Search

Purpose: This paper aims to explore student teachers' views related to the online academic support e-tools used under the COVID-19 lockdown. Design/methodology/approach: Mapping a pragmatic research approach, an explanatory mixed methods design was used for the study. Findings: Empirical evidence revealed that student teachers were satisfied and experienced the academic support tools as being positively applied to their online learning. Furthermore, it is reported that student teachers preferred the discussion forum as the most appropriate academic support e-tool in the course under coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. Research limitations/implications: This exploratory pragmatic study extends the knowledge of the online academic support e-tools for an open distance e-learning (ODeL) context that was used under COVID-19 lockdown. This study provides additional evidence concerning a revised academic support frame for an ODeL online learning context. Research limitations: small sample size was used, and therefore caution must be applied, as the findings might not be transferable to a similar context. The current study has only examined a teacher education course and could not be generalised to similar conditions as those under COVID-19 lockdown. This exploratory research has raised many questions that require further investigation. More research is required to determine the efficacy of the academic support e-tools with regard to student learning in other online courses and contexts. Practical implications: The student teachers that participated in this study were empowered to using the academic support e-tools to support them under COVID-19 lockdown. The discussion was mostly preferred academic supportive e-tool as an engaged, participatory and communicative platform for accelerated learning in the teaching methodology of economics course. Originality/value: A noteworthy contribution was made in the design and testing of the reliability of methodological tools, which could be replicated in blended and ODeL contexts.

Background Persons with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) co-infection require transaminase monitoring while on hepatotoxic medications. A novel paper-based, point-of-care transaminase test is in development at an anticipated cost of $1 per test. Methods To project long-term clinical outcomes and estimate the cost-effectiveness of using a paper-based fingerstick test to monitor for drug-induced liver injury (DILI), as compared with automated testing and with no laboratory monitoring. The design was a decision analytic model, including deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses. Data sources were observational cohorts and a validation study of the paper-based test. The target population was HIV/TB co-infected persons in South Africa on antiretroviral therapy who were initiating TB therapy. Interventions: (1) clinical (no laboratory) monitoring; (2) monitoring using the paper-based test with a ≥120 IU/mL threshold for positivity; (3) monitoring using the paper-based test with a ≥200 IU/mL threshold for positivity; (4) monitoring using the paper-based test using 1 of 3 categories: <120 IU/mL, 120 to 200 IU/mL, and >200 IU/mL (“bin placement”); (5) monitoring using automated ALT testing using the same 3 categories (“automated testing”). The outcome measures were discounted quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Results The ICER of automated testing was $5180/QALY. Use of the paper-based test with the bin placement strategy was cost-effective compared with clinical monitoring alone. Conclusion At its current performance, monthly DILI monitoring by bin placement using the paper-based test was cost-effective, compared with clinical monitoring, in HIV/TB co-infected persons in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two influential views within the sociology of knowledge, specifically in literature examining relationships between knowledge, curriculum, and social justice, located in the South African context of extreme inequality and poverty. The first emphasizes the role of disciplines in creating criteria of powerful knowledge, arguing that knowledge must be evidence-based, generalizable, and revisable. The second argues for the importance of the social origins of knowledge for reasons both of strengthening knowledge and creating curricula that foster confidence in young scholars. We then draw on what we see as the strongest claims of each view and explore the value they bring to thinking about knowledge and curriculum debates raised by community of practitioners within three disciplines in the social science -- economics, education studies, and history. Our brief consideration of these disciplines reveals that different disciplines face specific challenges which transverse, in different ways, the polarity which characterizes the debate so far. Strong aspects of each view feature in the development of each of the three disciplines, some in negative ways. This is an interesting finding, which demonstrates that principled debates couched in epistemological terms, when applied to specific disciplines, do not remain as a simple binary.

