Submitted in the partial fulfilment for the Degree of Master of Arts in Development Studies Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand, March 2017 / The precarious existence of Uber drivers operating within Johannesburg’s metropolitan area is the primary area of study in which this dissertation has undertaken. Driver precarity, defined in the study as the loss of labour market security in various forms, is argued to stem from Uber’s sharing economy-inspired business model. The analysis of Uber’s business model, substantively focuses on the service’s dynamic pricing model of fare price setting, the implementation of a ‘rating’ system in which to evaluate driver performance and the use of ‘independent contractor’ labour. It is argued that each of these three Uber business practices place drivers in a position of precarity in the realm of their income, employment, work and job security. The study mobilises a qualitative research methodology, enlisting the methods of unstructured interviews on eight active Uber drivers, four autoethnographical observations on real-time work behaviour and document analysis to generate data for analysis. The prevailing argument made regarding Uber’s precarity-creation, is aided through a consultation of Guy Standing’s theorisation on precarity (2011), with Harvey’s flexible Accumulation theory (1990), Foucault’s Panopticism thesis (1975) and Hochschild’s emotional labour theory (1983) broadening the scope of the analysis. / XL2018

Thesis (M.M.(Finance & Investment)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits Business School, 2017 / This study investigated whether the financial sector (private and public) is accessible to the SME’s and entry level entrepreneurs dominated by Black and poor people. The study employed a comparative analysis method; it compared the structure of the South African financial sector to those of India and Brazil, as newly industrialised countries. The finding indicates that the South African financial sector lacked the presence of state-owned financial institutions as in the comparable NCI countries to support SMEs and entry level Black entrepreneurs. The study then recommended the creation of state-owned microfinance institutions, whose performance will determine the need of state-owned banks / GR2018

Moral Hazard and the Agency Costs thereof have long been accepted arguments in venture finance theory and have therefore long been accepted shortcomings in the venture capitalist / entrepreneur relationship. In psychological experiments ??? including economic ??? it has been shown that human beings prefer to act in a reciprocal manner that reduces any inequity in a relationship. Humans who expect to receive an unfair and inequitable position in a relationship, will take steps to rectify that position. Specifically, if a venture capitalist expects the entrepreneur to unfairly extract private benefits from the investee company post investment by the venture capitalist, then he or she will impose costly controls and monitoring mechanisms in place to prevent that. All relationships that impose controls and monitoring mechanisms are inefficient, as opposed to Advising the investee which draws upon the skills of the venture capitalist and is generally efficient. The venture capital industry is comprised of intelligent and professional people who can recognise inefficiency easily. Indeed, this is how they make poorly managed companies into profitable trade sales or IPO???s. The online survey completed for this thesis poses questions that attempt to show that venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are not locked in an antagonistic relationship where each merely acts in a self interested way. This thesis concludes that venture capitalists and entrepreneurs do work in a reciprocal relationship recognising the substantial efficiency gains to be made by doing so.

South Africa is a country in a state of flux. It has many problems / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

This study investigates the impacts of regional characteristics on the early-stage performance of New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) in catch-up regions where a mature industrial cluster has yet to be formed. It hypothesized that the average NTBF performance in a region is a function of its scientist job market conditions, cultural diversity, venture capital, academic research, industrial structure, and local entrepreneurial climate. Using the events of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) and Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) as an indicator of early-stage success of NTBFs, this study constructs a set of Zero-Inflated-Negative-Binomial (ZINB) models to predict the spatial distribution of such events in the U.S. biopharmaceutical and Information Technology (IT) service industries during the period from 1996 to 2005. Several empirical findings emerge from this study. First, the local entrepreneurial climate plays a significant and positive role on NTBF performance in both industries. Second, the positive impact of cultural diversity is more significant in the IT service industry than in the biopharmaceutical industry. Third, the scientist job market size and absolute salary level have positive impacts on NTBF performance, but the effect of relative salary level is negative. Fourth, proximity to venture capital firms has positive but non-linear effects, but the adverse effect of excess venture capital is stronger in the IT service industry. Fifth, there is little evidence of the direct effects of academic research in determining the NTBF performance in both industries. Finally, industrial specialization is significant and positive only in the IT service industry. The results suggest that promoting local entrepreneurial climate and cultural diversity are two effective policy instruments for catch-up regions to foster their NTBF growth.

Moral Hazard and the Agency Costs thereof have long been accepted arguments in venture finance theory and have therefore long been accepted shortcomings in the venture capitalist / entrepreneur relationship. In psychological experiments ??? including economic ??? it has been shown that human beings prefer to act in a reciprocal manner that reduces any inequity in a relationship. Humans who expect to receive an unfair and inequitable position in a relationship, will take steps to rectify that position. Specifically, if a venture capitalist expects the entrepreneur to unfairly extract private benefits from the investee company post investment by the venture capitalist, then he or she will impose costly controls and monitoring mechanisms in place to prevent that. All relationships that impose controls and monitoring mechanisms are inefficient, as opposed to Advising the investee which draws upon the skills of the venture capitalist and is generally efficient. The venture capital industry is comprised of intelligent and professional people who can recognise inefficiency easily. Indeed, this is how they make poorly managed companies into profitable trade sales or IPO???s. The online survey completed for this thesis poses questions that attempt to show that venture capitalists and entrepreneurs are not locked in an antagonistic relationship where each merely acts in a self interested way. This thesis concludes that venture capitalists and entrepreneurs do work in a reciprocal relationship recognising the substantial efficiency gains to be made by doing so.

Originally presented as the author's thesis: Universität zu Kiel, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 276-304).

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Carleton University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-71). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Mémoire (M.P.M.O.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1996. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU