross-sectional and case study analyses and does not address the effectiveness of state responses. Many of these studies use different definitions and measures of fiscal stress compounding the difficulty of comparing fiscal stress findings. The present research effort adds to the fiscal stress literature by (1) clarifying the meaning of fiscal stress in the state context, (2) developing a measure of fiscal stress that operationalizes this meaning and is comparable across units, and 3) using this measure analyzes patterns in and the effectiveness of state responses. Fiscal stress is measured using four indexes: budget, cash, long-run, service-level. Eleven financial indicators, calculated using data from state Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs), are used to create these indexes for all fifty states for the years 2002-2009. Descriptive analysis compares state fiscal stress levels (grouped into low, moderate, and high fiscal stress by cluster analysis) to state economic growth rates, state responses, and institutional factors yielding several findings. First, states do not use an incremental or punctuated equilibrium strategy in responding to fiscal stress; nor do their responses follow the pattern predicted by Cutback Management theory. Second, institutional factors affect both the levels of fiscal stress and state responses to fiscal stress. Regression analysis supports and extends these findings. First, short-term responses of expenditure cuts, tax increases, and rainy day fund use do not affect state fiscal stress levels. Second, these responses have long-term effects on fiscal stress levels. A major implication of this research is that there is very little states can do in the short-term to reduce fiscal stress. However, by balancing expenditures and revenues states can set themselves up to weather the next economic downturn with lower levels of fiscal stress.

Fiscal stress is an important and recurring problem that states face. Research to date on state fiscal stress involves, predominantly, cross-sectional and case study analyses and does not address the effectiveness of state responses. Many of these studies use different definitions and measures of fiscal stress compounding the difficulty of comparing fiscal stress findings. The present research effort adds to the fiscal stress literature by (1) clarifying the meaning of fiscal stress in the state context, (2) developing a measure of fiscal stress that operationalizes this meaning and is comparable across units, and 3) using this measure analyzes patterns in and the effectiveness of state responses. Fiscal stress is measured using four indexes: budget, cash, long-run, service-level. Eleven financial indicators, calculated using data from state Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs), are used to create these indexes for all fifty states for the years 2002-2009. Descriptive analysis compares state fiscal stress levels (grouped into low, moderate, and high fiscal stress by cluster analysis) to state economic growth rates, state responses, and institutional factors yielding several findings. First, states do not use an incremental or punctuated equilibrium strategy in responding to fiscal stress; nor do their responses follow the pattern predicted by Cutback Management theory. Second, institutional factors affect both the levels of fiscal stress and state responses to fiscal stress. Regression analysis supports and extends these findings. First, short-term responses of expenditure cuts, tax increases, and rainy day fund use do not affect state fiscal stress levels. Second, these responses have long-term effects on fiscal stress levels. A major implication of this research is that there is very little states can do in the short-term to reduce fiscal stress. However, by balancing expenditures and revenues states can set themselves up to weather the next economic downturn with lower levels of fiscal stress.

This study examines how the South African government's expenditure on social services impacts on the poverty levels in the country. To provide a background on poverty, different concepts and views on the subject are reviewed and then the nature and distribution of poverty in South Africa are discussed. In post-apartheid South Africa, the thrust of macroeconomic framework and corresponding policies implemented by the democratic government have been geared towards poverty alleviation, employment creation and national output expansion (economic growth). This study examines the trends in government expenditure on social services and uses econometric analyses to further investigate the effects of government spending on social services on the poverty levels in South Africa. Economic growth and employment opportunities will have to exist and complement fiscal redistribution to enable the poor lift themselves out of poverty in the long run. Improved targeting methods that correctly identify the poor could also ensure that social spending reaches the intended poor, thus narrowing the gap between macro policies and the poor, and preventing a waste of resources. Various poverty alleviation measures have been implemented, of which redistribution through the budgetary policy is an important one. As part of its package towards addressing the poverty problem, the post-apartheid government in South Africa has consistently been injecting considerable amounts of resources on inter alia, education, housing, welfare and health services. The initial results indicate that fiscal redistribution on its own is inadequate in combating poverty in South Africa. Models that incorporate economic growth and unemployment show that expenditure on social services do impact on poverty alleviation, in particular expenditure on housing, education and welfare. Further regression analyses show that poverty can be tackled through economic growth and employment creation. In short, there cannot be significant fiscal redistribution unless the South African economy registers high levels of economic growth and job creation. / Thesis (M.Comm.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

The view of on-site school support for curriculum delivery is shared by most countries and its effects have been felt by schools. There is fear that the Austerity Measures will negate the outcomes of the action taken by the teams that visit the schools. The reviewed literature is more biased towards the Austerity Measures in the whole government sector rather than in a department or an institution like the Education District in Idutywa. Even though the effects of Austerity Measures have been researched all over the world based on a specific country, there is deficiency of such literature done in the institution like the department of Education Districts. The researcher intends contributing to the filling of this gap by this study. The researcher therefore carried out a focused study of the effect of Department’s Austerity Measures on on-site school curriculum support in Idutywa Education District. It is also imperative to know how the teachers are affected by these departmental Austerity Measures, hence the interviews were carried out with the school personnel in addition to the District Professional staff. The District is characterised by poor performance in both Annual National Assessment (ANA) and the final National Senior Certificate results. The findings revealed that the implementation of AM have contributed to, amongst other things, the following issues: The inadequate on-site school support for curriculum delivery; The shortage of resources that includes teachers and vehicles; and ultimately the learner underperformance The researcher expect that the recommendation made will be embraced and be factored through, during the planning process of the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education in order to improve learner performance.