Predatory publishers charge fees to authors for open access publishing but have limited peer review or other quality controls. In this paper, we use data from five of the most widely used predatory journals used by South African academics in Economic and Management sciences to show that predatory publications are widespread in Economics departments in South African universities. We also critique the Department of Higher Education and Training's research publication subsidy system and highlight that several journals on the DHET accredited journal list, that South African academic economists publish in, are probable predatory journals. In improving the data on predatory publications in South African Economic and Management Sciences used by de Jager et al (2017), we show that approximately 50% of predatory publications by South African academic economists are authored by professors or associate professors, a finding which corroborates international evidence on predatory publications in Economics. Our paper is also a source of information on the quality of research produced by South African economics departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1994, there have been numerous curricular changes in South Africa's education system, which have had an impact on the topics covered, taught, and examined in the country's further education and training (FET) phase. The aim of this paper is to assess how changing the curriculum has affected how much environmental content is covered in the subject Economics. The documents used by South African Economics teachers were analysed utilizing a qualitative research methodology and an interpretive paradigm. Realist Social Theory by Margaret Archer served as the theoretical basis for the study data analysis and interpretation. The only technique employed to evaluate the effectiveness of policy texts and test questions was document analysis. The findings show that the variable coverage of environmental impact topics in the examinations may have a negative effect on the way teachers address the topics in Economics. The study also finds that the shifts of the curriculum from RNCS to CAPS improved coverage of environmental content in Economics. This resulted in an emergence of structural and cultural morphogenesis in the teaching of environmental content in Economics from teachers. The study also reveals that environmental content in Economics was better covered after the curriculum changed from RNCS to CAPS. This led to the formation of structural and cultural morphogenesis in the teaching of environmental content in Economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In economic analyses of HIV interventions, South Africa is often used as a case in point, due to the availability of good epidemiological and programme data and the global relevance of its epidemic. Few analyses however use locally relevant cost data. We reviewed available cost data as part of the South African HIV Investment Case, a modelling exercise to inform the optimal use of financial resources for the country’s HIV programme. Methods: We systematically reviewed publication databases for published cost data covering a large range of HIV interventions and summarised relevant unit costs (cost per person receiving a service) for each. Where no data was found in the literature, we constructed unit costs either based on available information regarding ingredients and relevant public-sector prices, or based on expenditure records. Results: Only 42 (5%) of 1,047 records included in our full-text review reported primary cost data on HIV interventions in South Africa, with 71% of included papers covering ART. Other papers detailed the costs of HCT, MMC, palliative and inpatient care; no papers were found on the costs of PrEP, social and behaviour change communication, and PMTCT. The results informed unit costs for 5 of 11 intervention categories included in the Investment Case, with the remainder costed based on ingredients (35%) and expenditure data (10%). Conclusions: A large number of modelled economic analyses of HIV interventions in South Africa use as inputs the same, often outdated, cost analyses, without reference to additional literature review. More primary cost analyses of non-ART interventions are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the world, university teachers are increasingly being required to engage with diversity in the classes they teach. Using the data from a large Economics 1 class at a South African university, this attempts to understand the effects of diversity on chances of success and how assessment can impact on this. By demonstrating how theory can be used to understand results, the paper aims to encourage university teachers to adopt proactive strategies in managing diversity, rather than simply explaining it using student characteristics. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

In this essay, Chaya Herman explores the interaction between two powerful global dynamics that have affected educational institutions and society at large: one is neoliberalism, with its attendant notions of marketization and managerialism; the other is the resurgence of ethnic and religious, often fundamentalist, communities in the search for identity. The essay is based on a larger research project that explores the profound effects of the ideological and managerial restructuring process in Johannesburg's Jewish community schools, the broader context for which has been South Africa's transformation to democracy. Herman suggests that these two dynamics are synergetic forces and that their accumulated effect has the power to shift the discourse of the community toward ghettoization and toward the creation of a homogenous community founded on a narrowly defined common identity.

