We run a large-scale natural field experiment to evaluate alternative strategies to enforce compliance with the law. The experiment varies the text of mailings sent to potential evaders of TV license fees. We find a strong effect of mailings, leading to a substantial increase in compliance. Among different mailings, a threat treatment which makes a high detection risk salient has a significant deterrent effect. Neither appealing to morals nor imparting information about others' behavior enhances compliance on aggregate. However, the information condition has a weak positive effect in municipalities where evasion is believed to be common. (authors' abstract)

The financial meltdown that started in 2008 has had a severe influence on financial institutions worldwide. Financial sectors, and especially banks, were impacted severely due to bad debts that reached record highs. During this period, it became clear that banks will have to review their client-service strategies, as well as the way that income is generated from their clients. One way is to increase the income earned from existing customers by cross-selling more products to these clients. To increase the income earned from clients by improving the amount of products sold to clients, banks need to retain their client base. In most South African business banks, a customer relationship management (CRM) process is followed. CRM has become an important part of relationship banking; and it plays a significant role in customer acquisition and maintaining a profitable business relationship. Despite much research on cross-selling and satisfaction, no study seems to provide a clear indication on the role of CRM in providing customer satisfaction and cross-selling in the South African business-banking sector. This study will attempt to determine the role of CRM in satisfaction and cross-selling in business banking. For this purpose, the client base of a commercial bank in South Africa will be utilised. The study will focus on business clients in the small, medium and large sectors of the bank. The purpose of this research is to determine the role of multi-level CRM in satisfaction and cross-selling in the business-banking segment. The research objectives driving this research are: • To determine whether those segments serviced through different CRM processes experience different levels of satisfaction; • Investigating whether those segments with higher levels of satisfaction show more cross-selling; • Discovering whether those customers exposed to CRM over longer periods of time have higher levels of satisfaction; • Assessing whether those segments serviced through higher levels of CRM result in higher levels of cross-selling; • Determining whether customers exposed to CRM over longer periods of time demonstrate a higher cross-selling propensity; • To investigate whether customers with high levels of cross-selling have a greater likelihood to recommend their bank to others; • To determine whether a higher likelihood to recommend within segments shows higher levels of cross-selling; • Assessing whether segments differ in their likelihood to recommend their bank to others; and • Investigating whether customers with a longer bank relationship have a higher likelihood of recommending their bank to others. To execute the research, relevant secondary databases need to be sourced. The first database was from a research company, which conducts research for the bank in scope; while the second database would be from the bank in scope’s warehouse. After evaluating the databases for the relevance and quality of the data, the databases were combined into a final dataset – for the purpose of data mining – to address the research objectives. The population for this study consists of small, medium and large business clients of one of the banking groups in South Africa. The results indicated the existence of significant differences between these business segments in terms of their satisfaction experienced; and they confirmed an association between the length of a customer’s relationship with the bank and his/her level of satisfaction experienced. When considering cross-selling and the likelihood to recommend, the results also demonstrate that a positive relationship exists between customers as regards their cross-selling ratio and the likelihood to recommend their bank. The findings from the study should guide managers to distinguish between the satisfaction experienced and the cross-sales generated by the CRM structures used in specific segments in business banking. The study should contribute to the body of knowledge in CRM and cross-selling by adding to the literature knowledge base. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Marketing Management / unrestricted

Migrationen till Sverige har ökat avsevärt under de senaste åren vilket innebär att ett ökat antal personer som inte har svenska som modersmål kan vara i behov av vård. För en god vård behöver också patienters delaktighet respekteras och en vårdande relation mellan sjuksköterskor och patienter etableras. Språkliga hinder kan medföra att patienter upplever oro och otrygghet i vården. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att undersöka sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av språkliga hinder i möten med patienter. Metoden som har använts är en litteraturstudie där tio vetenskapliga artiklar, både kvalitativa och kvantitativa, analyserades. Resultatet presenteras i sex olika teman: ett hinder för att förstå och bedöma patienters behov och situation, ett skäl till att vårdandet kompliceras, ett skäl till att kulturella skillnader uppstår, att övervinna språkliga hinder med hjälp av tolk, att övervinna språkliga hinder med hjälp av informell tolk, att övervinna språkliga hinder med egna strategier. Det framkom att den icke-fungerande kommunikationen och de kulturella skillnaderna med patienter försvårade sjuksköterskors arbete. Formell tolk, informell tolk som exempelvis familjemedlemmar och tvåspråkig personal, samt olika verbala, icke-verbala och visuella hjälpmedel användes för att förbättra kommunikationen. Alla dessa strategier hade sina för- och nackdelar vilket sjuksköterskor bör ta i beaktning. Det är ändå av stor vikt att sjuksköterskor interagerar med patienter när språkliga hinder föreligger, vilket främjar den vårdande relationen och kan öka patienters känsla av tillit och trygghet.

