What matters in economics teaching and learning? A case study of an introductory macroeconomics course in South Africa
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Wilson, M K
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68500 , vital:29270 , https://doi.org/10.19030/tlc.v3i11.1659
- Description: Publisher version , In many universities, economics lecturers now face the challenge of dealing with large, diverse classes, especially at undergraduate level. A common concern is the non-attendance at lectures of unmotivated (conscript) students. Poor lecture quality, as reflected in student evaluations of teaching (SETs), is often blamed for lack of attendance and consequent poor performance. This paper presents the results of a student assessment of a macroeconomics 1 course, coupled with a self-assessment of their own input into the course. The results obtained, using econometric models, suggest that students inputs and attitudes to the course are equally, or more, important than lecture attendance itself.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Water, water everywhere: is Integrated Water Resource Management the right institutional prescription for South Africa's water management challenges?
- Authors: Madigele, Patricia K , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68555 , vital:29282 , http://2015.essa.org.za/fullpaper/essa_2849.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Ostrom (2007) and Ostrom and Cox (2010) argue that natural resource management has been plagued by the “panacea problem": that one-size-fits-all solutions to allocation and management problems have been applied without due consideration of the specific context. The outcome has been the disappointing results of many development and management programs. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) has been recognised as a potentially effective way of allocating water where there are multiple, sometimes competing, users (Saravanan et al. 2009). It has been used successfully in a number of other developing country contexts, including Mexico, Brazil, India and Thailand (Orne-Giliemann 2008; Meinzen-Dick 2007). The principles of IWRM were also adopted in South Africa under the National Water Act (1998). Water User Associations (WUA) are seen as one of the key institutions driving IWRM, since they are designed to allow stake-holders at local level a say in the allocation and management of this important public good (Aoki 2001). However, WUAs in South Africa have mostly not been a success and are currently being reviewed at national level. For the most part, emerging black farmers and rural communities still do not have equal access to water, or a meaningful role in decision-making, and there are significant security of supply and allocation issues with regard to municipal users as well. Using the AID (Institutional Analysis and Development) framework (Ostrom 2007), with particular reference to economic theory relating to incentives and transactions costs, this paper asks if IWRM is a panacea treatment that does not fit the diagnosis of South Africa's water management problems. A case study approach is used, focusing on one of the few established WUAs in the Sundays River Valley Municipality in a rural area of South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Water footprint assessment to inform water management and policy making in South Africa
- Authors: Pahlow, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68813 , vital:29327 , http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v41i3.02
- Description: Publisher version , One method to inform decisions with respect to sustainable, efficient and equitable water allocation and use is water footprint assessment (WFA). This paper presents a preliminary WFA of South Africa (SA) based on data for the period 1996-2005. Crop production was found to contribute about 75% of the total water footprint of national production. The total water footprint of crop production is mainly composed of five crops: maize, fodder crops, sugarcane, wheat and sunflower seed, which account for 83% of the crop water footprint. The average water footprint of a South African consumer is 1 255 m3/yr, below the world average of 1 385 m3/yr, and is dominated by the consumption of meat (32%) and cereals (29%). About one fifth of this water footprint of consumption is external to SA. While SA is a net virtual water importer, the virtual water trade analysis revealed that a large share of blue water consumption is related to export. Sustainability concerns are that the major river basins face severe blue-water scarcity for extended periods of the year, and that water pollution levels related to nitrogen and phosphorus were found to be unsustainable in all river basins in SA. Efficient allocation and use of water is investigated by means of comparing the consumptive water footprint to global benchmark values, as well as the economic green- and blue-water productivity and the economic land productivity of the crops cultivated in SA. Furthermore, crops with specific potential for biofuel production are assessed. Lastly, recommendations to address the identified issues are given.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Valuing the arts: pitfalls in economic impact studies of arts festivals
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143145 , vital:38205 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2002.tb00067.x
- Description: Economic impact studies have been used to measure the value of a variety of public and mixed goods, such as arts festivals, sports facilities and educational institutions, partly to motivate for public funds. The attraction of this sort of study rests largely on the fact that it produces a quantifiable monetary measure of the value of a project as opposed to a less easily valued qualitative study. “Public officials, boosters and the media accept the ‘quantifiable’ which appears to represent reality in order to justify a desired project” (Johnson and Sack 1996:370).