This paper introduces the possibility of asymmetry in the reaction of output growth to inflation shocks in South Africa by making use of the Markov-switching vector autoregressive model. Using quarterly data from 1969Q1 to 2013Q4, the empirical finding suggests that the reaction of output growth to inflation shocks is not only regime dependent but is also contingent on how the monetary authority reacts to such shocks. Two important regimes are identified; the high and low inflation volatility regimes. Consistent with the signal extraction theory, the output effect of inflation shocks is found to be significantly lower in the high inflation volatility regime compared to the low inflation regime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Argues that separation of language rights from cultural rights in South Africa is necessary for individuals' full participation in political, social, and economic affairs of the country. Clauses from the African National Congress' (ANC) draft Bill of Rights and suggested amendments presented to the Constitutional Committee of the ANC are included. (Contains six references.) (Author)

Copyright of International Economics / Economia Internazionale is the property of Camera di Commercio di Genova and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper aims to explore the pathways to mitigate challenges of learner academic (LAP) performance in a Grade 10 economics class in South Africa. The challenge of poor LAP has ushered a myriad of predicaments in schools globally. These predicaments include lack of teacher inclusion in decision making, inability to work cooperatively together, and lack of professional development opportunities geared towards LAP. The study was qualitative, with 15 participants chosen through purposeful sampling from one rural school in the Thabo-Mofutsanyane education district. This paper is couched in critical emancipatory research with emphasis on the emancipation of the teachers regarding pathways they can self-develop to mitigate the challenges of LAP. The focus group discussions were used to gather information regarding pathways to mitigate the challenges of LAP in schools. The study revealed that teachers possess a very equivocal and varying experience regarding the pathways to use to mitigate the challenges of LAP. The findings suggest that for successful implementation of pathways to mitigate the challenges of LAP, schools need to invest in training teachers for teamteaching and avail the necessary resources (both human and physical) to ensure effective quality teaching and learning exist in the school. The article recommends that schools should develop policy frameworks, together with relevant stakeholders, to guide novice teachers on the strategies they can use to mitigate the challenges of LAP in their classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade economic literature explored the presence of and reasons for what became known as “the great moderation” in the US and other G7 countries. “The great moderation” describes the decrease in economic volatility experienced in many of the G7 countries. This paper finds that in South Africa volatility is also not constant (it even finds that there are autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic effects present) and that volatility also decreased, particularly since 1994. Following the literature, the paper explores several reasons for this decrease and finds that smaller shocks, better monetary policy and improvements in the financial sector that place less liquidity constraints on individuals and allow them to manage their debt better are some of the main reasons for the reduction in the volatility of the South African economy. The literature on the G7 also suggests that better inventory management contributed to the lower volatility. However, this seems not to be true for South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of efficiency, productivity and returns to scale economies in the non-life insurance market in South Africa from 2007 to 2012. The data envelopment analysis technique is employed to estimate efficiency and returns to scale while productivity growth is analysed with the Malmquist index. Truncated bootstrapped regression and logistic regression techniques are used to identify the determinants of efficiency and the probability of operating under constant returns to scale. The results indicate that non-life insurers operate with about 50 per cent inefficiencies, while about 20 per cent of insurers operate at an optimal scale. We also observe productivity improvements attributable to technological changes. The results of the regression analysis reveal a non-linear effect of size on efficiency and constant returns to scale. Product line diversification, reinsurance and leverage also have a significant relationship with efficiency and constant returns to scale. A major contribution of this paper is the analysis of efficiency convergence using the growth convergence theory. Implications for management and industry regulation are drawn from the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipalities in South Africa play a pivotal role in the provision of basic services to communities. However, local government as a sphere in the country is notorious for its spending inefficiency, which is cited as a major factor in service delivery failure. This paper quantifies inefficient expenditure at the local government level by estimating efficiency scores for a sample of 129 municipalities in South Africa from the 2005/2006 to the 2009/2010 municipal financial years. In essence, this paper examines the technical efficiency of municipalities by using the nonparametric free disposable hull approach and finds that 10 municipalities are constantly efficient over the period. On average, input efficiency scores range from 42% to 46%, suggesting that, in general, municipalities can achieve the same output levels with over 50% less resources. Quantitatively for the 2009/2010 financial year, this amounts to a total of R80 billion being spent inefficiently, which equates to R220 million being 'wasted' per day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of two higher education institutions in the Western Cape, South Africa, and how their initiatives and collaboration brought about a particular health promoting schools (HPS) program in a resource poor setting. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the importance of the role that external systemic actors and stakeholders can play in the process of designing and implementing HPS programs in resource poor settings. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper a complex systems approach is employed to describe two different participatory methods of engagement with HPS by higher education institutions. On the one hand, engagement took place in terms of a formal and funded project, directed at the organizational level of the school, with capacity building as its aim. On the other hand, engagement was initiated informally (as part of a service-learning project) via collaboration with the formal project, directed at the individual level of learners in the school. Findings – In recognizing the complex nature of planning and implementing HPS programs, the paper demonstrates that HPS approaches could benefit from engaging with resources outside the ambit of institutional health and educational policies and structures. Originality/value – By acknowledging the systemic nature of implementing HPS strategies, novel collaborations emerge as a result. The paper highlights the important role that external stakeholders such as higher education institutions play in creating and sustaining tailor-made HPS programs for schools based in resource poor settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores intra-regional South-South cross-border patient travel within the context of Southern Africa. South Africa, in particular, has been widely touted as one of the emerging destinations of high-end patients from the Global North alongside other destinations such as Brazil, India, Costa Rica and Thailand. Using South Africa as a case study, the paper demonstrates that South-South cross-border patient travel is far more significant than North-South patient travel both in numerical and financial terms. Every year, thousands of patients from neighbouring countries travel to South Africa in search of medical treatment for procedures that are not offered in their own countries. Despite its size and importance, the South-South flow of patients in Southern Africa is not fully understood and requires further scholarly research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to develops an estimable hybrid model that combines the micro-founded DSGE model with the flexibility of the atheoretical VAR model. Design/methodology/approach - The model is estimated via the maximum likelihood technique based on quarterly data on real gross national product (GNP), consumption, investment and hours worked, for the South African economy, over the period of 1970:1 to 2000:4. Based on a recursive estimation using the Kalman filter algorithm, the out-of-sample forecasts from the hybrid model are then compared with the forecasts generated from the Classical and Bayesian variants of the VAR for the period 2001:1-2005:4. Findings - The results indicate that, in general, the estimated hybrid-DSGE model outperforms the classical VAR, but not the Bayesian VARs in terms of out-of-sample forecasting performances. Research limitations/implications - The model lacks nominal shocks and needs to be extended into a small open economy framework. Practical implications - The paper was able to show that, even though the DSGE model is outperformed by the BVAR, a microfounded theoretical DSGE model has a future in forecasting the South African economy. Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt to use an estimable DSGE model to forecast the South African economy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question this paper investigates is whether or not different metropolitan areas each constitute a separate housing market or whether or not there is a single South African housing market. Theory on the Law of One Price suggests that if products or geographic areas belong in the same market, their absolute prices must converge, so that their relative prices are stationary. By using cross-sectional time series data of five metropolitan areas, the paper tests for the Law of One Price by applying the Im, Pesaran and Shin panel unit root test. The paper finds strong evidence of convergence in large middle-segment house prices and weaker support for convergence in medium middle-segment house prices. In addition, the paper finds no evidence for convergence in small middle-segment house prices. This suggests the existence of a national market for large and possibly middle-segment houses in metropolitan areas, but separate metropolitan markets for small middle-segment houses. In addition, the paper estimates the speed of convergence and finds that large middle-segment house prices converge within two to seven quarters, while the speed of convergence for medium middle-segment house prices in three of the five areas is five to eight quarters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a theme collection of geographical authored contributions on tourism in Southern Africa to reinforce the position of South Africa's premier geographical serial as an important publishing outlet for research in tourism studies as a whole and for tourism geographical works in particular. The group of papers addresses a diverse set of themes around greening and tourism, business tourism, Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel, second homes tourism and tourism development issues. Two sections of material are offered. First, a brief context is provided of directions in international tourism geography. Second, a review is offered on the