Supply Chain Management is an aspect of the procurement process which focuses on addressing the needs of both the service provider and the end user. It has a constitutional status which enables it to contribute towards addressing past discriminatory practices. It assists in correcting the imbalances of the past in the procurement of goods and services for government. Section 217(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) specifies that procurement must be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective. Accountability is the most critical element in improving financial management in the public sector. The objective of the study was to highlight the need for accountability in Public Finance Management. Additionally, it was intended to assess the respective roles of the various processes involved in the acquisition of goods and services with the goal of enhancing accountability in the Eastern Cape Department of Safety and Liaison in Bhisho. The study was conducted at the Head Office of the Supply Chain Management Section and the district offices with officials who are responsible for the procurement of goods and services. In order to achieve the objectives of the research, a survey was conducted using the qualitative method to ensure greater understanding and reliability. Convenience sampling was applied as it allowed the researcher to select the sample that was convenient. Moreover, it made it easier to reach the available participants. Data was gathered by means of face-to-face interviews for the Head Office respondents and telephonic interviews for the respondents of the district offices. The study concluded with recommendations emanating from the research findings that are meant to assist in improving accountability in Supply Chain Management within the Eastern Cape Department of Safety and Liaison.

This study analyses the economic impact between foreign debt and economic growth in South Africa. By fitting a production function model to annual data for the period 1980-2011, the study examines the dynamic effect of debt service, capital stock and labour force on the economic growth of the country. By following Cunningham (1993), it has identified the long-run and short-run causal relationships among the included variables. The results indicate that the debt servicing burden has a negative effect on the productivity of labour and capital, and thereby affect economic growth adversely. The results also illustrate that the debt service ratio tends to negatively affect GDP and the rate of economic growth in the long-run, which, in turn, reduces the ability of the country to service its debt. Similarly, the estimated error correction term shows the existence of a significant long-run causal relationship among the specified variables. Overall, the results suggest the existence of short-run and long-run causal relationships running from debt service to GDP.

The study of macroeconomics and finance has evolved tremendously over the last few decades---significant advancements have taken place in both gaining access to an increasing scale and scope of observational, policy and private data, as well as empirical methods to derive novel economic insights from such data. In this dissertation, I attempt to shed light on three problems broadly across macroeconomics and asset pricing, taking a data-driven approach to answer them. For the first essay, we construct a novel dataset which captures the geographic incidence of government revenues and expenditures. Government revenues and expenditures revenues and expenditures occur on three different levels in the United States: local, state, and federal. At all levels, government revenues and expenditures add and subtract resources from the private sector. The dataset encompasses all revenues and expenditures at the county-level and thus allows to see the net resource allocation through the government. We use this dataset to document several new facts about the relationship between economic activity and the resource allocation by the government. The governments' resource allocation is generally redistributive. That is, levels and changes of median income are associated with the level and changes of net resources. Second, we evaluate response of governmental revenues and spending in response to the China shock. We find a decline in total governmental receipts in counties that are hardest hit, while a muted response of total governmental spending. The aggregate response conceals a lot of heterogeneity: a decomposition at the governmental level shows an increase in expenditures and lower receipts at the federal level; at the local and state level we find a simultaneous reduction of receipts and spending. The latter is a consequence of the balanced budget constraint. Overall, total government spending is approximately constant while total receipts are falling. As a result, the insurance function of the federal government is offset by a reduction at the state and local level which renders total government spending neutral to the China shock. This stands in contrast to prior research which has focused on the federal response. In our second essay, we attempt to answer the question---how should an investor value financial data? The answer is complicated because it depends on the characteristics of all investors. We develop a sufficient statistics approach that uses equilibrium asset return moments to summarize all relevant information about others' characteristics. It can value data that is public or private, about one or many assets, relevant for dividends or for sentiment. While different data types, of course, have different valuations, heterogeneous investors also value the same data very differently, which suggests a low price elasticity for data demand. Heterogeneous investors' data valuations are also affected very differentially by market illiquidity. Lastly, in the third essay, we examine the economic impact of droughts on asset markets, specifically on land valuation. Specifically, we focus on farmland valuations in California---one of the most productive farmlands in the world. The semi-arid climate makes its valuation particularly sensitive to the amount of surface and groundwater water available for irrigation. The detailed administrative transaction data from the counties' assessor offices allows us to estimate repeat sales indices as opposed to a hedonic model which make our results less likely to be affected by omitted variables. We find that parcels with better access to freshwater see a larger appreciation in land values from 2011 to 2020; whereas we find no statistical significant differential price change between 2000-2011. The differential change in land values points towards large economic effects of water scarcity with beliefs about future climatic conditions being updated due to two severe episodes of drought and signals of legislative willingness to curb groundwater overdraft.

This dissertation has shown that public procurement regulation takes place through regulatory documents that mainly underwent a name change and that the only changes are found in the reporting framework. The South African government identified public procurement as an active instrument to achieve social and economic goals. To provide substance to this realisation, public procurement was taken up in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. The constitution prescribes a procurement system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective. / Public Administration & Management / M. Admin. (Public Administration)