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published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Economics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Corruption remains one of the most enduring phenomenon across the world and notably in Sub Saharan Africa where its scope and depth still culminate generally at distressing levels to a greater or lesser extent across countries and regions. This study presents an empirical analysis of the causes and association types of corruption across SADC countries. Through quantitative methods of analysis, it delivers an assessment of the conditional effect of the human capital and social development along with their respective and combined impact on a corruption model using panel data and multivariate regression estimates across the fifteen SADC countries for the period 2005 - 2013. The research then identifies other covariates economic or institutional - and their functional dependence to the hypothesised triad nexus - that may predict the diversity of corruption level outcomes in the region.The hypotheses considered and tested suggest that both human capital (HC) and social development (SD) are key determinants of corruption outcome levels. We report consistently strong R squared (R2) and high magnitude coefficients for the two variables under several estimation models and for various other control economic and governance variables. For robustness testing, alternate measures of corruption are also used. The results mostly but not entirely support the initial findings. The inclusion of the institutional variables does not confirm for SADC countries the largely found negative association of corruption with democracy and press freedom. Hence young and developing democracies across the region may not benefit from lower levels of corruption in the short run as institutional frameworks in formation remain weak. Meanwhile this research did not allow to derive clear arguments in relation to true causality and effects’ directions. The results remain agnostic with regards to causation between corruption and the selected explanatory variables. In the end human capital and social development in particular were found to be strong and consistent predictors of corruption control and the associations remain robust and significant under numerous specifications. While omnipresent rhetoric has largely focused on the political dimensions of corruption this study provides a substantial evidence and a nuance contribution to knowledge and literature to the concept of corruption by introducing the interaction effects of human capital and social development which indicate that both explanatory variables are consistent predictors of corruption control levels. In the footsteps of Sen’s theory, it offers a new frame which grants an understanding of the phenomenon of corruption from a capability and human development approach as a new avenue for research. All of which has crucial policy implications for concerned governments. Indeed, efforts to stamp out corruption should be designed first to eliminate or mitigate the root - conditions of its incidence focusing on policies geared towards better education and higher living standards. Relying chiefly on oversight agencies and lending disproportionate attention to enforcement actions and regulatory frameworks would indeed prove to be a misplaced priority. Fundamentally this thesis argues a new scheme of intelligibility, a renewed “episteme” of corruption which refers to the order of human developmental structures underlying the production of corrupt practices. / Business Management / D.B.L.

The aim of this work is to estimate the individual rate of return on investment in tertiary education in the Czech Republic. Firstly, I focus on the theoretical explanation of the issue of human capital and investment in education as the most important investment in human capital. On the basis of the theoretical knowledge I present a list of revenues and expenses associated with investments in human capital. From this list I then select quantifiable revenues and expenses for the calculation of the internal rate of return on investments in tertiary education and present the data used in calculations. I describe my own methodology and also the methodology used by OECD, which is a base for my methodology. After estimating the individual rate of return on investment in tertiary education in the Czech Republic, I describe some limits of the calculation and interpretation obstacles of the estimate. At the end of my work, I mention some possible directions for further research in this area.