directions and contributions which have been made by geographers to tourism studies in South Africa. In particular, the starting point is the benchmark paper which appeared in 2002 in this journal by Magi and Nzama [2002. Perspectives on recreation and tourism geographies in South Africa, South African Geographical Journal, 84, 67–76] outlining the relative novelty of tourism geography research in Southern Africa as well as its possibilities for future development. With the publication of over 100 articles by local tourism geographers, a decade later this paper reflects on the growing maturity of South African tourism geography scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the political economy of energy transition in South Africa. An economic model based around a powerful ‘minerals-energy complex’ that has previously been able to provide domestic and foreign capital with cheap and plentiful coal-generated electricity is no longer economically or environmentally sustainable. The paper analyses the struggle over competing energy visions, infrastructures and political agendas in order to generate insights into the governance and financing of clean energy transitions in South Africa. It provides both a rich empirical account of key policy developments aimed at enabling such a transition and provides reflections on how best to theorise the contested politics of energy transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research paper seeks to empirically estimate and test reversibility or non-reversibility of the maize demand using the Tweeten - Quance and Wolffram - Houck methodology in South Africa with the use of annualized seasonal data for the periods 1970/71 to 2012/13. The test procedure seems to hold in South Africa in the case of demand for maize and the function is found to be irreversible. This is shown by the coefficients of both the increases and decreases in the price of maize, which are found to be non-identical. The results indicate that when maize prices increase by 1%, demand for maize falls by almost 12%, while decreases in maize price drive demand up by nearly 20%. The structural VAR on the other hand, which assumes that innovations are proliferated in the maize demand, maize prices, wheat prices and income, indicates that the SVAR is just-identified. These results reveal that ignoring such structural changes when conducting policy changes might be detrimental to the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the transition to democracy in the early 1990s, economic research and instruction in South Africa have become far more quantitative and technically sophisticated. In this paper, I trace and discuss reasons for these developments, and I argue that this quantification of economics should not be at the expense of exchanges with qualitative data that fail the criterion of being representative, or with other disciplines that are less quantitative. With South Africa’s complex history, persistent inequality and considerable cultural diversity, economics has much to gain from interdisciplinary collaboration and mixed methods research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Open Science (OS) movement promises nothing less than a revolution in the availability of scientific knowledge around the globe. By removing barriers to online data and encouraging publication in Open Access formats and Open Data archives, OS seeks to expand the role, reach and value of research. The promises of OS imply a set of expectations about what different publics hope to gain from research, how accountability and participation can be enhanced, and what makes science public in the first place. This paper presents empirical material from fieldwork undertaken in (bio)chemistry laboratories in Kenya and South Africa to examine the extent to which these ideals can be realized in a sub-Saharan context. To analyse the challenges African researchers face in making use of freely available data, we draw from Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach. His theorisations of ‘conversion factors’ helps to understand how seemingly minor economic and social contingencies can hamper the production and (re-)use of online data. In contrast to initiatives that seek to make more data available, we suggest the need to facilitate a more egalitarian engagement with online data resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The recent increases in oil prices have raised the importance of studying the effects of oil supply and demand shocks on an economy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the oil supply and demand shocks on the South African economy using a sign restriction-based structural Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model. The results of this study show that an oil supply shock has a short-lived significant impact only on the inflation rate, while the impact on the other variables is statistically insignificant. Supply disruptions result in a short-term increase in the domestic inflation rate with no reaction from the monetary policy. An aggregate demand shock results in short- to medium-term improvements in domestic output and the real exchange rate. The effect is statistically insignificant for the inflation rate as well as the monetary policy instrument. The inflation rate and the real exchange rate react negatively to an oil-specific demand shock, while output is positively related to unanticipated changes in oil price due to speculations. This study’s results highlight the importance of understanding the source of the oil price movements, since an oil price increase necessarily does not imply a negative effect on the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper looks at the effects of historical trade policy reforms and other determinants in South Africa over the period 1995-2012. We discovered that over the reported period, the demand for imports in South Africa had been increasing with only a few downturns in between. South