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Thesis (M.Dev) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The aim of this study was to assess the performance of co-operative enterprises that have benefited from the Co-operative Incentive Scheme (CIS). Matabane Co-operative in the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Sekhukhune District was used as a case study. Both primary and secondary data were used to analyse the performance of this co-operative. The primary data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire, while electronic and non-electronic media were used to collect secondary data. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents and because the number of beneficiaries of the co-operative was too small (i.e., 36) all were selected for this purpose. Only tables were used to analyse data in this study. The results obtained showed that the level of participation of females and youth in co-operatives is minimal. With regard to the level of education, the study found that all beneficiaries were literate. Of the total membership, 31% had passed secondary education, 22% had tertiary qualifications, while those who had passed primary education constituted 47%. The study also found that the co-operative had generated 36 jobs. Of this number, 14% were awarded to females as compared to 86% among their male counterparts. The youth constituted only 8% of the co-operative membership as compared to the 92% of the adults and the elderly combined. With regard to income, the study found that the co-operative has managed to generate about R1,5 million, the majority of which comes from the sale of livestock and maize, namely 44% and 28% respectively. The following challenges were established by this study: lack of access to markets, lack of sufficient land space for production, lack of support from government, lack of access to water, shortage of proper skills, and the high cost of electricity. The following recommendations are therefore made to policymakers: · A budget for the payment of stipends to beneficiaries should be made available. The budget for the Community Work Programme (CWP) should be used for this purpose. · The municipality should provide a subsidy for electricity to the co-operative. · The Provincial Departments of Agriculture should provide the co-operative with adequate infrastructure. · LIBSA and other government agencies should ensure the provision of ongoing training in technical, project management, recordkeeping and financial management skills to the beneficiaries of the co-operative. · LIBSA should assist the co-operatives in identifying markets and in ensuring that their produce meets the required quality standards. The assurance is hereby given by this study that the productivity of co-operatives would be enhanced if these policies were implemented successfully.

This paper proposes a new model for studying the new product development process in an artificial environment. We show how connectionist models can be used to simulate the adaptive nature of agents' learning exhibiting similar behavior as practically experienced learning curves. We study the impact of incentive schemes (local, hybrid and global) on the new product development process for different types of organizations. Sequential organizational structures are compared to two different types of team-based organizations, incorporating methods of Quality Function Deployment such as the House of Quality. A key finding of this analysis is that the firms' organizational structure and agents' incentive system significantly interact. We show that the House of Quality is less affected by the incentive scheme than firms using a Trial & Error approach. This becomes an important factor for new product success when the agents' performance measures are conflicting. (author's abstract) / Series: Report Series SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

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Public Law 95-87, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), mandates that mined land be reclaimed in a fashion that renders the land at least as productive after mining as it was before mining. In the central Appalachian region, where prime farmland and economic development opportunities for mined land are scarce, the most practical land use choices are hayland/pasture, wildlife habitat, or forest land. Since 1977, the majority of mined land has been reclaimed as hayland/pasture or wildlife habitat, which is less expensive to reclaim than forest land, since there are no tree planting costs. As a result, there are now hundreds of thousands of hectares of grasslands and scrublands in various stages of natural succession located throughout otherwise forested mountains in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for understanding/calculating the economic implications of converting these reclaimed mined lands to forests under various silvicultural regimes, and to demonstrate the economic/decision-making implications of an incentive scheme on such a land use conversion. The economic feasibility of a range of land-use conversion scenarios was analyzed for both mixed hardwoods and white pine, under a set of low product prices and under a set of high product prices. Economic feasibility was based on land expectation values. Further, three types of incentive schemes were investigated: 1) lump sum payment at planting (and equivalent series of annual payments), 2) revenue incentive at harvest and 3) payment based on carbon volume. Mixed hardwood LEVs ranged from -$2416.71/ha (low prices) to $3955.72/ha (high prices). White pine LEVs ranged from -$2330.43/ha (low prices) to $3746.65/ha (high prices). A greater percentage of white pine scenarios yielded economically feasible land-use conversions than did the mixed hardwood scenarios, and it seems that a conversion to white pine forests would, for the most part, be the more appealing option. It seems that, for both mixed hardwoods and white pine, it would be in the best interests of the landowner to invest in the highest quality sites first. For a conversion to mixed hardwood forests, a low intensity level of site preparation seems economically optimal for most scenarios. For a conversion to white pine forests, a medium intensity level of site preparation seems economically optimal for most scenarios. Mixed hardwoods lump sum payments, made at the time of planting, ranged from $0/ha to $2416.71/ha (low prices). White pine lump sum payments, made at the time of planting, ranged from $0/ha to $2330.53/ha (low prices). Mixed hardwoods benefits based on an increase in revenue at harvest, ranged from $0/ha to $784449.52/ha (low prices). White pine benefits based on an increase in revenue at harvest ranged from $0/ha to $7011.48/ha (high prices). Annual mixed hardwood benefits, based on total stand carbon volume present at the end of a given year, ranged from $0/ton of carbon to $5.26/ton carbon (low prices). White pine benefits based on carbon volume ranged from $0/ton of carbon to $18.61/ton of carbon (high prices). It appears that, for white pine scenarios, there is not much difference between incentive values for lump sum payments at planting, revenue incentives at harvest, and total carbon payments over a rotation. For mixed hardwoods, however, it appears that the carbon payment incentive is by far the cheapest option of encouraging landowners to convert land. / Master of Science