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- Date Issued: 2002
Using the tutorial system to improve the quality of feedback to students in large class teaching
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Sayigh, E
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70848 , vital:29752
- Description: In many universities, economics teachers now face the challenge of dealing with large, diverse classes, especially at undergraduate level. A common concern is the non-attendance at lectures of unmotivated (conscript) students. This paper presents the results of a student assessment of a macroeconomics 1 course, coupled with a self-assessment of their own input into the course. The results obtained, using an econometric model, suggest that what students do outside of lectures is equally, or more, important than lecture attendance itself. The paper concludes by examining the possibility of using peer assessed group learning as a feasible way to encourage deep learning in large classes.
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- Date Issued: 2007
Transformation, job creation and subsidies to creative industries: the case of South Africa’s film and television sector
- Authors: Collins, Alan , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67433 , vital:29087 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2013.874418
- Description: Pre-print , Many governments have tried to stimulate economic growth via policy on the creative industries. South Africa is no different but additionally has an overarching aim of achieving social and labour market ‘transformation’ to move away from the legacy of the apartheid era. The effectiveness of incentives provided to the film and television sector in South Africa are considered in terms of their stated objectives of job creation, skills and knowledge transfer and the attraction of foreign direct investment. Informed by empirical analysis of incentive scheme data and supplemented by elite interviews with key informants, some specific policy revisions are proposed.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The willingness to pay for dusky kob (Argyrosomus japonicus) restocking: using recreational linefishing licence fees to fund stock enhancement in South Africa
- Authors: Palmer, Ryan M , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71322 , vital:29833 , https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsp075
- Description: The economic feasibility of stock enhancement of Argyrosomus japonicus in South Africa was investigated using a willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey. The pilot study provides a unique example of the use of the contingent valuation method as a valuation tool for a proposed stock enhancement programme. An increase in the cost of a recreational fishing permit is used as a potential vehicle of payment. The median value of the maximum that fishers were willing to pay for a recreational fishing permit was R155 (South African Rand) for frequent fishers and R100 for non-frequent fishers. Analysis showed that a fee of more than R100 excluded up to 50% of anglers from the fishery, but that a fee of R100 excluded only 28% of recreational anglers and would generate an additional R12 million annually from the sale of recreational fishing permits. The estimated costs of set-up and running of a stock enhancement programme are substantially lower than this, suggesting that stock enhancement may be an economically feasible management option that deserves more investigation. The WTP method itself produces robust results and is likely to be an effective tool in the management of the marine environment.
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- Date Issued: 2009
The valuation of campus built heritage from the student perspective: comparative analysis of Rhodes University in South Africa and St. Mary’s College of Maryland in the United States
- Authors: Poor, Joan P , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67488 , vital:29102 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2009.05.002
- Description: Pre-print , Many universities and colleges around the world have done extensive surveys of their campus built heritage resources. A detailed description and accounting of a campus's built heritage, landscape heritage and archaeology, are often used for historic preservation planning, and sustaining built culture is also an important aspect of campus master planning of future buildings. Such institutions of higher education have deep historical roots, in Europe it is not uncommon for buildings to be dated prior to the sixteenth century. In countries where European colonies were established, institutions of higher education often date to the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Once students have arrived at their chosen campus, however, except for perhaps the first week orientation rituals, do the students actually develop ties to their campus built heritage? This research investigates the knowledge students possess of their respective campus built heritage and the importance of built heritage as a legacy to them. Two institutions are included in this study in an effort of draw comparative assessments. A student questionnaire was administered at Rhodes University in South Africa and St. Mary's College of Maryland in the United States during April 2008. Results indicate students on both campuses place positive intrinsic value on their respective campus built heritage. Just over half (52%) of Rhodes students and about 68% of St. Mary's students were willing to pay some positive amount to protect campus built heritage. Empirical probit model results combining the data from both institutions found that current student knowledge of their respective campus built heritage did not positively relate to the value they place on preservation, even though the visual identity was significant for students and influenced their decision to attend the particular institution. The lack of significance regarding a racial variable coefficient estimate suggests that the use of an institution's visual identity in terms of built heritage may have important marketing implications, particularly in cases where universities or colleges are trying to attract students from more diverse backgrounds. We found no significant relationships between willingness to pay to preserve an institution's built heritage and the demographic variables included in our empirical model. Fundraising data analysis includes positive willingness to pay for conserving built heritage, yet funding for new construction was not significant.