Africa’s merchandise imports are dominated by manufactured imports; and they accounted for more than half of the total merchandise imports over the reported period. One of the key contributors towards the improved performance of imports in South Africa is the trade liberalization policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism geography has developed into a dynamic sub-discipline of contemporary South African geographical scholarship. The investigation provides an overview of the development of South African tourism geography since the early 1970s, and traces its subsequent development. Since the first investigations, tourism geographers had an interest in the developmental potential which the tourism system presents for South Africa. It is shown that recent tourism research is generally framed by concerns for responsible tourism, pro-poor tourism impacts, tourism as a vehicle for local economic development, and the role of small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) development in the tourism sector. The main contribution of the paper is to propose a range of new investigatory avenues that can build on the current scholarship, and considers potential threats to the future development of South African tourism geography. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper expands and augments the results of the paper by Jefferis and Thupayagale ) and tests the efficiency of the South African stock market with Wavelet and Markov Switching Regime analyses of selected shares and the a ALSI 40 data. The Wavelet analysis indicated that most of the individual share prices and the share index time series are mean reverting over the long run and follow a long memory process, offering evidence against weak-form efficient market hypothesis (EMH). The Markov model modelled the financial and prevalent economic conditions accurately and established the presence of patterns in the historic time series, providing additional support against the weak-form EMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interventions targeting community health workers (CHWs) aim to optimise the delivery of health services to underserved rural areas. Whilst interventions are evaluated against their objectives, there remains limited evidence on the economic costs of these interventions, and the practicality and value of scale up. The aim of this paper is to undertake a cost analysis on a CHW training and supervision intervention using exclusive breastfeeding rates amongst mothers as an outcome measure.Methods: This is a retrospective cost analysis, from an implementer's perspective, of a cluster randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of a continuous quality improvement (CQI) intervention aimed at CHWs providing care and support to pregnant women and women with babies aged < 1 year in South Africa.Results: One of the outcomes of the RCT revealed that the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) significantly improved, with the cost per mother EBF in the control and intervention arm calculated at US$760,13 and US$1705,28 respectively. The cost per additional mother practicing EBF was calculated to be US$7647, 88, with the supervision component of the intervention constituting 64% of the trial costs. In addition, women served by the intervention CHWs were more likely to have received a CHW visit and had significantly better knowledge of childcare practices.Conclusion: Whilst the cost of this intervention is high, adapted interventions could potentially offer an economical alternative for achieving selected maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes. The results of this study should inform future programmes aimed at providing adapted training and supervision to CHWs with the objective of improving community-level health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often thought that the informal economy is insulated from global economic volatilities because it functions outside of mainstream economic principles and regulations. This perception led to the informal economy being regarded as an employment shock absorber during economic crises. However, these assumptions have been tested by the recent COVID-19 pandemic that has brought the entire global economy to a halt due to the COVID-19 lockdown that subsequently resulted in economic downturns. The COVID-19 critical disruptions are likely to wipe out the gains made in addressing developmental challenges in developing nations and place strain on meeting the sustainable development goals. Against this backdrop, this paper interrogates the effectiveness of South Africa's R500 billion social and economic relief package on the livelihood of those employed in the informal economy. The article reveals that while the government's R500 billion social and economic relief is an effective measure to stimulate the economy and cushion workers and citizens, it does little to protect those in the informal economy. The government's interventions are not fully inclusive of the realities of the informally employed who remain without social security, and the pandemic is likely to worsen their socio-economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates two alternative roads running parallel to one another; one being a double-carriageway national road that was tolled 4 years ago and the other being an inter-city single-carriageway road. The purpose of the paper is to test the application of the World Bank-developed Road Economic Decision (RED) model for assessing the economic impact of traffic diversion between two existing alternative roads. In order to do so, the RED model is first used to conduct a cost–benefit analysis of each road in isolation. Thereafter, the model is used to do a scenario analysis followed by a sensitivity analysis. The results show that the RED model is a useful tool for evaluating the impact on society of diverted traffic between alternative roads elsewhere in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While