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This study aims to examine the internal determinants of financial performance of food supermarkets listed on the South African stock exchange. Food supermarkets play an integral role in socio-economic development of the country. The study employed an econometric approach utilizing fixed effect panel data. Drawing information from audited financial statements, data were gathered from four major listed food supermarkets in South Africa covering the period from 1994 to 2022, resulting in a total of 116 observations over 29 years. The robust longitudinal statistics obtained from balanced data revealed a significant positive correlation between equity financing, size of corporate governance, and current debt with financial performance, as measured by sales revenue at 0.0000, 0.054, and 0.000 significance levels, respectively. The findings indicate that as these variables increase, the financial performance of the studied food supermarkets (Shoprite, Woolworths, Spar, and Pick n Pay) also increases. Conversely, a negative and significant relationship is noted between company age, current assets, and financial performance at significance levels of 0.007 and 0.002, respectively. This suggests that as these variables increase, financial performance will decrease. As per the research findings, it is imperative for supermarkets to uphold a well-rounded blend of equity and debt and adopt inventive business approaches as they mature to improve financial outcomes. Therefore, the study proposes a framework focusing on internal factors that impact the financial performance of listed food supermarkets in South Africa.

The tourism industry is a substantial contributor to the South African economy. The main aim of this study is to analyse the tourism industry's performance during the Covid-19 pandemic, with specific reference to tourism accommodation income, and to shed light on the recovery prospects of the tourism industry and the overall South African economy. The study followed a descriptive research design and quantitative method using secondary data obtained from Statistics South Africa. The data covers a span of over 16 years, from January 2007 to May 2023. Results indicated that the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tourism industry was marked by a drastic drop in total income at the height of the pandemic, which coincided with similar performance of the overall economy. The tourism industry as well as the overall economy showed a V-shape recovery with a negative trendline suggesting their recovery potential and the need for sustained efforts by industry players and policymakers for full recovery in the medium term. Among the strategies for full recovery are diverse offerings by tourist accommodation providers, intensified digital marketing campaigns and providing exceptional service experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 has caught the South African economy and industries off guard, as emergency approaches have had to be applied towards mitigating its spread. The greater focus has been on containing the virus by closing internal and external economic activities, with the exception of essential services. This comes as a double blow to an economy already bleeding from the consequences of state capture (poor management of state-owned entities, and corruption), a distressed steel sector, and the generally poor performance of its key sectors, such as the manufacturing industry. As a result, credit rating agencies have downgraded South Africa, reducing investor confidence and the possibility of positive growth. It is projected that manufacturing in South Africa will regress to 42.60 points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts’ expectations.

We are seeing major disruptions to higher education, and the education system as a whole, not only at home but globally. One of the major contributors to such disruptions is the paradigmatic shift brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), with massive implications for the world of work, and by extension in higher education through the learner of the future.

The authors offer insights on the industrial revolution and the readiness of the South African economy for it. Topics discussed include the results of the 2020 Future of Jobs report published by the World Economic Forum, the result of the multiple government lockdowns endured by the majority of workforces during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their argument that employers should not discriminate against employees who choose to work from home.