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- Date Issued: 2010
The role of culture in enabling or constraining the use of technology in higher education teaching and learning: the Commerce Curriculum Project
- Authors: Mostert, Markus , Snowball, Jeanette D , Boughey, Chrissie
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: conference paper , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61073 , vital:27945
- Description: This paper draws on a project located in one faculty at a South African university which aimed to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance teaching and learning. More specifically, the paper uses Archer’s (1995, 1996, 2000, 1998) ‘analytical dualism’ and ‘morphogenesis’ to explore the way individuals involved in the project were able to exercise agency in departments which were relatively hostile to the goals they were aiming to pursue despite the wider cultural domain encompassing many ideas which construct the use of ICTs as significant in promoting student learning. The paper thus contributes to the culture/agency subtheme of the HECU6 conference. The paper begins by providing some background to the project before moving on to an exploration of the way Archer’s theoretical work was used to analyse data collected by project leaders.
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- Date Issued: 2012
The experiences of Fringe producers at the South African National Arts Festival: production, profits and non-market benefits
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143123 , vital:38203 , DOI: 10.1080/10137548.2009.9687901
- Description: Unlike the performing arts generally, festivals and special events have been growing in popularity worldwide: since the 1980s there has been an explosion of the number of festival of all types, not just arts festivals, but folk festivals, harvest festivals, food festivals, family festivals, carnivals, literary festivals – the list is long. It is estimated that there are more than 300 festivals in the UK (British Federation of Festivals 2004), 1300 in Australia (Johnson et al 2005) and more than 5000 in the US (Blumenthal 2002).
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- Date Issued: 2011
The energy transition patterns of low-income households in South Africa: an evaluation of energy programme and policy
- Authors: Israel-Akinbo, Sylvia O , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69397 , vital:29518 , https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2018/v29i3a3310
- Description: The transition to modern energy carriers like electricity is an important way to achieve to eradicate energy poverty. This study investigated energy transition patterns and trends in low-income South African households. The marginal effects of the different determinants on the probability of choosing a specific energy carrier were computed and the influence of some endogenous characteristics in transitioning to modern energy carriers was explored. It was found that energy ladder behaviour exists for cooking while energy stacking was most likely for space heating and the pattern for lighting tended towards energy stacking. Dwelling type, household size and geographical location were among the key determinants of the energy transition pattern. Policies to reduce energy poverty need a multi-pronged approach and not only a focus on electricity access.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The effectiveness and impacts of subsidies to film industries
- Authors: Collins, Alan , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68511 , vital:29273 , https://www.southafricanculturalobservatory.org.za/
- Description: Publisher version , Conference paper presented at the South African Cultural Observatory, First National Conference: Counting Culture, The Cultural and Creative Industries in National and International Context, 16-17 May 2016, The Boardwalk International Convention Centre, Nelson Mandela Bay.
