An empirical investigation of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission in South Africa
- Authors: Kelvin, Mudita
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Transmission mechanism (Monetary policy) -- South Africa , Financial statements
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24106 , vital:62375
- Description: The intention of this study is to outline an empirical framework of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission in South Africa. Specifically, this study examines how monetary policy decisions are transmitted, through the balance sheet of business firms, to the real economy. The study is motivated by the fact that credit has now occupied an important role in the funding of new capital investment in South Africa. Thus, the balance sheet channel may become a relevant channel in the monetary policy transmission process. This study augments the co integration and vector auto regression (VAR) analysis with impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to provide evidence for the balance sheet channel. The study employs quarterly South African data covering the period 1980 to 2008. For that purpose, The VAR model will contain the following variables, Bank rate (monetary policy effect), External finance premium (information asymmetry channel), stock market capitalization (to cater for the collateral channel), Changes in industrial and commercial inventories (cashflows channel), credit extension (to cater for the effect of credit demand), and gross domestic product (to cater for the aggregate shock). The study finds evidence in support of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission in South Africa. The channel is weak as proved by the results. Therefore, the balance sheet channel should not be neglected from both the policy perspective and academic literature point of view in South Africa. However, the findings may only pertain to idiosyncratic economic developments during the sample period, while not necessarily serving as a best guide as to how the South African economy would work in the future. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
- Authors: Kelvin, Mudita
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Transmission mechanism (Monetary policy) -- South Africa , Financial statements
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24106 , vital:62375
- Description: The intention of this study is to outline an empirical framework of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission in South Africa. Specifically, this study examines how monetary policy decisions are transmitted, through the balance sheet of business firms, to the real economy. The study is motivated by the fact that credit has now occupied an important role in the funding of new capital investment in South Africa. Thus, the balance sheet channel may become a relevant channel in the monetary policy transmission process. This study augments the co integration and vector auto regression (VAR) analysis with impulse response and variance decomposition analyses to provide evidence for the balance sheet channel. The study employs quarterly South African data covering the period 1980 to 2008. For that purpose, The VAR model will contain the following variables, Bank rate (monetary policy effect), External finance premium (information asymmetry channel), stock market capitalization (to cater for the collateral channel), Changes in industrial and commercial inventories (cashflows channel), credit extension (to cater for the effect of credit demand), and gross domestic product (to cater for the aggregate shock). The study finds evidence in support of the balance sheet channel of monetary policy transmission in South Africa. The channel is weak as proved by the results. Therefore, the balance sheet channel should not be neglected from both the policy perspective and academic literature point of view in South Africa. However, the findings may only pertain to idiosyncratic economic developments during the sample period, while not necessarily serving as a best guide as to how the South African economy would work in the future. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
Housing delivery and empowerment in Post - Apartheid South Africa: The Case of Nkonkobe Municipality
- Authors: Chakuwamba, Kapesi Antony
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Housing -- Development , Nation-Building , Democratization
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23293 , vital:57027
- Description: The core argument in the study is that there have been little prospects of housing delivery in Nkonkobe Municipality. The obstacles for housing development in this area are embedded in the inflexibility of current policies and legacies of the colonial as well as the Apartheid era. Furthermore, the findings indicate that local as well as external sociopolitical practices such as lack of funding, unavailability of land, corruption, politicking, lack of community participation, impact of macro-economic policy, planning and lack of capacity seem to hamper the process of housing delivery. Hence, there is a need for an alternative development strategy which is adopted as the conceptual framework of this study. This is to enhance housing development in most rural areas. This conceptual framework propounds that housing provision in Nkonkobe region should be enhanced in the context of empowerment, nation-building and democratization in the post-Apartheid South Africa. The problem of housing has become a worldwide phenomenon. Compared to other countries, the number of people in need of adequate shelter has remarkably increased and in South Africa the number of people who live in substandard housing and those in desperate need of shelter is enormous. However, in the study a view of housing provision in post-Apartheid South Africa is advocated through looking at the nature of the state and its capacity to deliver quality housing service. A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth interviews and observation was employed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the municipality in delivering quality service to its people. The ideological perspectives view historical causes and present day reasons for the perpetuation of the housing problem from different angles. A strategy based on alternative development is proposed in this study. The conceptual framework views the poor as active people engaged in the production of their own lives not passive recipients of state development projects. An underlying assumption is that housing provision is influenced by previous state forms and spatial practices. Therefore, the level of community participation could influence the success of housing development projects. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