Discrimination against migrants in the work place is a frequent subject of studies and discussions. Perceptions and experiences of the Swedish labour market are directly connected to where we come from – our skin colour, religion, and gender. These may even be opposite if we compare a native Swedish and a migrant´s experience of job search, career opportunities, salary, and daily work life. The aim of this thesis is to look closer at migrants that were able to fight or stop discrimination after they were exposed to it. The thesis focuses on strategies used by such individuals and what knowledge and/or experiences led them to resist against it. Decoloniality theory makes up the foundation of the analysis of the material collected from interviews, examining different standpoints from dominant Western world perspectives. This study also uses intersectionality in order to tackle the strategies' complexity and help deconstruct discrimination. Each individuals' experience with discrimination in the workplace and their choice of strategies to avoid it are analysed. The thesis shows how decoloniality theory could connect to migrants' positive attitudes towards most of their professional choices and attempts to retake power amidst discrimination. / <p>2017-06-01</p>

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jason S. Bergtold / Tian Xia / Brazil is one of the leading producers of ethanol, sugar, and sugarcane. Increasing demand for biofuels aligned with public policies prompted the expansion of sugarcane into the Brazilian Cerrado, particularly, into the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. The overall purpose of this dissertation, comprised of three essays, is to understand the impacts from the sugarcane expansion on farmers, processors, and the market. At the market level, the first essay, estimates the impacts of public policies and market factors on ethanol and sugar, supply and demand, in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul, using three-stage least squares. Results show that ethanol supply is sensitive to public policies whereas the sugar supply is sensitive to market prices. Sugar and ethanol were found to be complementary outputs. For ethanol expansion to be sustainable the ethanol market must be developed to the extent that it relies on market factors and is no longer dependent on public policies. At the farmer level, the second essay, examines farmers' willingness to sign a sugarcane contract with a mill in the Brazilian Cerrado. A hypothetical stated choice experiment was conducted with farmers in Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. Respondents choose between three contracts (land rental, agricultural partnership and supply) and two optout options ("keep current contract" or "not grow sugarcane"). A single and a two opt-out random parameters models were estimated. The two opt-out model allowed for a better interpretation of the status quo. Willingness to pay, direct and cross-elasticity measures for contract attributes were calculated. Results showed that farmers prefer contracts with higher returns, shorter duration and a lower probability of late payments. Farmers seemed to prefer to renting out their land to the mill than to produce sugarcane themselves, which could lead to consequences for rural development and the sustainability of sugarcane expansion. At the processor level, the third essay investigates the impact of vertical coordination on input-oriented technical efficiency using data envelopment analysis (first stage) and a Tobit censored model (second stage). 204 Brazilian mills were considered. The second stage controlled for vertical integration as well as other characteristics of the mill. Vertical integration was measured as the percentage of total sugarcane used, supplied by mills. A negative, though minimal, relationship between vertical integration and technical efficiency was found. Hence, technical efficiency is not the major driver of vertical integration. Other vertical coordination strategies may bring more benefits in terms of technical efficiency (e.g. contracts). Drivers of vertical integration seem to vary according to the characteristics of the location of the mill.

Magister Philosophiae (Land and Agrarian Studies) - MPhil(LAS) / For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe. / South Africa