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / This research examines the effect of human capital investment on the firm’s performance in South African companies. This research is important given that the human asset has been proven to be one of the most important assets in the organisation and therefore this research set out to examine whether human assets actually contribute to the performance of the firm in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Social Responsible index (SRI). Therefore the objective of this research was to examine the relationship between human capital investment and firm performance in terms of sales turnover, share price and net profit. Secondary data on human capital investment and companies’ performance (sales turnover, net profit and share price) were collected from integrated report archives of the 28 best performing companies in the JSE SRI Index for the six years from 2010 to 2015. The theoretical foundation was on the human capital theory and related previous literature. The research adopted a quantitative paradigm and applied the regression statistics, which were analysed with the aid of the excel software. Findings from the regression analysis indicate p value of 0.04 for HCI and sales turnover, p value of 0.69 for HCI and the share price and p value of 0.16 for HCI and net profit. This therefore, means that, within the sample of companies, there is a significant relationship between human capital investment and sales turnover of firms and no significant relationship between human capital investment and share price, and net profit of companies. This finding indicates that the result may change from negative to positive with a longer period of data. Over the long term companies that invest in HC would experience profitability (within a range of 10 to 13 years) (Blundell et al, 1999).This means that future research should use a longer period of data and include more companies outside of the JSE SRI Index companies. The research recommends that there is a need for companies to invest in human capital to improve companies’ performance and to win customers’ confidence.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of human capital requires meaningful measures of human capital effectiveness that enable better strategic human resource decision-making. Existing measures, such as Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI), allow human resource managers to quantify the bottom-line impact of human capital expenditure, but little is known about how HCROI varies within the population of listed companies. As a result, users of these metrics rarely know how they ‘measure up’ against their competitors in the absence of normative information. If human capital is considered a source of competitive advantage, measures of human capital effectiveness should also allow for normative comparisons. The present study extracted audited financial data from McGregor BFA (2010) and described the central tendency and dispersion of HCROI of Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies (N = 319). In doing so, it established a set of benchmarks for human capital effectiveness measures across industry and company size categories, as well as described temporal changes over the financial years surveyed (2006 - 2010). Even though South Africa is considered to have a very low labour force productivity level compared to other countries (Schwab, 2010 in World Competitive Report, 2010/2011), the results showed that the grand median HCROI ratio for South African listed companies was higher (M = 3.03) than those from published figures from the USA, EU and UK (PwC Saratoga, 2011). This descriptive research also explored the influence of company size (small, medium or large) and company industry (N = 42) on human capital effectiveness (as indexed by HCROI). No statistically significant differences (p > .05) between the median HCROI ratios across company size categories were found, although notable differences in medians of HCROI across company industry categories were observed. HCROI also showed temporal fluctuations over the study period, reflecting economic cycle influences, but year-on-year changes were bigger when the mean HCROI was used — median HCROI remained relatively stable year-on-year. From the research, several recommendations are made regarding the appropriate use of these HCROI benchmark data. Also, this descriptive study lays a solid foundation for future explanatory research aimed at investigating the antecedents, correlates and consequences of human capital return-on-investment (HCROI) as an indicator of human capital effectiveness. The present study contributes to human capital metrics literature by demonstrating how human capital effectiveness indicators can be calculated from audited financial results available in the public domain, and in doing so, attempts to encourage greater use of human capital reporting in financial reporting standards. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die bestuur van mensekapitaal vereis betekenisvolle metings van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit wat beter strategiese menslike hulpbron-besluitneming tot gevolg het. Bestaande metings, soos Menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs (HCROI), laat menslike hulpbronbestuurders toe om die finansiële impak van die menskapitaaluitgawe te kwantifiseer, maar min is bekend oor hoe menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengste tussen die populasie van gelyste maatskappye varieer. Die gevolg is dat die gebruikers van hierdie metrieke aanduiders (metrics) selde weet hoe hulle ‘opmeet’ teen hul mededingers in die afwesigheid van normatiewe inligting. Indien menskapitaal as ‘n bron van ykmerk (benchmark) oorweeg kan word, moet die meting van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit ook normatiewe vergelykings toelaat. Die huidige studie het geouditeerde finansiële data vanaf McGregor BFA (2010) onttrek en die sentrale neiging en verspreiding van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs van die maatskappye wat op die Johannesburgse Effektebeurs gelys is (N = 319), beskryf. Sodoende het dit ‘n stel ykmerke vir menskapitaaleffektiwiteit-metings daargestel oor die industrie- en maatskappy-grootte kategorieë heen, sowel as om reële veranderinge oor die finansiële jare (2006 – 2010) wat ondersoek is, te beskryf. Alhoewel Suid-Afrika met ‘n baie lae arbeidsmag produktiwiteitsvlak geag word in vergelyking met ander lande (Schwab, 2010 in World Competitive Report, 2010/2011), het die resultate getoon dat die algehele mediaan menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs ratio vir Suid-Afrikaans-gelyste maatskappye hoër (M = 3.03) was as die gepubliseerde syfers van die V.S.A., Europa en die Verenigde Koninkryk (PwC Saratoga, 2011). Hierdie beskrywende navorsing het ook die invloed van maatskappy-grootte (groot, medium of klein) en maatskappy-sektore (N = 42) op menskapitaaleffektiwiteit (soos geïndekseer deur die menskapitaal-beleggingsopbrengs) ondersoek. Geen statistiese beduidende verskille (p > .05) is tussen die menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs mediaan ratio’s oor die maatskappy-grootte kategorieë gevind nie, alhoewel daar noemenswaardige verskille in die mediaan van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs oor die maatskappy-sektor kategorieë waargeneem is. Menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs het ook temporale skommelinge oor die studieperiode getoon, wat ekonomiese siklus-invloede reflekteer het, maar jaar-op-jaar veranderinge was groter indien die gemiddelde (mean) menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs gebruik was – mediaan menskapitaalbeleggingopbrengs het relatief stabiel van jaar-tot-jaar gebly. Uit hierdie navorsing word verskeie aanbevelings gemaak rakende die toepaslike gebruik van die menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs ykmerk-data. Die beskrywende studie lê ook ‘n vaste fondament vir toekomstige verklarende navorsing wat daarop gerig is om die voorafgaande veranderlikes (antecedents), korrelate en gevolge van menskapitaalbeleggingsopbrengs as ‘n indikator van menskapitaaleffektiwiteit te ondersoek. Die huidige studie dra tot die menskapitaalmaatstawweliteratuur by deur te demonstreer hoe menskapitaaleffektiwiteit indikatore vanaf geouditeerde finansiële resultate kan bereken word wat op die openbare domein beskikbaar is. Daardeur word gepoog om groter gebruik van menskapitaalrapportering in finansiële verslagdoeningstandaarde aan te moedig.

