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published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation presents research on three topics relating to how education is linked to economic development in China. The data are obtained from the 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2013 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). The first essay examines the consequences of the Cultural Revolution. Using the 2003 and 2006 CGSS, the research is able to identify participants in a specific initiative, the “up to the mountains and down to the villages” movement (referred to as the Sentdown Campaign) and the length of time that they were involved in the initiative. The econometric results--including OLS, Heckit and 2SLS methods--provide evidence of substantial negative and long-lasting effects of the Cultural Revolution on education, labor force participation and personal income. Those who were involved in the Sentdown Campaign were found to be able to recoup some of these losses through the accumulation of education after they came back from rural areas, but these were generally not enough to compensate for the overall disruptions the Cultural Revolution caused on them. Furthermore, those who were sent down and stayed for more than five years in the countryside were not able to recuperate any lost years of schooling and, instead, suffered bigger losses in income than any of the other groups discussed in this essay. The second essay examines the attitudes of urban Chinese citizens towards migrants, as obtained using survey data from the 2005 CGSS. Estimating probit equations of the likelihood that the respondents in the sample had positive attitudes towards migrants, the research shows the connections between a range of explanatory variables and these attitudes. Educational attainment is not found to reduce negative attitudes towards migrants, a result that is different from the literature on the determinants of attitudes towards immigrants in recipient countries. The research also finds that as migrant presence grows in workplaces and neighborhoods, urban residents actually become more positive in their attitudes towards migrants. Gender is also found to have a significant impact on attitudes towards migrants. Men tend to have much more positive attitudes towards migrants, perhaps because social conventions frown against urban women having friendships with migrant men, or because the marriage market in urban China favors urban men marrying rural women. The third essay examines the role played by human capital in accounting for income growth in China between 2003 and 2013. An Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the growth in individual hourly income shows that the overall role played by human capital on income growth in China during this decade is significant for men but not for women. For men, human capital accounts for 0.1796 in log-income change between 2003 and 2013, which given the total log-income change in this time period for men was 0.9160, represents close to 20 percent of the growth in income in the country. For women, the impact is small and actually negative, equal to -0.0433 out of the 0.8435 increase in log-income during the decade, a result that is mostly the outcome of declining rates of return to education among females.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The purpose of this qualitative research was to investigate the effects of migration on municipal planning using the case of the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality in the Limpopo Province. The research derives its origin from the notion that municipal planning, which does not consider population dynamics, is incomplete. Municipalities in South Africa are mandated to provide services to community members within their jurisdiction with limited available resources. To achieve this municipalities are expected to develop plans, referred to as Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). The IDPs are informed by various aspects for their completeness, namely: alignment with the national development perspective and consideration of population dynamics. The research was designed to explore the experience and understanding of municipal officials who are responsible for planning activities in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality and the manner in which migration affects such municipal planning. This qualitative research employed a phenomenological method as the most appropriate to capture the perspective, understanding and experiences of individuals who were differently involved in migration and municipal planning processes. The research revealed how migration affects planning within municipal invironment in South Africa by using the experiences of municipal officials who are involved in planning activities in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality. Among others,the research revealed the following findings, namely; (1) Migration in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality is caused by several factors such job opportunities in the mines, better services in towns and townships among others,(2) the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality does not consider migration during community consultation processes, needs prioritisation and resource allocation, (3) the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality does not have effectivemigration data management system, (4) there is a lack of co-operation between the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality with otherspheres of government which are responsible for migration management, (5) Powers and functions delegated to the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality inhibit migration management and municipal planning and (6)there is sufficient legislative framework regulating migration management and inter-governmental relations in South Africa, however there is no implementation of such legislative framework by government officials. iii The overall experience of participants with regard to migration and municipal planning generally confirms findings of previous researches (Blase & Landau, 2014; Hofisi, 2014; Netswera & Phago, 2011) who for example, argue that migration is not taken into consideration during municipal decision making processes, need prioritisation and resource allocation. However, unlike the findings in previous researches (Friedementle & Misago, 2014; Mpehle, 2014) which highlight that municipal officials have negative attitudes towards migration this research revealed that municipal officials in the Greater Tubatse Local Municipality appreciate migrants. Municipal officials interviewed in this research appreciate migration and the challenges it poses to the municipality. Furthermore, contrary to what some reports highlight, participants in this research did not experience xenophobic attacks in the area despite the high prevalence of migration. Participants recommended that more powers and functions such as provision of water, electricity, migration management and others should be devolved to local municipalities as the sphere closest to the people. Participants further recommended that a dedicated research unit be institutionalised within municipalities to collect data which will supplement those of Statistics South Africa, and that other spheres of government should co-operate and capacitate local municipalities. This qualitative research is significant because the data gathered were analysed to develop themes which provide insight into how migration affects municipal planning, which planners in municipal environment can learn from and apply. It also contributes to a growing body of scholarly work and provides a conduit for future studies concerning the central phenomena - migration and municipal planning. This is vital, given the increasing pressure exerted by migration on municipalities and their limited resources.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Urbanization and rural-urban migration are processes that are surrounded by a great deal of controversy and pose as significant challenges in contemporary South Africa. In dealing, controlling, and managing urbanization and rural urban migration, the South African government has developed a number of policies to respond to this to these challenges such as Urban Development Framework of 1997 which aims to promote effective urban reconstruction and development, to guide development policies, strategies and actions of all stakeholders in the urban development processes and other policies that are geared towards urban development management. In this study, an effort is made to evaluate rural-urban migration and its link to informal settlement patterns at Disteneng area (Limpopo Province). The study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collect data. Questionnaires, formal interviews and observations were used to assemble primary data. Policies, journals, books were used to gather secondary data. The study found that there are quite number of issues that lead to rural-urban migration such as rural poverty and unemployment. It also established that policies that have been developed to control rural-urban migration and urbanization are not comprehensive enough to respond to rural-urban migration. They need to be revitalized and reviewed. The study also found out that the main reason for the backlog in services and development relate to a lack of commitment, capacity and experience of officials mandated to bring development to the study area. Recommendations of the study include community empowerment, skills development, monitoring of performance and capacity building for officials. There is a direct link between rural-urban migration and the sprawling of urban informal settlements calling for multi-pronged interventions from multiple government agencies to address the phenomenon. The Disteneng area is a melting pot which requires urgent attention.

