1,720,975 research outputs found
Sustainability development: Biofuels in agriculture
Get PDFBiofuels are socially and politically accepted as a form of sustainable energy in numerous countries. However, cases of environmental degradation and land grabs have highlighted the negative effects to their adoption. Smallholder farmers are vital in the development of a biofuel industry. The study sort to assess the implications in the adoption of biofuel crops by smallholder farmers. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 129 smallholder farmers who were sampled from the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. A binary probit model was used to investigate the determinants of smallholder farmers adopting biofuel crops. The empirical results showed that the variables membership in association, occupation and incentives were statistically significant in influencing farmers’ decision to adopt biofuel crops. Furthermore, it was discovered that the studied areas have a potential to grow biofuel crops
Explaining levels of between-group and within-group inequality and poverty in South Africa
No full textMost research on poverty has focused on causes of poverty and the inequality gap nationally, meanwhile increasing levels of inequality and poverty has actual occurred within population groups. This study focuses on the sources and extent of within-groups (intragroup; blacks African against each other) and between-groups (intergroup; whites, Indians, coloured and black Africans) inequality and poverty which varies more widely today than over the past decade. To achieve this, two harmonised General Household Surveys from 2012 and 2017 were utilised. The study found that poverty was mainly within-groups, yet, inequality was between-groups. Thus, more efforts should be directed in reducing poverty amongst black Africans within sub groups or tribal lines. Furthermore, income sources from agriculture and pension were the more elastic income components, suggesting that any changes in these two has the likelihood of worsening or reducing inequality. The study recommends that the government should focus on ways of boosting agricultural employment and social grants distribution
Stock market volatility using GARCH models: Evidence from South Africa and China stock markets
Get PDFThis study looks into the relationship between stock returns and volatility in South Africa and China stock markets. A Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) model is used to estimate volatility of the stock returns, namely, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange FTSE/JSE Albi index and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index. The sample period is from January 1998 to October 2014. Empirical results show evidence of high volatility in both the JSE market, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that volatility is persistent in both exchange markets and resembles the same movement in returns. Consistent with most stock return studies, we find that movements of both markets seem to take a similar trajectory
Non-linearity behaviour of the ALBI Index: A case of Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa
Get PDFSince the global financial crisis that crippled the world’s financial markets in 2007, interest in nonlinear dynamics in form of deterministic chaos has increased. Hence, the main purpose of this study was to detect if whether stock returns exhibit nonlinear and chaotic tendencies. By using recent statistical tools to overcome some of the limitations faced in financial data. The study made use of the powerful BDS test, LM test and Variance Ratio Test. The empirical results suggest that the ALBI index exhibit nonlinear tendencies and chaotic behaviour
The Impact of the BRICS alliance on South Africa economic growth - a VECM approach
Get PDFThis paper examines the impact of the BRICS alliance on South Africa’s economy and the impact that trade openness in the alliance has on South Africa’s economy. The study uses series data from 1980 to 2012 and employs up to date econometric methodologies- unit root and vector error correction model estimates to achieve its aims. The empirical result reveals that international trade has contributed a lot to the high economic growth rates experienced by the BRICS economies during the recent decades. However, it is also found that international trade is not the only contributing factor. Human Capital formation, Gross Domestic Capital Formation and Real Effective Exchange Rate appreciation are equally important contributors. Results of the study however reveal that South Africa’s trade openness in the alliance has detrimental long run effects for the economy. The study also reveals that despite the growth experienced overall in the alliance, South Africa’s economic participation is limited due to unfair trade practices amongst the members of the alliance. The findings provide an insight of the policies to be adopted to achieve higher growth rates in South Africa within BRICS alliance
An analysis of anti-poaching techniques in Africa: a case of rhino poaching
Get PDFIn the last decade the African continent has been facing a number of incidences on Rhino Poaching and we may be heading to Rhino extinction. A number of strategies have been tried and tested to protect the rhinos in Africa. Based on previous strategies to protect rhinos very little has been achieved in combating rhino poaching. Using extensive literature review this study investigates whether the current conservation methods are still useful in addressing poaching. Literature reveals that most methods have failed to protect rhinos. Therefore, forensic tests, shoot to kill policy and new strategies maybe the only way to avoid rhino extinction
Ethical Leadership in South Africa and Botswana
Get PDFThis study was conducted to investigate the extent of ethical leadership practices in African public utilities, given the relatively high corruption reported in its institutions, with consequences of seriously constrained development of the national economy and significant hindrance to good governance. Our aim was to establish potential benefits from ethical leadership in public sector agencies, by analysing ethical leadership characteristics of leaders in the public sector from Botswana and South Africa. We measured ethical leadership perceptions utilizing a combination of scales in an attempt to encompass the larger breadth of ethical leadership scales in literature, to determine how employees perceived their managers in terms of being moral people and moral managers. A total of 108 respondents completed questionnaires. Results indicate that there were significant differences between the perceptions of managers’ moral conduct. South African leaders were perceived as relatively weaker moral managers as compared to those in Botswana
Smallholder farmers’ awareness of biofuel crops in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Get PDFIn this study, 157 smallholder farmers from the OR Tambo and Chris Hani district municipality in South Africa were purposively sampled to participate in a survey. The objective was to identify the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ awareness of biofuel crops. Using a binary logistic model, it was found that the variables: gender, household income, membership in association, land utilization and qualification were statistically significant in influencing farmers’ awareness of biofuel crops. Therefore, it is recommended that the South African government should identify the smallholder farmers targeted for the biofuel program by their social status, as pointed in this study.
Keywords: awareness, binary model, biofuel industrial policy, energy, shared growth initiative, smallholder farmers. JEL Classification: Q1, Q2, Q4, Q
Youth Participation in Agriculture in the Nkonkobe District Municipality, South Africa
Get PDFIn this paper, a binary logistic model was used to analyse the determinants of youth participation in agriculture in the Nkonkobe Municipality in South Africa. A total of 140 youth were purposively selected for the study to complete a survey. The results show that the variables; youth programmes, programme availability, and resources were statistically significant in explaining the factors that affect youth participation in agricultural activities. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that in order to influence youth participation, they should be provided with youth programmes and resources
Economic impact of government intervention in response to COVID-19 in selected sub-Saharan African countries
Get PDFThis article provides insights into the economic impact of government actions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in selected Sub-Saharan Africa countries, purposively selected. A fixed-effect modelling approach was utilised drawing on Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) database from January 21 to September 17, 2020, in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Uganda. Key findings entail those announcements of government lockdowns were positively related to COVID-19 cases and negatively related to restrictions on internal movement and interest rate decisions from the central banks. Governments’ announcements regarding income support packages and debt relief were related to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. With most global economies grappling with a second wave, and the consequences of the first surge in both social well-being and economic growth, income and debt relief strategies should be continued to benefit households and companies. In addition, countries in the Africa-Sub Saharan region must create a relief fund to support members in distress. Finally, a sustainable regional model on business and tourism must be created to foster development and growth during periods of partial or total lockdown.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdsa202023-09-06hj2022School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA
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