Housing delivery and empowerment in Post - Apartheid South Africa: The Case of Nkonkobe Municipality
- Authors: Chakuwamba, Kapesi Antony
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Housing -- Development , Nation-Building , Democratization
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23293 , vital:57027
- Description: The core argument in the study is that there have been little prospects of housing delivery in Nkonkobe Municipality. The obstacles for housing development in this area are embedded in the inflexibility of current policies and legacies of the colonial as well as the Apartheid era. Furthermore, the findings indicate that local as well as external sociopolitical practices such as lack of funding, unavailability of land, corruption, politicking, lack of community participation, impact of macro-economic policy, planning and lack of capacity seem to hamper the process of housing delivery. Hence, there is a need for an alternative development strategy which is adopted as the conceptual framework of this study. This is to enhance housing development in most rural areas. This conceptual framework propounds that housing provision in Nkonkobe region should be enhanced in the context of empowerment, nation-building and democratization in the post-Apartheid South Africa. The problem of housing has become a worldwide phenomenon. Compared to other countries, the number of people in need of adequate shelter has remarkably increased and in South Africa the number of people who live in substandard housing and those in desperate need of shelter is enormous. However, in the study a view of housing provision in post-Apartheid South Africa is advocated through looking at the nature of the state and its capacity to deliver quality housing service. A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth interviews and observation was employed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the municipality in delivering quality service to its people. The ideological perspectives view historical causes and present day reasons for the perpetuation of the housing problem from different angles. A strategy based on alternative development is proposed in this study. The conceptual framework views the poor as active people engaged in the production of their own lives not passive recipients of state development projects. An underlying assumption is that housing provision is influenced by previous state forms and spatial practices. Therefore, the level of community participation could influence the success of housing development projects. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
Synthesis of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials: A focus on grass and waste paper as raw materials
- Authors: Vala, Mavula Kikwe
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Ethanol as fuel , Biomass energy , Lignocellulose -- Biotechnology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24499 , vital:63049
- Description: Biofuels are currently recognized as not only a necessity, but an inevitable pathway to secure the planet future energy needs. Food crops have been used (so far) as the biomass for bioethanol and biodiesel production. This has increased concerns over food security and led to the search for diversification and alternative feedstocks for biofuel production. The use of lignocellulosic materials, the most abundant, low cost and easy feedstock to harvest for bioethanol purpose, involves challenging production processes. Several approaches have been used to facilitate the breakdown of the biopolymer structure to produce fermentable sugars that can be converted to ethanol. Most of the approaches have used high temperatures and pressures and have often led to the production of inhibitors of fermentation. In this study, lignocellulosic materials from grass and newsprint were investigated as sources of biomass for bioethanol production using a chemical route (sulfuric acid hydrolysis) which made use of temperatures below 100°C at normal atmospheric pressure. Fermentation of toxic lignocellulosic hydrolyzates was possible after the development of a method for inhibitors removal. The method used treated wood chips as a stationary phase in a chromatographic column to remove inhibitors. This method is expected to be extended to applications such as in municipal wastewater treatment. Sugar yields of 22.26 and 8.9 g/L of hydrolyzate; and an ethanol yield of 184.5 and 130.4 mg/mL of must were achieved for 5g grass and newsprint respectively using optimum conditions of 2percent H2SO4 at 97.5°C for grass and 0.5percent H2SO4 at 97.5°C for newsprint during the hydrolysis process. Pure cellulose was used as a control for the biomass where 254.1 g/L of fermentable sugars were recovered from soluble cellulose and the yield of ethanol was 201.8 mg/mL. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
- Authors: Vala, Mavula Kikwe
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Ethanol as fuel , Biomass energy , Lignocellulose -- Biotechnology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24499 , vital:63049