La notion de trajectoire fait l'objet de nombreux travaux en informatique. La trajectoire de vie a plusieurs particularités qui la distinguent des trajectoires habituellement considérées dans ces travaux. C'est d'abord son emprise temporelle, qui est celle de la vie, de l'existence du sujet observé. C'est ensuite son emprise thématique, celle-ci pouvant potentiellement concerner de multiples aspects de la vie d'un objet ou d'un individu. C'est enfin, l'utilisation métaphorique du terme de trajectoire, qui renvoie davantage au sens de la trajectoire qu'à la description d'une simple évolution dans le temps et l'espace. La trajectoire de vie est utilisée par l'expert (sociologue, urbaniste...) qui souhaite mettre en perspective dans le temps les informations sur les individus pour mieux les comprendre. Les motivations d'étude de la trajectoire de vie sont différentes selon les cas d'application et les thématiques considérées : le rapport au travail, la vie familiale, la vie sociale, la santé, la trajectoire résidentielle...Nous proposons une approche d'étude des trajectoires de vie, basée sur le Web Sémantique, qui en permet la modélisation, la collecte et l'analyse. Cette approche est concrétisée par une architecture logicielle. Cette architecture repose sur un patron de conception d'ontologie de trajectoire de vie, ainsi que sur un modèle de facteurs explicatifs d'évènements de vie. Pour la modélisation,nous avons conçu des algorithmes qui permettent la création d'une ontologie de trajectoire de vie en exploitant le patron et le modèle précédents. Pour lacollecte de données, nous avons développé des APIs permettant de faciliter i)la construction d'une interface de collecte de données conforme aux modéles ;ii) l'insertion des données collectées dans un Triple Store. Notre approche permet la représentation, et, par suite, la collecte et l'exploitation d'informations multi-granulaires, qu'elles soient spatiales, temporelles ou thématiques.Enfin, pour permettre l'analyse des trajectoires, nous proposons des fonctions génériques, implémentées en étendant le langage SPARQL. L'approche méthodologique et les outils proposés sont validés sur un cas d'application visant à étudier les choix résidentiels d'individus en mettant en exergue les caractéristiques de leur trajectoire résidentielle et les éléments explicatifs de celle-ci. / The notion of trajectory is the subject of many works in computer science. The life trajectory has several peculiarities which distinguish it from the trajectories usually considered in these works. It is first of all its temporal hold, which is the life, the existence of the observed subject. It is then its thematic hold, this one potentially concerning multiple aspects of the life of an object or an individual. Finally, it is the metaphorical use of the term trajectory, which refers more to the meaning of the trajectory than to the description of a simple evolution in time and space. The life trajectory is used by the expert (sociologist, urban planner ...) who wishes to put in perspective the information on individuals to better understand their choices. The motivations for studying the life trajectory are depending on the application and themes considered: the relation to work and employment, family life, social life, health, residential trajectory ...We propose a Semantic Web based approach to study life trajectories, which allows their modeling, collection and analysis. This approach is embodied by a software architecture whose components are configurable for each application case. This architecture is based on a life trajectory ontology design pattern, as well as a model of explanatory factors for life events. To operationalize the proposed modeling, we designed algorithms that allow the creation of a life trajectory ontology by exploiting the previous pattern and model. For data collection, we developed APIs to facilitate i) the construction of a model-compliant data collection interface; and ii) the insertion of the collected data into a Triple Store. Our approach allows the representation, and hence the collection and exploitation of multi-granular information, whether spatial, temporal or thematic. Finally, to allow the analysis of the trajectories, we propose generic functions, which are implemented by extending the SPARQL language.The methodological approach and the proposed tools are validated on a case study on residential choices of individuals in the Grenoble metropolitan area by highlighting the characteristics of their residential trajectory and the explanatory elements of it, including from their personal and professional trajectories.

"July 24, 2004" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-319) / xix, 319 leaves : ill. (some col.), maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Geographical and Environmental Studies, 2004

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

Thesis (M.A.(Afrikaans))--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.