newspapers in the global North seem to be involved in a struggle for survival, the inverse seems to be happening in South Africa. Since their introduction almost a decade after South Africa became a democracy, a range of new tabloid papers have taken the country by storm. The Daily Sun is now the biggest selling daily newspaper in the country, showing a constant increase since its launch five years ago. The publisher claims that there is even a second-hand market for copies; such is the demand for the paper among those that can barely afford it. Similar success stories are told about the spate of tabloids following in the Daily Sun's wake—Kaapse Son, Cape Sun and Daily Voice. These tabloids speak to a section of the South African public that remain largely out of focus in the mainstream commercial media outlets which, despite far-reaching changes in ownership structures and editorial changes to bring about racial transformation in the media industry after apartheid, are still beholden to those sections of the public conventionally thought to be favoured by advertisers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we test the ability of three of the most popular methods to forecast South African currency crises with a special emphasis on their out-of-sample performance. We choose the latest crisis of June 2006 to conduct an out-of-sample experiment. The results show that the signals approach was not able to forecast the out-of-sample crisis correctly; the probit approach was able to predict the crisis but only with models, that were based on raw data. The Markov-regime-switching approach predicts the out-of-sample crisis well. However, the results are not straightforward. In-sample, the probit models performed remarkably well and were also able to detect, at least to some extent, out-of-sample currency crises before their occurrence. The recommendation is to not restrict the forecasting to only one approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against a backdrop of definitions and conceptual clarifications of the term urban policy, including its expression in the developing world—and Africa, in particular—this paper reviews the trajectory of urban policy in South Africa post-1994 and comments on future directions and plausible scenarios. In a highly specific context-dependent analysis, the paper argues that, in the first 10 years of democracy, we have seen the creation of democratic, integrated development local government, mass delivery of housing and services, a finely crafted array of capital and operating subsidies for delivery to lowincome households, and a number of programmes intended to enhance the capacity of local government to undertake delivery. All of these have been centrally driven. The counterpoint to the national perspective and frameworks, the paper argues—and in evidence over the past 5 years, in particular—is the increasingly robust role and influence of cities in setting the urban agenda and, in effect, leading urban policy. The paper concludes by examining the many points that contribute to this view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2003 South Africa introduced legislation intended to decrease plastic bag litter. It combined standards and price-based economic tools in an attempt to reduce the public's demand for plastic bags. This paper analyses the short term effects of the legislation on bag demand. It also provides a background to these regulations and a theoretical overview. The assessment uses bag consumption data from four retailers, each representing a different consumer market. These are analysed, and respective price elasticities calculated. The results suggest that plastic bag demand is relatively price inelastic and imply that instruments utilising price alone, would have limited efficacy. However, the combination of standards and pricing successfully curbed plastic bag use in the short run. Further analysis suggests that the effectiveness of the legislation may be declining over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the delineation of geographic markets in competition analysis, investigating the use of tests of price co-movement in the market definition exercise. To this end, the first part is devoted to a conceptual framework for market definition (adopted from Haldrup (2003 )). Thereafter, a variety of price tests are explored that can be applied within the quantitative part of the framework. Similar to Forni (2004 ), the paper emphasizes the use of stationarity tests (that is, tests for the existence of unit roots) – illustrating their application to a recent competition investigation in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role that vocational education and training (VET) can play in Southern African responses to major socio‐economic challenges. It argues that this role will be most pronounced if it is articulated within a broader educational and economic vision that is shared by a range of stakeholders in society and supported by an adequate funding base, effective information systems and qualified and motivated planners and implementers. However, it cautions that it is also important to remember that VET reform will not in itself transform economies or societies. The paper argues that there is considerable convergence within Southern Africa around 10 themes of VET reform. It argues that there is much that is of merit in the current broad package for VET transformation but that it is essential that it is carefully critiqued and that elements are adapted to national circumstances and visions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is often argued that multi-dimensional measures of well-being and poverty -- such as those based on the capability approach and related views -- are ad hoc . Rankings based on them are not, for this reason, robust to changes in the selection of weights used. In this paper, it is argued that the extent of potential arbitrariness and the range of issues