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

La déstabilisation qu'introduit la marche des territoires vers l'économie de la connaissance a fait évoluer les enjeux de l'aménagement. Passé le temps des stratégies fondées sur la construction d'autoroutes et de zones d'activités, le politique se penche sur le rôle des personnes et de leur capacité à innover, c'est-à-dire à imaginer la nouveauté.La thèse questionne ces évolutions à l'aune des villes intermédiaires, pour qui, dans ce contexte, il semble difficile d'exister autrement que comme périphérie des métropoles. En effet, elles doivent opérer de profondes mutations, tout en composant avec l'absence de certaines fonctions, avec la concurrence des villes de tous types, etc. Elles seraient aussi particulièrement sensibles aux enjeux du capital humain, dont la mobilisation stratégique pourrait leur permettre d'entamer à leur tour une trajectoire métropolitaine. Pour discuter ces hypothèses, la thèse propose des outils d'analyse novateurs : un cadre conceptuel autour du capital humain territorial¸ une analyse de projets par la cartographie ou encore une méthode pour caractériser de la gouvernance territoriale de l'innovation.Elle montre que davantage que l'effet-taille ou d'autres critères habituellement identifiés, c'est l'organisation territoriale du capital humain qui détermine les capacités d'innovation des villes intermédiaires. Angers et Reims offrent deux exemples de la variété des situations et des réponses apportées par l'action publique territoriale. Les différents résultats obtenus pourraient s'avérer utile tant pour contribuer à renouveler les réflexions du développement territorial que pour élaborer des outils d'aide à la décision pour l'aménagement. / The shift towards a knowledge-based economy seems to call for rethinking urban and territorial development. Strategies based on highways and business parks planning are not adequate anymore to cope with contemporary challenges. Policy-makers have to deal with people and their ability to innovate.This PhD research examines these challenges focusing on intermediate cities which, in this context, face difficulties to exist apart from being periphery of the core metropolises. Indeed, they have to operate profound transformations, while dealing with the absence of certain urban functions, with the interurban competition, etc. They are also particularly sensitive to the issues of human capital, whose strategic mobilization could allow them to begin to turn a metropolitan trajectory. Discussing these assumptions, the research uses innovative analytical tools: setting a theoretical framework for a territorial human capital approach, analyzing place-based projects by mapping, and modeling the regional governance of innovation.Findings show that territorial organization human capital is an important factor to explain innovative capacities of intermediate cities. In France, Angers and Reims provide two examples of the variegated situations and responses of local policies. The different results could help to stimulate progress in constructing a theoretical approach for conceptualizing challenges of intermediate cities and for developing decision-making tools.

In recent years, a research consensus has coalesced around the notion that human capital development and an efficient public service are critically important determinants of societal transformation, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, there is no similarly wide agreement on how to systematically drive improvements in the quality of a nation's human capital or its public service. This thesis contributes to this debate and adds to the literature on strategies for effective civil service human capital development and management in a developing context. Specifically, the study interrogates and explores the experience of a developing country - Nigeria, to illustrate the dynamics of a typical civil service human capital and capability development (CD) strategy. I critically examine the social and relational complexities of the policy process and how dominant neo-liberal logic is constituted, forming part of the metanarrative in state identities that perpetuate unequal power relations, elite interests, and ineffective institutional arrangements. Influenced by post structural and social constructivist philosophies, the research challenges the dominant neo-liberal orthodoxy on human capital. In this regard and utilising a case study approach, the study critically explores and reveals how the standards for human capital development are negotiated in the Nigerian federal civil service (NFCS), and examines the discourses and practices they produce. I utilise the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD) as well as policy documents and semi-structured interviews with senior policy planners, to capture the nuanced realities and everyday meanings that are lost in dominant metanarratives of civil service human capital reforms in SSA. These explorations are positioned within the broader development debates about the need to adopt social constructivist research frames to better understand contextual issues in the capability development (CD) process. The research findings indicate that while most reform programmes in the NFCS have been captivated by the capacity development and service delivery rhetoric, the complex interplay between the dearth of human capabilities and the politicisation of the implementation process means that the impact of such policies have been very minimal. The study reveals that the relational complexities between policy agents have been engendered largely by the nature of Nigeria's political economy, which appears to have produced dynamic and interweaving unequal power relations that have helped constitute discourses centred on institutional inefficiencies, including: 'patronage', 'intense rent-seeking', and 'personalisation' of the policy process that are currently ongoing. These discourses are actively navigated, produced and reproduced according to Nigeria's social and political contexts. I argue that this socially constituted and re-constituted locale creates a complex and uniquely challenging context for reforms, such that developing civil service capacities has become a major challenge, because 'reform' policies tend to serve the interests of a few powerful elites, who are bent on maintaining the status quo. The thesis makes key recommendations that recognise these challenges and provides policy options and a framework to help the Nigerian federal service embark upon a capability development initiative that will help improve the efficiency of the Service and lead to accelerated national development.