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- Date Issued: 2016
The economic impact of Rhodes University students on the Grahamstown economy
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67475 , vital:29099
- Description: Publisher version , From Executive Summary: This study compares the spending patterns and economic impact of three groups of Rhodes University students: South Africans (SA), Other Africans and students from the Rest of the World (RoW). Data was collected via self-completion questionnaires and the final sample size was 163. Despite differences in spending patterns, total spending was found to be remarkably similar across groups, the major differences being between those students in university residence and those in digs (rented accommodation in town). Total monthly spending for those in residence was highest for SA students (R1034), then Other Africans (R850) and finally RoW (R777). For those in digs, total monthly spending was very similar, but again highest for SA students (R2495), then RoW (R2480) and then students from Other African countries (R2461). SA students have a considerably lower average unearned income than other groups, with students from the RoW having the highest unearned income (R1060 for those in residence and R2300 for those in digs). However, 55% of SA students, compared to 47% of foreign students, have sources of earned income, usually related to the university. Monthly income also tended to be higher for SA students (R654) than for other groups (Other Africa = R557; RoW = R575). The general conclusion that can be drawn is that there is very little difference in total spending between groups, although SA students have a somewhat higher average than others. A straight line ordinary least squares regression showed that, holding all else constant, SA students spent on average R169 more per month than foreign students (significant at the 10% level).
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- Date Issued: 2005
The determinants of happiness among race groups in South Africa
- Authors: Ebrahim, Amina , Botha, Ferdi , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68589 , vital:29291 , http://www.essa2011.org.za/fullpaper/essa2011_2182.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Economic indicators, like GDP per capita, are commonly used as indicators of welfare. However, they have a very limited and narrow scope, excluding many potentially important welfare determinants, such as health, relative income and religion - not surprising since they were not originally designed to fill this role. There is thus growing acceptance, and use of, subjective measure of wellbeing, (called ‘happiness’ measures) both worldwide and in South Africa. Happiness economics does not propose to replace income based measure of wellbeing, but rather attempts to compliment them with broader measures, which can be important in making policy decisions that optimise societal welfare. This paper tests for differences in subjective wellbeing between race groups in South Africa, and investigates the determinants of self-rated life satisfaction (happiness) for each group. Using the 2008 National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) data, descriptive methods (ANOVA) and an ordered probit model are applied. Results indicate that reported happiness differs substantially among race groups, with black South Africans being the least happy group despite changes since the advent of democracy in 1994. Higher levels of educational attainment increase satisfaction for the whole sample, and women are generally less happy than men (particularly black women). As found in many other studies, unemployed people have lower levels of life satisfaction than the employed, even when controlling for income and relative income. The determinants of happiness are also different for each race group: While white South Africans attached greater importance to physical health; employment status and absolute income matter greatly for black people. For coloured people and black people, positional status (as measured by relative income) is an important determinant of happiness, with religious involvement significantly contributing to the happiness of Indian people.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Subjective well-being in Africa
- Authors: Botha, Ferdi , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61084 , vital:27946
- Description: Research on quality of life and subjective well-being (SWB) has witnessed a remarkable growth over the past four decades or so. Since Easterlin’s (1974) seminal contribution on the relationship between happiness and income, thousands of studies have followed that examine the intricacies of subjective well-being (for reviews, see Frey and Stutzer, 2002; Dolan et al., 2008; MacKerron, 2012). These studies have uncovered some very important aspects of individual well-being and have pointed to the fact that money or income is not always (as is often assumed) the most important determinant of SWB.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Richard T. Carson: Contingent valuation: a comprehensive bibliography and history
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71504 , vital:29859 , https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10824-012-9165-7.pdf
- Description: For those of us who have been involved in willingness to pay studies for some time, Contingent Valuation: A comprehensive bibliography and history by Richard Carson is a fascinating read, tracking the early development of the method and debates around it from an insider’s perspective. As someone who has not only been involved in contingent valuation research over many years, but who has also been instrumental in shaping it, Richard Carson is the ideal author of this carefully crafted book.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Rhino poaching: supply and demand uncertain
- Authors: Collins, Alan , Fraser, Gavin , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70476 , vital:29665 , https://doi.org/10.1126/science.340.6137.1167-a
