The South African Reserve Bank presents an annual balance sheet for the South African household sector constructed from macro-economic data estimates. Broad asset and liability classes are presented which can be disaggregated with the use of micro-level data obtained directly from households. At the time of the study, however, micro-level data on the different asset and liability classes accumulated by households was not available.
The main objective of the study was to disaggregate and measure the asset and liability
base of South African households in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas using micro-level
data. The study used a mixed methodological approach, consisting of both qualitative and quantitative data and was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, a comprehensive literature review was conducted on the recognition and measurement of household assets and liabilities. Economic theories that explain asset and liability accumulation were reviewed and international surveys on household net wealth measurement scrutinised. A heuristic model of a financial position section for the South African household sector was developed.
In the second and qualitative phase, online and face-to-face focus group deliberations were conducted with experts in the field of household finance to ensure that the newly developed
financial position section would robustly recognise and measure all possible household asset
and liability classes.
In the third and quantitative phase, the financial position section was included in an omnibus
survey and data was collected from a representative sample of 2 606 households in South
Africa. The weighted data was segmented in terms of metropolitan and non-metropolitan
areas and presented as statements of financial position based on the classification,
recognition and measurement principles of “The Conceptual Framework for Financial
Reporting 2010”. Composition analyses presented a secondary objective, namely to explore
the effect of identified independent demographic variables on asset and liability
accumulation.
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) identified meaningful interaction effects for
(1) age, income and area; (2) income and age; (3) education, income and age; and
(4) education and income on asset accumulation and an age and income interaction effect
on liability accumulation. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on the
contemporaneous effect of age, income, education and area of residence on household
asset and liability accumulation and provides information on South African household net wealth not yet available. The disaggregated asset and liability base will assist policy makers
both at micro- and macro-economic level with the overview and management of South African household net wealth. / Business Management / D. Com. (Accounting Science)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/13635 |
| Date | 14 July 2014 |
| Creators | Scheepers, Dimarie |
| Contributors | Venter, J. M. P. (Jan M. P.), De Clercq, B. (Bernadene) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xix, 639 leaves) : illustrations, application/pdf |
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