- Description: Biofuels are currently recognized as not only a necessity, but an inevitable pathway to secure the planet future energy needs. Food crops have been used (so far) as the biomass for bioethanol and biodiesel production. This has increased concerns over food security and led to the search for diversification and alternative feedstocks for biofuel production. The use of lignocellulosic materials, the most abundant, low cost and easy feedstock to harvest for bioethanol purpose, involves challenging production processes. Several approaches have been used to facilitate the breakdown of the biopolymer structure to produce fermentable sugars that can be converted to ethanol. Most of the approaches have used high temperatures and pressures and have often led to the production of inhibitors of fermentation. In this study, lignocellulosic materials from grass and newsprint were investigated as sources of biomass for bioethanol production using a chemical route (sulfuric acid hydrolysis) which made use of temperatures below 100°C at normal atmospheric pressure. Fermentation of toxic lignocellulosic hydrolyzates was possible after the development of a method for inhibitors removal. The method used treated wood chips as a stationary phase in a chromatographic column to remove inhibitors. This method is expected to be extended to applications such as in municipal wastewater treatment. Sugar yields of 22.26 and 8.9 g/L of hydrolyzate; and an ethanol yield of 184.5 and 130.4 mg/mL of must were achieved for 5g grass and newsprint respectively using optimum conditions of 2percent H2SO4 at 97.5°C for grass and 0.5percent H2SO4 at 97.5°C for newsprint during the hydrolysis process. Pure cellulose was used as a control for the biomass where 254.1 g/L of fermentable sugars were recovered from soluble cellulose and the yield of ethanol was 201.8 mg/mL. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-12
Citizenship, social capital and HIV/AIDS: a sociological analysis derived from the experience of the Umkhanyakhude district community, Kwazulu-Nata
- Nyawasha, Tawanda Sydesky https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-9989
- Authors: Nyawasha, Tawanda Sydesky https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-9989
- Date: 2009-02
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26208 , vital:64965
- Description: This thesis is a multi-level analysis that seeks to examine the utility of applying the concept of social capital in dealing with a complexity of challenges and problems caused by HIV/AIDS in areas of social marginality. It examines social capital in the context of rurality and how its usage can successfully mediate on the effects of all structural factors fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic including poverty and social marginality. It does this against the background of scholarly research findings on the relevance of community or neighbourhood social structure in resolving a host of issues affecting its citizens. The study establishes that the ‘public benefit’ of social capital lies in resource connectivity, meso-level interactions and reciprocal transactions useful for HIV/AIDS prevention. Social capital is therefore identified in this study as civic engagement, neigbourliness, voluntary association or civic membership and collective action. The central thesis or argument advanced by this study is that community or village level interactions and associations among people and groups can greatly influence community cohesion and action towards HIV/AIDS prevention, avoidance and mitigation. In its pursuit of a deeper enquiry and understanding of the most often misunderstood concept or rather elusive in both the social science and public health lexicon, the thesis identifies the major sources of social capital as voluntary civic membership or associations in community groups, local village or community assemblages, exchanges of HIV/AIDS specific information, public discussions and other social spaces useful in helping community citizens to get an awareness of HIV/AIDS thereby making them adopt an HIV/AIDS protective behaviour. In this thesis, community or village-level social capital is seen as having a significant effect on household and HIV/AIDS. The study establishes that the prevalence of norms of ‘civicness’ and the vibrancy of horizontal ties at the community or village level generates the needed stocks of social capital for poverty reduction and HIV/AIDS mitigation.Building on Habermas’s(1992) theories of the ‘public sphere’ and ‘communicative action’ andthe Freirian(1996) discourse of ‘dialogue and praxis’, the study highlights the need for social for communication and dialogue in order to break the silence around HIV/AIDS in rural societies. Deliberative discussions or community conversations are suggested to build a critical awareness and consciousness on HIV/AIDS within the community or village context. In this study, quantifiable evidence tends to suggest that there is a strong correlation between lack of HIV/AIDS specific knowledge and HIV/ AIDS vulnerability. The study underscores the need forpublic communication on HIV/AIDS through community-level dialogues and conversations.Community dialogues and conversations are suggested to be active forms of interaction generating significant levels of social capital in the form of public knowledge on HIV/AIDS. This form of public knowledge is perceived as generating action oriented towards HIV/AIDS prevention and fostering the adoption of safer behavioural practices. The thesis also highlights the often muted link or correlation between human capital in the form of education and social capital. In several instances, the study has proven that human capital and education in particular helps in the creation of high stocks of social capital that can be applied to counteract both household and village level HIV/AIDS. The research further establishes the need for citizenship education which is more contextual and calls for critical enquiry, reflection and thinking on the part of all citizens or villagers. All in all, the research extends the existing knowledge on collective efficacy, village or neighbourhood advantage, associational or group membership, village governance and HIV/AIDS in the developing economies. It sheds more light on how village-level processes, interactions and exchanges within the ‘public sphere’ can be streamlined to deal with issues of marginality and rural HIV/AIDS. These study findings on social capital contribute to the ongoing debate about social capital, its relevance and applicability, in solving public health issues and challenges in developing societies. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-02
- Authors: Nyawasha, Tawanda Sydesky https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-9989
- Date: 2009-02
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26208 , vital:64965
