University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Univ., Diss. 2004--Bern, 2004. / Literaturverz. S. [375] - 388.

Univ., Diss.--Kiel, 2006. / Literaturverz. S. XXXVII - LIII.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p.112-118).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Wien, 2002. / Academy publication.

On the 21st September 1995, the government introduced the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), in compliance with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Deliberate efforts by the South African government were required to promote structural changes to the domestic motor industry by opening up the economy to international competition through a programme of tariff reduction and export promotion. The integration of the South African automotive industry into global markets would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, without the MIDP and it would thus be safe to conclude that the economic performance of the researched would have been close to impossible if it was not for the MIDP. The MIDP, as an economic policy, has been embraced by the researched company as a "vehicle" to drive corporate goals in terms of value creation for all stakeholders. The research proposition that the MIDP as an economic policy has contributed to the economic performance of the researched company is examined. In this respect, Annual and Management Accounting reports were analyzed to determine the effect the MIDP has had on the researched company over the last ten years. In addition, two semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the Strategic Finance Planning executive and the Financial Controller of the company. The results show that the MIDP has had positive spin-offs for the researched company. The same results should be valid for the other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the local automotive industry that have embraced the MIDP as a vehicle to create economic value added.

This research analyses the impact and materiality of South Africa’s choice not to ratify the CISG on its trade as well as relations with other states. As the point of departure, the broader events leading up to the creation of the CISG will be examined as well as UNCITRAL’s mandate and the development of trade in the local and global context. At present, the CISG has been ratified by 85 states. The decisions by common law jurisdictions such as the UK and India not to ratify the CISG as well as the delay by Brazil and Japan will be discussed. The legal, business and political or policy reasons for and against the ratification of the CISG are investigated which focuses on aspects such as legal certainty, uniformity of laws and the reduction of legal costs. An investigation is carried out regarding the historical foundations of the South African law of contract to this framework sets the tone for a comparison between the South African law and the provisions of the CISG. Lastly, a comparison is drawn between the provisions of the CISG and the South African law with specific emphasis on the remedies of specific performance and the right to claim damages which culminates in an overall conclusion that the South African law is compatible with the CISG insofar as remedies for breach of contract are concerned. / Mercantile Law / LL. M. (International Economic Law)

Trade liberalization in Kenya started in the early 1980s with the structural adjustment programmes, and continued under the multilateral framework of the WTO. During the same period, the incidence of poverty and level of inequality also worsened. The government’s focus on trade negotiations has been to ensure that there is policy space for the daily running of the economy even though welfare impacts are also important. Non-state actors have argued that trade liberalization has negatively affected the poor; particularly the farmers, since they cannot compete with the developed countries whose farmers enjoy significant government support through subsidies, making their products much cheaper in the world market. Government officials, on the other hand, contend that trade liberalization is good as it brings in competition and transfer of technology which is good for an economy. It is important to examine how trade liberalization has affected household’s welfare in Kenya, given that this kind of analysis has not been conducted in Kenya. This study is unique because it does not assume the existence of a trade liberalization– poverty relationship, unlike most studies. It uses a multi-method approach to first test the hypothesis that there is no statistically significant relationship between trade liberalization and poverty, it further tests for multiplier effects of trade liberalization on poverty determinants. Trade Liberalization and poverty is found to have a stochastic relationship, furthermore investments and capital stock were found to significantly affect poverty determinants in the stochastic model. Due to unavailability of household welfare measure data in time series, a CGE model was used to establish the dynamics of trade liberalization on poverty at a point in time using the 2003 Social Accounting Matrix Data for Kenya. Overall, trade liberalization accompanied by FDI had the greatest impact on household welfare. Trade liberalization had a positive impact on household welfare since household incomes and consumption increased. Micro simulations results, based on changes in consumption, also showed that poverty incidence reduced for all households, even though the urban households experienced higher decreases. The study found that there was little difference in protecting sensitive products and not protecting them; secondly, trade liberalization accompanied by foreign direct investment had greater impact on improving the household welfare. Consumption and incomes increased, resulting in overall poverty reduction. The welfare of urban households was much higher than rural households in terms of income and consumption increases. However, income inequality was much higher in urban than rural areas. / Economics / D. Litt. et Phil. (Economics)

Money is a public good. The regulation of its creation, supply and distribution is of national and international interest. Monetary stability is an important regulatory goal conducted through an interaction of economic, political, religious factors as well as legislative action. The state plays an intermediary role, bridging domestic interests and international interests. Increasing interdependence between national economic systems and international obligations sometimes leads to the manipulation of systems as well as currency wars. Regulation is done through co-operative international action since domestic regulators are no longer sufficiently equipped to do so. Resultantly, there is an emergence of new structural paradigms to deal with it. Meanwhile, states still enjoy certain residual competences of sovereignty. Numerous legal factors act as constraints on sovereignty with far reaching implications on states’ regulatory space. In light of the divergence of regulatory objectives, there is an apparent need to balance municipal with international interests on the regulation of the monetary system. / Mercantile Law / LL. M.

Overall the conclusions drawn about South Africa’s negotiating style and tactics were arrived at by analysing a number of reports (that closely followed the evolution of the negotiations) and then paralleling this case study’s findings with the conjectures made by the theoretical frameworks (i.e. works by Putnam, Zartmann and Churchmann) about how negotiations proceed. In the final analysis, the findings of this case are intended to provide insight for the south about how to approach any future trade negotiations with the North (or more specifically with the EU).