- Description: IN THEIR POLICY FORUM “LEGAL TRADE OF AFRICA’S RHINO HORNS” (1 MARCH, P. 1038), D. Biggs et al. point out that the trade ban on rhino horn has not been successful in reducing rhino poaching, which reached a record high of 668 in 2012. They argue that trade bans support illegal organizations, whereas a regulated legal market could reduce poaching effort and provide much-needed income for conservation. In making their case, Biggs et al. overlook a few important points.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Perceptions of the natural environment from a rural African perspective: a case of Cylondropuntia fulgida var. fulgida in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Dube, Nqobizitha , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68578 , vital:29289 , http://2015.essa.org.za/fullpaper/essa_2994.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Community environmental perceptions are instrumental in environmental management programmes given that perspectives govern human-environment relations. Despite numerous studies on environmental perceptions, little is known about how the rural poor particularly in Africa conceptualize, live with, and respond to pressing environmental issues facing them. As such, this paper uses the case of an invasive alien plant (IAP) (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Cff)) in a rural community (Gwanda district, Zimbabwe) to unveil the conceptualisation of the natural environment from a rural African perspective. This paper discloses the environmental worldview of the community and explains the formulation of the attitudes by the local households towards species in the environment. The study uses two horizontal dimensions of environmental attitudes formulation (New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Kellet’s (1996) classification of environmental values). Data was collected using a questionnaire survey, group discussions and key informant interviews. A sample of 156 individuals comprised the study respondents. Results showed the residents of rural Gwanda district to hold both a conservation and utilisation conviction (syncretic view) towards the environment. However, utilisation outweighs conservation. Furthermore, older residents are more inclined to conservation in comparison to the youth. The study also divulged that the origin of a species in the natural environment was insignificant to the host community. However, the livelihood effects that species had (regardless of origins) were the major determinants of attitudes developed towards it.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Measuring the value of the arts to society: the importance of the value of externalities for lower income and education groups in South Africa
- Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Antrobus, Geoffrey G
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143134 , vital:38204 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2001.tb00034.x
- Description: Governments in many countries have cut their support of the arts on the grounds that it is the pleasure of the higher income, well educated members of society that they are sponsoring. In the 1980's government support of the arts, even in developed countries, fell by 30 per cent (Throsby 1994). While it is true that many studies have found that arts attenders represent the educated, prosperous minority of society (Morrison and West, 1986; Dobson and West, 1990; Hendon 1990), this paper argues that if the social as well as the more traditional economic measures of the value of the arts are considered, it can be shown that many of the positive externalties provided by the arts accrue to lower income and education groups.
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- Date Issued: 2001
Making rules to live by: Was the proposed regulatory regime for invasive species reasonable? Perceptions of the South African trout industry
- Authors: Marire, Juniours , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68566 , vital:29285 , http://2015.essa.org.za/fullpaper/essa_2938.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Despite considerable economic impact of trout-based aquaculture and recreational fishing, the Department of Environmental Affairs has been focusing almost entirely on ecological criteria in deciding the regulatory regime for trout. We examined whether the proposed regulatory regime for alien and invasive species that was published by the Department of Environmental Affairs in 2014 for public comment was reasonable. The analysis produced factors that might matter in the design of reasonable institutional arrangements that impose a reasonable regulatory burden on economic sectors utilising invasive species. We conducted factor analysis using an online survey that we conducted between May and July 2014. We obtained four clusters of factors: participatory policymaking, people-centeredness, credible scientific evidence for listing species as invasive and contextualisation of international evidence. We then utilised the factors in a logistic regression framework to assess their influence on the probability of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable. The likelihood of a trout sector player perceiving the regulations to be reasonable was 1.2%. We found that a one standard deviation increase in the “credibility of scientific evidence” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 1645%. A one standard deviation increase in “participation” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 410%. A one standard deviation increase in “people-centeredness” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 600%. Lastly, a one standard deviation increase in the variable “contextualising international evidence” increased the odds of perceiving the regulations to be reasonable by 415%. This research demonstrates that properly addressing the socioeconomic aspects of new policies in addition to ecological criteria makes it far more likely that stakeholders will regard them as reasonable, even if the new policies impose increased regulatory transaction cost burden on users or reduced access to a resource.
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- Date Issued: 2015