- Description: This thesis is a multi-level analysis that seeks to examine the utility of applying the concept of social capital in dealing with a complexity of challenges and problems caused by HIV/AIDS in areas of social marginality. It examines social capital in the context of rurality and how its usage can successfully mediate on the effects of all structural factors fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic including poverty and social marginality. It does this against the background of scholarly research findings on the relevance of community or neighbourhood social structure in resolving a host of issues affecting its citizens. The study establishes that the ‘public benefit’ of social capital lies in resource connectivity, meso-level interactions and reciprocal transactions useful for HIV/AIDS prevention. Social capital is therefore identified in this study as civic engagement, neigbourliness, voluntary association or civic membership and collective action. The central thesis or argument advanced by this study is that community or village level interactions and associations among people and groups can greatly influence community cohesion and action towards HIV/AIDS prevention, avoidance and mitigation. In its pursuit of a deeper enquiry and understanding of the most often misunderstood concept or rather elusive in both the social science and public health lexicon, the thesis identifies the major sources of social capital as voluntary civic membership or associations in community groups, local village or community assemblages, exchanges of HIV/AIDS specific information, public discussions and other social spaces useful in helping community citizens to get an awareness of HIV/AIDS thereby making them adopt an HIV/AIDS protective behaviour. In this thesis, community or village-level social capital is seen as having a significant effect on household and HIV/AIDS. The study establishes that the prevalence of norms of ‘civicness’ and the vibrancy of horizontal ties at the community or village level generates the needed stocks of social capital for poverty reduction and HIV/AIDS mitigation.Building on Habermas’s(1992) theories of the ‘public sphere’ and ‘communicative action’ andthe Freirian(1996) discourse of ‘dialogue and praxis’, the study highlights the need for social for communication and dialogue in order to break the silence around HIV/AIDS in rural societies. Deliberative discussions or community conversations are suggested to build a critical awareness and consciousness on HIV/AIDS within the community or village context. In this study, quantifiable evidence tends to suggest that there is a strong correlation between lack of HIV/AIDS specific knowledge and HIV/ AIDS vulnerability. The study underscores the need forpublic communication on HIV/AIDS through community-level dialogues and conversations.Community dialogues and conversations are suggested to be active forms of interaction generating significant levels of social capital in the form of public knowledge on HIV/AIDS. This form of public knowledge is perceived as generating action oriented towards HIV/AIDS prevention and fostering the adoption of safer behavioural practices. The thesis also highlights the often muted link or correlation between human capital in the form of education and social capital. In several instances, the study has proven that human capital and education in particular helps in the creation of high stocks of social capital that can be applied to counteract both household and village level HIV/AIDS. The research further establishes the need for citizenship education which is more contextual and calls for critical enquiry, reflection and thinking on the part of all citizens or villagers. All in all, the research extends the existing knowledge on collective efficacy, village or neighbourhood advantage, associational or group membership, village governance and HIV/AIDS in the developing economies. It sheds more light on how village-level processes, interactions and exchanges within the ‘public sphere’ can be streamlined to deal with issues of marginality and rural HIV/AIDS. These study findings on social capital contribute to the ongoing debate about social capital, its relevance and applicability, in solving public health issues and challenges in developing societies. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009-02
Numerical quadrature of oscillatory and non-oscillatory integrals
- Dukuza, Kenneth Njengele https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4525-7390
- Authors: Dukuza, Kenneth Njengele https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4525-7390
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Oscillations , Numerical integration , Numerical analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24304 , vital:62600
- Description: In this dissertation we develop efficient new methods and techniques to numerically evaluate integrals of both oscillatory and non oscillatory kind. We have done a comprehensive literature review on the existing methods and made some modifications to them so as to cope with difficulties such as oscillations and strong singularities. In the numerical algorithms we have used mainly the MATLAB source code. Our results have been compared with well known methods by renowned authors in this field. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Dukuza, Kenneth Njengele https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4525-7390
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Oscillations , Numerical integration , Numerical analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24304 , vital:62600
- Description: In this dissertation we develop efficient new methods and techniques to numerically evaluate integrals of both oscillatory and non oscillatory kind. We have done a comprehensive literature review on the existing methods and made some modifications to them so as to cope with difficulties such as oscillations and strong singularities. In the numerical algorithms we have used mainly the MATLAB source code. Our results have been compared with well known methods by renowned authors in this field. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
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