relating to robustness have been underestimated in this context. Several issues relating to both the identification of the poor and the use of dimension- specific data are distinguished. For illustrative purposes, these distinct issues are discussed in the context of the inter-provincial ranking of poverty in South Africa in 1995-1996. It turns out that this ranking is fairly robust, and that an important policy-relevant result involving a comparison between KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State in 'income'/'expenditure' and 'human' poverty rankings is reinforced rather than undermined by checking for robustness. Even when the rankings are not robust, the discussion suggests that they may inform policy debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most value chain analyses remain at an abstract level, underplaying political economy issues and the importance of local context. The paper analyses the manner in which global automotive forces (the dominance of the German assemblers and their multinational corporation first-tier suppliers) combine with local institutional influences (the government's automotive industrial policy) to drive, shape, and restructure the trajectory of the South African automotive industry under the hegemony of the 'German connection'. It shows 'how' and 'why' the German corporations, unlike their American and Japanese counterparts, were able to successfully integrate their global value chains with local institutional and policy conditions and reap the benefits. Its conclusions both add to a general understanding of how governance (power, command, control) operates within producer-driven value chains and illuminate the political economy dynamics of German control underpinning the South African automotive industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cash transfer programmes targeting children are considered an effective strategy for addressing child poverty and for improving child health outcomes in developing countries. In South Africa, the Child Support Grant (CSG) is the largest cash transfer programme targeting children from poor households. The present paper investigates the association of the duration of CSG receipt with child growth at 2 years in three diverse areas of South Africa.Design: The study analysed data on CSG receipt and anthropometric measurements from children. Predictors of stunting were assessed using a backward regression model.Setting: Paarl (peri-urban), Rietvlei (rural) and Umlazi (urban township), South Africa, 2008.Subjects: Children (n 746), median age 22 months.Results: High rates of stunting were observed in Umlazi (28 %), Rietvlei (20 %) and Paarl (17 %). Duration of CSG receipt had no effect on stunting. HIV exposure (adjusted OR=2·30; 95 % CI 1·31, 4·03) and low birth weight (adjusted=OR 2·01, 95 % CI 1·02, 3·96) were associated with stunting, and maternal education had a protective effect on stunting.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that, despite the presence of the CSG, high rates of stunting among poor children continue unabated in South Africa. We argue that the effect of the CSG on nutritional status may have been eroded by food price inflation and limited progress in the provision of other important interventions and social services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basing on hitherto research and tests, including results of experimental underground coal gasification (UCG) conducted in Wieczorek coal mine, conditions a UCG process has to meet to become in the future an industrial scale technology applied to exploit deposits are analysed. Paper contains an analysis of broadly defined range of mining conditions (geological - mining conditions of a deposit selected for exploitation with the UCG process; type and properties of coal deposit; detailed technological and organizational solutions; conditions for the safe use of technology for the personnel and the environment) and also characterizes the conditions for economic viability of UCG technology as an coal exploitation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the empirical relationships between changes in OECD output, commodity prices, the real exchange rate, real money supply, unit labour costs and manufacturing in South Africa. In particular, to test a version of the Dutch disease argument that increases in the prices of South Africa’s main commodity exports have had a negative effect on domestic manufacturing against the alternative hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between such changes in commodity prices and domestic manufacturing output. Design/methodology/approach – Construction of a model including real manufacturing output in South Africa as the dependent variable and the following independent variables: OECD output, an international real metals price index, a real effective exchange rate index, real M3 money supply and manufacturing unit labour costs. The time series sample data comprise 124 quarterly observations for the period 1980-2010. The model equation was tested and estimated using a Johansen cointegration approach. Findings – The main findings are: OECD output is the single most important determinant of domestic manufacturing output; while the real exchange rate has the predicted negative sign, rising commodity prices are associated with increases rather than decreases in domestic manufacturing and; large increases in unit labour costs since the early 1980s have dragged down manufacturing over the sample period. Originality/value – The finding of a positive relationship between commodity prices and domestic manufacturing means that the Dutch disease argument must be revised when applied to South Africa. While rising commodity prices may lead to a negative exchange rate effect on manufacturing competitiveness, this is more than offset by the positive growth effects associated with upswings in the commodity price cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]