South African small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) display a rather poor performance despite their importance in developing economies. The global Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and recession in South Africa have proved the need for comprehensive risk management perception and sound risk management practices in SMMEs. This paper aims to analyse the risk management perception of SMMEs in the Sedibeng District area to identify the possible reasons for their failure. Additionally, the study aims to provide SMMEs in the Sedibeng District with a more pronounced perception of risk management through a thorough explanation of risk management theories and the importance of risk management as a whole. The results indicated that in the Sedibeng District, SMMEs do not employ adequate risk management practices and do not follow the risk management process correctly. It was also found that SMME owners and risk managers do not proactively identify risks early enough, which might pose significant pressure on risk management processes later on. The theoretical relationship that should exist between risk identification and risk management was very weak and can lead to SMMEs that are vulnerable and more susceptible to failure. The lack of this relationship proves that SMME managers d/o not have a sound risk management perception that will lead to poor risk identification and management thereof. This is detrimental not only to the survival and growth of SMMEs, but also to the South African economy as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most recent sub-prime crisis, the Euro-debt crisis and the global recessionary period have resurrected a debate on the nature of fiscal cyclicality in the South African economy. Previous literature on the South African economy has been inconclusive and we attribute this inconclusiveness to possible asymmetries existing in the fiscal cyclicities. Our study questions whether the cyclicality of public policy has evolved asymmetrically and holds differently over the recessionary and expansionary phases of the South African business cycle for a quarterly period of 2001:01 - 2018:04. To ensure that the business cycle is inherent to our estimation process we rely on the nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (N-ARDL) model as empirical framework. For comparative purposes, we firstly examined fiscal cyclicality in fiscal expenditures by estimating the conventional ARDL using H-P filter to extract cyclical terms. Our preliminary results point to fiscal procyclicity in fiscal expenditures over the short-run but not over the long-run. However, in proceeding to our main empirical N-ARDL estimates, we observe nonlinear behaviour in the cyclicality of fiscal expenditures in which fiscal authorities behave procyclical in the upswing of the business cycle whilst behaving countercyclical during economic downswings. These findings are robust to alternative specifications, inclusion of control variables and estimations across different subsamples corresponding the pre- and post- 2007 financial crisis. Our findings have two important policy implications. Firstly, our findings reveal fiscal authorities have been implementing wrong policies during the upswing of the business cycle whilst implementing correct fiscal policies during the downswing. Secondly, our findings implore fiscal authorities to incorporate asymmetric fiscal cyclicality within the design of optimal fiscal policy rules in order to avoid making policy decisions based on inaccurate diagnosis of fiscal behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic effects of the lockdown period in South Africa will be devastating. We simulated the industry level capacity constraints imposed by the lockdown regulations since 27 March 2020 on all industries in South Africa by reducing the amount of capital and labour available for production. We found a decrease in real GDP to 10% below the baseline level in 2020, and recovery of all industries and macroeconomic variables towards the baseline by 2027. Industries that are suffering and would continue to suffer are the hospitality and tourism industry and all industries related to it, such as transport services, as well as beverages and tobacco. Manufacturing in general is also hard hit because they were prohibited to let large groups of labourers enter their premises. The model shows that most manufacturing will suffer throughout the forecast period, which was modelled up to 2027. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes a summary look at Africa as a whole to ask how has the Covid-19 pandemic played out in the context of a continent that, in the last decade, has considered culture as a key aspect of its modernisation and development. While drawing from a number of national examples, much of the focus is placed here on South Africa which has the most robust system of governance for culture and strongest support for the cultural industries. Where has the C-19 crisis left South Africa and what policy responses are in evidence, and how do these compare with other African nations? The paper reflects on the opportunities C-19 has provided to steer the course of the African cultural economy and offers a set of recommendations for public authorities to consider in supporting a just transition for an inclusive and transformed cultural economy on the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between household size and future health outcomes for children is of immense interest to economists, demographers and policy-makers especially in developing countries. One reason for this is that child health is a key determinant of future human capital. This is particularly important in South Africa with high levels of unemployment, poverty and gross income inequality. Moreover, the quantity-quality model of fertility indicates a trade-off of children's welfare with increasing family size. However, despite the forgoing, relatively little empirical research has been done regarding this nexus, especially in developing countries. Furthermore, while the few studies have mainly relied on cross-sectional data, this study takes advantage of the availability of the recent National Income Dynamic Study (NIDS) panel data set to empirically assess this link. We make use of both the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and the Control Function (CF) approaches to account for econometric issues such as heterogeneity, endogeneity and selection bias. These results suggest fertility choices have a significant association with child health. Moreover, younger children are more likely to be affected by increased household size. These results are concordant with theoretical expectations. From a policy perspective, these findings indicate that intensified child support is likely to improve child health outcomes in South Africa, particularly among the black racial group where fertility is comparatively higher. Moreover, family planning programs especially in the rural areas should be promoted with mobile clinics to improve access in the provision of free contraceptives, especially to women. In addition, the empowerment of women through provision of funding for schooling, skills development and. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Failures of neo-liberalism in Africa through Structural Adjustment Program in the 1980s and 1990s compelled many post-colonial African states to seek alternative growth models to transform and grow their economies. Inspired by the economic success of Asian region, South Africa seeks to replicate the Asian developmental model to transform and industrialise its economy. Reviewing only the literature, the paper found that despite displaying so many similarities with East and South Asian developmental states, the rhetoric for the replication of the Asian developmental state model in South Africa works like a pendulum thus adopting a topsy-turvy approach. The notion of a developmental state is elevated through policy pronouncement and government commitments through the medium term and long-term strategic frameworks for the country. Despite displaying so many similarities with Asian developmental states, affixing the label of a developmental state onto the country by South Africans themselves is not going to make it one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the macroeconomic indicators that pull and/or push foreign portfolio investment (FPI) inflows in South Africa. The ARDL method of co-integration and the bounds test are employed to establish a dynamic relationship between the macroeconomic indicators. The bounds test revealed that there is a long run relationship between FPI and its regressors where all the push and pull variables determine the FPI significantly. The short-run relationship between the FPI and its regressors are also estimated alongside with the rate at which diverging variables return to equilibrium after a short-run shock. Both pull and push variables are significant determinants of FPI in the short-run and it returns to the long-run equilibrium at the speed of 73 percent after a short-run shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the relationship between colonial education and economic growth are topics of growing interest, few studies have examined the influence colonial education on economic growth in South Africa. This paper uses archival data (derived from Bluebooks, De Zwart 2011, Statistical yearbook of the colony of Natal and Malherbe (1925)) from colonial South Africa over the 1859-1910 period to study the extent to which economic growth is influenced by education. The analysis applies fixed effect to account for unobserved colony-level heterogeneity and minimise the omitted variable bias. It also employs certain methods (such as Fixed effects two-stage least squares (FE-2SLS) procedure)) that account for a possible endogeneity bias caused by reverse causation between the dependent variable (growth) and our variable of interest (education). Our analysis yields two important results. First, the results suggest that levels of education (proxied by spending on education) have a robust positive impact on economic growth. The results are robust to addressing the potential reverse causality between education and economic growth and using alternative measures of education (proxied by enrolment rate). Secondly, the impact of education on economic growth appear to vary from one population group to another. Specifically, the effect of education on economic growth is found to be significantly higher for Europeans compared to natives groups, adding a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between education and growth in the South African context. The estimated coefficients of control variables such as natural resources present positive and significant estimates on economic growth, in line with many studies in developing countries which have found that discovery of natural resources favourably affects the rate of economic growth. Thus our results suggest that there is a need to think about how available resources could be used more efficiently to guarantee quality education for all and proposes that policy interventions in the historically disadvantaged schools and universities might have important implications to stimulate economic growth. This does not mean that historically advantaged schools must be ignored as biased educational policy that is not inclusive to all would lead to large educational gaps that can be persistent and destructive to the development of a country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption and corrupt practices in the public and private sector have become endemic to South African society, requiring the cooperation and participation of all citizens to uproot its evils. Classical Pentecostals are historically notoriously absent in confronting societal issues, and they represent as much as a third of the South African population. As a primitivistrestorationist movement, early Pentecostals followed the early Christian church in differentiating themselves from its social, cultural and political Umwelt, acting like the proverbial ostrich that hides its head in the sand to ignore any threat of danger. Why should and how can Pentecostals be involved in confronting corruption? It is argued that Pentecostals should reconsider their widespread lack of involvement in societal issues for historical, hermeneutical and evangelical reasons. By way of a comparative literature analysis, these reasons are discussed, and then, the principles of prophetic politics are developed in broad lines to make some suggestions for their application in South African