Magister Public Health - MPH / Background: Mother to child HIV transmission is a significant public health problem especially in Southern Africa. South Africa is the second highest burden country globally with 71 000 infants being HIV infected every year. The aim of this study was to identify and measure the influence of risk factors of late postnatal HIV transmission and/or mortality among infants born to HIV positive mothers. Study design: Historical cohort data collected during 2002 – 2004 from 3 purposively selected PMTCT sites in South Africa (namely: Rietvlei, Umlzai and Paarl) is used. These three sites are purposively selected to reflect different HIV prevalence, socioeconomic and geographical locations. A total sample size of 469 mother–infant pairs were followed for 36 weeks. Data Collection: Data were collected by trained field researchers and community health workers using semi-structured interviews including: infant feeding practices, infant and maternal mortality, disclosure of HIV status, basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS and MTCT and sociodemographic information. Dried blood spots were collected by heel prick in the baby at 3, 24 and 36 weeks, whilst in the mother finger prick was taken at 3 and 36 week visits. Data Analysis: Data from all questionnaires were coded, captured and cleaned. STATA version 10 is used to analyze and measure the independent influence of risk factors of HIV-free survival rate. Variables found having significant association in the bivariate analysis were analyzed using Cox-proportional hazard model. Result: Our study shows that early mixed feeding is a common practice in South Africa. Overall, 83% (as high as 90.26% in Rietvlei) of mothers were either mixed breast feeding or mixed formula feeding before the infant is at age 5 weeks. MBF at 7 weeks was associated with 3.5 fold increased risk of transmission and/or mortality as compared to EBF (p-value=0.22), while PBF had a 2 fold less hazard of transmission and mortality compared to MBF (p-value=0.1). In this study, failure to disclose, poor counselling and lack of close support by health facilities were major factors that contributed to inappropriate feeding choice and non-compliance to exclusive feeding. Poor counseling (below the average of expected level) had an associated 55% increased risk of transmission and/or mortality. A substantial proportion (70.61%) of women in our study didn’t disclose their status to anyone. Failure to disclose was associated with 44% of increased risk of transmission and mortality. The study also showed households who had shortage of food were at increased risk (adjusted hazard ratio 1.7) of HIV transmission and/or mortality of infants. Maternal and infant factors such as premature birth, maternal viral load, poor weight gain during pregnancy and low birth weight were significant influential factors of HIV-free survival rate. Conclusion: In general, this study has given us an idea that postnatal HIV-free survival is determined by the interrelated effect of multilevel co-factors. Therefore, comprehensive multi-sectorial approach is needed to address the MTCT and child mortality problem in South Africa. The health sector should take urgent action to improve the quality of counselling and health services given in health facilities. Government should give enough attention to reduce the bureaucratic hassles of receiving grant by HIV positive mothers.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The general image of large-scale commercial farming in South Africa is one of technological dynamism and international competitiveness. However, such a generalisation obscures considerable differentiation in terms of size, scale, capital reproduction strategies and future directions of change between and within farming regions. My study on reproduction, accumulation and differentiation in the large-scale commercial farming sector makes a small contribution towards explaining this substantive diversity, as well as the underlying processes at work, in three different agro-ecological regions of the country. A framework to analyse the strategies of large-scale commercial farmers was derived from volume 1 of Marx’s Capital and interpretations thereof by Marxist scholars, e.g. Ernest Mandel, Henry Bernstein, David Harvey, Ben Fine and Alfredo Saad-Filho. The four strategies or processes are broadly identified as a) expanding the scale or scope of production, in other words, to increase the capital intensity of production and/or geographic size, and/or the number of products, b) expanding the scale or scope of the business by expanding into new enterprises either up or down the value chain, c) increasing economic efficiency, which can be achieved by means of lowering the cost of commodity production, increasing productivity in terms of yield per hectare or per animal through technical and biological efficiency, or by organising workers and tasks to make workers as productive as possible, and d) taking part in political action in order to reduce uncertainties and/or establish preferential access to and control over key resources, markets or policy processes. Data from a questionnaire survey conducted with 141 large-scale commercial farmers in Limpopo, the Western Cape and Northern Cape provinces, as well as semi-structured interviews with 32 farmers in these regions were analysed to determine the most prevalent strategies and assess their outcomes. The outcomes of these strategies varied between and within regions and resulted in the differentiation of capitalist farmers into “accumulators”, “successful reproducers”, “struggling reproducers” and “simple commodity producers”. This approach helps to uncover processes and patterns of agrarian change, and provides a richer, more detailed, understanding of the dynamics of change in the large-scale farming sector of South Africa which can help inform debates on policy optionsfor the sector and for land reform.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Significant research efforts have focused on developing treatments for trauma survivors and evaluating their effectiveness. However, little attention has been given to understanding the impact of working with trauma survivors on psychologists. This research aimed to address this gap in the literature. In South Africa, there is a scarcity of published qualitative studies that focus on the experiences of VT among psychologists who work with survivors of trauma. Given the increasing prevalence of traumatic events in South Africa and increasing patient load, psychologists may be vulnerable to the development of VT. Beneficial treatments for trauma survivors largely depend on psychologists who can effectively handle their clients' intense traumatic material. If a psychologist is adversely affected by the work of trauma, the quality of treatment for trauma survivors will be compromised (Figley, 1999). Hence, it is critical that research continues to explore the effects of VT and ways to ameliorate them. Aim: to explore the experiences of VT among a group of psychologists from Cape Town, South Africa, who work with trauma survivors and the related coping strategies used by them. This research aimed to expand the local research on the phenomenon of VT. Findings of the study will help to facilitate a better understanding of vicarious impact of trauma work as well as the related coping techniques used by psychologists. Identification of protective factors and effective coping mechanisms of those professionals in this study was a distinct contribution to the South African literature base. This study has practical implications for training, supervision and clinical practice for psychologists in South Africa to enhance the efficiency of psychological service delivery. Exploring the challenges South African psychologists experience as a result of working with trauma survivors may help inform policy and develop effective programmes to address the effects of VT. As such, psychologists would be better equipped to care both for themselves and their clients, and to ensure ethical and professional practice.

The purposes of the study were: (1) to determine the effects of four testing strategies upon performance in college algebra, attitude towards mathematics, and attrition rate; (2) to determine the effects of two types of frequent testing upon performance, attitude, and attrition rate, (3) to determine the effects of different frequencies of in-class testing upon performance, attitude, and attrition rate; and (4) to draw conclusions which might help in selecting testing methods for college algebra classes.