LL.M. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

LL.D. (Law) / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

D.Com. (Accounting) / The income potential and operational advantages of a broad-based sales tax justify the reliance there upon to produce a material part of the tax revenue of a country with a large third-world element in its economy. Since the introduction of sales tax in 1978 it has developed from a relatively inferior tax into an important element of the South African tax structure presently yielding in excess of 25% of total tax revenue. The relevant statute, namely the Sales Tax Act 103 of 1978, has subsequently been amended to ensure certain structural and operational changes to the sales tax system and the rate has been increased from 4% to 12%. The question may therefore well be asked whether the present sales tax system upholds the criteria for an acceptable tax system, namely equity and efficiency, and still meets with the demands of the advancement that has taken place in the south African economy. This issue is fuelled by the common concern expressed about the apparent unacceptable levels of sales tax avoidance and evasion. In order to answer this question a framework for a sales tax system that would ideally suit the economic structure and social conditions of South Africa was devised. This framework shortly requires the sales tax system to be fair, simple, certain and neutral. The existing sales tax system was tested against this framework and apart from certain breaches, such as the taxation of capital and certain intermediate goods and the insufficient official divulgence of information, it was found to be generally efficient. Furthermore, due to the fact that the consumption of exempt foodstuffs decline much faster, as a proportion of income, than the consumption of taxed goods and services as income increases, the sales tax burden was found to be distributed proportionally over the income range. The recent widespread adoption of value added taxes has lead the study to examine and evaluate the additive-, subtractive- and invoice methods of value added taxation...

M.Com. (Economics) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Com. (Economics) / This study covers the possible causes of inflation in South Africa. Inflation is usually defined as a period of sustained increase in the general price level. The South African inflation rate has accelerated from a moderate start in the early 1960's, and has shown a persistent resistance to regain former levels ever since. This resistance called for an identification of the causes of inflation and for some light to be shed on the inflation process experienced in South Africa since 1965. The aim of the investigation was, firstly, to estimate an inflation function: and, secondly, to simulate the inflation rate. The study was carried out in two stages. In the first, a survey was carried out of all the applicable inflation theories. The conventional inflation theories, the quantity monetary theory and the demand-pull and cost-push theories were analysed. Consequently, the new inflation theories were discussed. The discussion starts off with an analysis of the Phillips curve, as interpreted by R. Lipsey, and the differentiation by Friedman and Phelps between the short-run and long-run Phillips curves, through to the criticism by the School of Rational Expectation.

M.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

LL.M. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Andragogical principles are being implemented at an ever-increasing rate as regards the training of adult learners at present. This compels the trainer to analyse not only the training situation but the characteristics of the target group too (being adult learners) and to make use of this information in planning his training strategy thus greatly increasing his responsibility. This study focuses mainly on the nature of the training group as a target group and on the role of the trainer as group facilitator. The concept "group facilitating" was introduced in training with the study of McLagan (1983). Group facilitation focuses on the managing of group discussions and group processes in order to create appropriate learning opportunities so that individuals can teach their highest potential. In this study a distinction was made between the "role" and the "style" of the group facilitator: the "role" of the group facilitator defines the broader functions of group facilitating, whereas the "style" of group facilitating concerns the,manner of facilitating. It is generally accepted that the group facilitator should adapt his style to the demands of the training situation. These situational demands suggest,changes in the nature of the learning content, the environment and the nature of the training group. To identify the different styles of group facilitation a situational bounded group facilitation model was designed. In this theoretical model the styles were related to different degrees of maturity (maturity being defined here as "readiness to Iearn") of the training group. Four dominant styles of group facilitation were identified and coupled with four different developmental phases of the training group.

D.Phil. / Prior to the democratic elections in 1994, South Africa had a "captive" market. There were regulations that were specifically designed to protect South African organisations. There were various tariffs and taxes imposed on foreign organisations that did business in South Africa. After the democratic elections, South Africa introduced market reforms that resulted in the country being part of globalization. The globalization process brought about significant changes. South African organisations had an opportunity to expand their business opportunities, but at the same time they were faced with competition from other organisations from different parts of the world ...

M. Comm. / The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the current tariff structure applicable to the South African clothing industry and use this information to formulate recommendations on the tariff and trade policy that would best benefit the industry and the economy. Chapter 1 provided an introduction to the analysis of the tariffs applicable to the clothing industry by defining the problem statement, the relevance of the study and the method of research. Analysis of the tariff structure is important to both the government and the private sector. The government needs this type of information to assist in their policy formulation as regards tariffs and trade and the private sector needs to be aware of the implications of government policy on their profits and performance. Chapter 2 provided a literature study of tariff theory and an international comparison, particularly as regards clothing tariffs. Chapter 3 provided background information on the South African clothing industry. Chapter 4 represented the body of the analysis and provided a detailed investigation into the current tariff structure applicable to the South African clothing industry. The aim of Chapter 2 was to outline theory relevant to tariff protection, particularly as regards the clothing industry. In order to achieve this, various aspects of tariff theory, the implications of protection, and the relationship between protection and trade policy were discussed. Prerequisites for successful tariff protection include the existence of effective domestic rivalry, the potential for a favourable 'diamond' (strategy, structure and rivalry; demand conditions; related and supporting industries; and factor conditions) and that the protection is limited in duration. The effective tariff rate (or effective rate of protection) expresses the tariff as a percentage of the value added by the exporting industry in question. Effective tariff rates are very important as the nominal tariff can be deceptive. Most industrial nations have a cascading tariff structure with low nominal tariffs on raw materials and higher rates the greater the degree of processing. Thus, exports like clothing which use partially processed materials (textiles or fabrics) can face substantially different effective tariff rates in comparison to their nominal tariff rates (in the case of clothing in South Africa, the effective rate is about three times higher than the nominal rate). Theory shows that positive effects of tariff protection include protecting employment, changing the distribution of income (this could be positive or negative, depending on who benefits), protection of infant industries or young economies, protection of strategic industries, providing income for governments (from a source that is less controversial than most income taxes) and protection from dumping. Dumping protection is a questionable point and is seen by many economists as an excuse for higher protection to make more profit, rather than as a legitimate effort to prevent a negative activity. Most of the positive effects of protection are accompanied by negative effects or may not achieve their desired outcome. Negative results of tariff protection include that protection often fails to stimulate exports and domestic output, protection tends to promote inefficient firm scale and entry, protection may be anti-competitive and it may encourage corruption. The most important of the negative factors is the promotion of inefficient firm scale and entry, the promotion of anti-competitive behaviour and the encouragement of corruption both on the part of tariff officials at points of entry, and politicians. All of these negative effects encourage businesses to behave in a complacent and inefficient manner. The impact of protection on the cost position of the clothing and textile industries in South Africa was discussed.