society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the challenge to the church in the struggle against poverty amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It starts by giving an overview of the enormity of poverty in a post-apartheid South Africa. It also indicates how the pandemic has enlarged the problem to extreme proportions. After looking at poverty through the lens of the Bible, the article attempts to define poverty as different forms of deprivation on the one hand and inequality on the other hand. In South Africa, deprivation and inequality are the two sides of the same coin, which serve as important indicators for the local church in the struggle against poverty. This article thirdly refers to the history of the church to describe how the church, as an agent of change, is called to react to the challenge of poverty. The fourth part of the article introduces the action plan that was developed by the South African Council of Churches through Local Ecumenical Action Networks. This serves as an example of how different churches can work together in communities in the struggle against poverty in a holistic way. The article concludes with the emphasis that the struggle against poverty in South Africa is an ongoing struggle that has been accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Contribution: This article examines the devastating effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has on communities in South Africa with specfic reference to poverty. The focus is on how the church as agent of change is in the perfect position to rise to this challenge to make a difference by means of Local Ecumenical Area Networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the potential for cultural and creative industries to drive growth and job creation is increasingly recognised, developing countries like South Africa are examining their cultural goods and services trade in a new light. This article investigates the pattern of South Africa's cultural trade, with a focus on the strategically important BRICS trading bloc. Results show that, like many small, open developing countries, South Africa has a significant cultural goods trade imbalance, especially with China and India. While cultural trade policy is still somewhat fragmented, there are indications that where policies have been put in place, such as in the crafts and audio-visual sectors, progress in reducing significant deficits has been made. At the same time, the pattern of CCI trade preferences currently favours SADC, the EU and EFTA over BRICS partners. Finally, South Africa performs well in a number of services sectors for which cultural trade is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study evaluates the tax compliance costs of individual taxpayers in South Africa with regard to the 2016/17 year of assessment, in order to establish a baseline against which future studies and tax system enhancements can be measured. The study is a work in progress and was conducted using an online questionnaire and provides credible estimates of the tax compliance costs for individuals. These costs were analysed and were found to be the highest for self-employed individuals. Various practical recommendations, particularly regarding the digital transactions with the South African Revenue Service, and suggestions to influence policy direction are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the labour market linkages between the informal and formal sectors, using the first four waves of the National Income Dynamics Study data. The main focus is on three groups of employed: worked in the formal sector in all waves; worked in the informal sector in all waves; moved between the two sectors across the waves. Only 27% of informal sector workers in wave 1 transitioned to the formal sector in wave 4; 38% remained in the informal sector while 33% had their status changed to either inactive or unemployed. The econometric analysis indicates that older and more educated individuals living in urban areas and coming from households with fewer old-age grant recipients are significantly more likely to work in the formal sector, whereas more educated white males are associated with a significantly greater likelihood of transitioning from informal to formal sector employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation for inclusive development (IID) is widely promoted as a policy objective in the global South, but the challenge is that there is little design and implementation of context-appropriate instruments and incentives. One critical foundation is network alignment – that innovation policy should be aligned with the goals and strategies of government departments responsible for promoting inclusive development (Von Tunzelmann, N, 2007. Approaching network alignment. Draft Paper for the U-Know Consortium: Understanding the relationship between knowledge and competitiveness in the enlarging European Union). The paper contributes by using qualitative analysis software to analyse the nature of shared policy goals and instruments in South Africa, and assess how these can be aligned with each other and with the goals of IID. Three main spaces for policy intervention are identified, to promote IID in a way that goes beyond the aspirational and the rhetorical. Such analysis of formal policy does not take into account the political will, capabilities and resources for implementation, but it does provide a systematic evidence base to effect strategic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether individual workers' time-invariant unobservable characteristics influence estimates of the South African union wage premium across the length of the conditional wage distribution. It employs the 2001–7 South African Labour Force survey and a fixed effects quantile regression estimator. Results show a relatively large (small) wage premium at the bottom (top) of the conditional wage distribution when workers' time-invariant unobserved characteristics are ignored. Accounting for this set of factors substantially reduces the wage premium at all points of the distribution. In fact, the wage premium becomes somewhat constant across the conditional wage distribution, suggesting that unions in South Africa have little wage compressionary effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of socio-economic factors of land redistribution for agricultural development project beneficiaries on savings in the North West Province, South Africa.Design/methodology/approach A binary logistic regression model was employed to determine the effects of socio-economic factors of project beneficiaries on their savings.Findings The results show that the average number of trainings attended by the beneficiaries, the proportion of youth per project and the average net farm income of the project positively and significantly influence the level of savings by the beneficiaries. About 62 percent of the beneficiaries did not have savings; thus, only 38 percent of beneficiaries had savings. Of the 38 percent who had savings, the majority (77 percent) had an annual net farm income of less than R1,000. Only 2 percent of the projects had an annual net farm income of more than R10,000.Research limitations/implications The findings of this study are valuable to policymakers dealing with the issue of land reform and could shed some light on how land redistribution can achieve its intended purposes. These findings should be granted serious consideration when formulating policies aimed at improving savings within collective groups.Practical implications The findings of this study have revealed the importance of training and participation of youth in influencing savings. As well, the findings imply that an organization or household with a health income have a higher propensity of saving.Social implications The research findings point out to the importance of saving. With savings, a household is in a better position to deal with situations that arises in case of emergency.Originality/value This paper is among the few studies to analyze the determinants of savings at a group or project level. Most studies are done at household or individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cartel cases may involve recurrent collusion, with cartel periods interspersed by periods of greater competition. An empirical model of recurrent collusion must account for different data generating processes during collusive and non-collusive episodes and allow for the dating of such episodes. It should also allow for the possibility of flexible transitions between collusive and non-collusive episodes. This paper proposes a Markov regime-switching model to detect recurrent periods of collusive damages and to estimate cartel effectiveness in any given time period. We use this information to estimate overcharges, which we show are much higher than those suggested by conventional approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines liquidity creation behaviour in the property‐liability insurance market in South Africa. Using annual data on 76 insurers from 2007 to 2014, the paper employs the three‐stage approach to estimate liquidity creation. The results suggest that property‐liability insurers are characterised by liquidity destruction by transforming liquid assets in cash and investable securities into illiquid reserves liabilities. The findings also indicate that the R1.32 billion in liquid assets were transformed into illiquid reserves liabilities in 2014, an increase from the R700 million liquidity de‐created in 2007. The increases were mainly driven by large insurers which accounted for about 70% liquidity de‐created. The results of panel regression analysis provide evidence in support of the "risk‐absorption" hypothesis which argues that high levels of capital increases liquidity creation. In addition, size, leverage and reinsurance were also identified as the firm‐level factors that explain liquidity creation. The policy implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is experiencing a growing recognition of the role of social dialogue in the pursuit of inclusive sustainable economic development. However, the sidelining of non-governmental actors in South Africa's local government-led development landscape has hampered this agenda. This alienating culture led to the establishment of local economic development agencies (LEDAs) as structures tasked with fostering a participatory approach to local economic development (LED) for an effective response to developmental challenges. This article explored the role of social dialogue in LED through a case study of one LEDA in South Africa. A qualitative approach was deployed by conducting semi-structured interviews with key gatekeepers in the LED space. The findings reveal that whereas social dialogue is embraced at the national level, there is minimal understanding and usage of social dialogue at the local government level. Nevertheless, social dialogue strategies (information sharing, consultation, negotiation, joint decision-making and problem-solving) are used by the LEDA and its various stakeholders. The article argues that there is a need to align the national social dialogue with the local social dialogue through LEDAs to strengthen institutional arrangements for LED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-profit organisations (NPOs) operating in South Africa are financially weak and the sustainability of their organisations is often at risk. Post-2008, large numbers have ceased to operate, in part, because of the weak state of the South African economy. This study sought to determine the financial conditions NPOs operate under, to establish why they are so vulnerable and present recommendations as to how they can become more financially resilient. In-depth interviews with 10 senior managers in the sector, representing organisations working in education, health and social welfare, were conducted. The results indicate that the legislative environment-governing NPOs are restrictive and may be inhibiting their ability to raise funds. The results of the interviews showed that the NPOs under study rely heavily on a few large donors; placing them at great risk, should they lose this revenue stream. Donor dependence is such that some even tailor their mandates to suit donors, whilst others dedicate a significant proportion of their resources to fundraising. Consequently, donor relations management and finding new or additional donors preoccupy the minds of NPO leadership. This is notably different to NPOs in the Global North where many have embraced social enterprise and commercialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]