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1
Dobler, Gregor. "The green, the grey and the blue: a typology of cross-border trade in Africa." Journal of Modern African Studies 54, no. 1 (February 9, 2016): 145–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x15000993.
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AbstractWhat are the reasons for the extraordinary dynamism of many African border regions? Are there specificities to African borderlands? The article provides answers to these questions by analysing the historical development of African state borders’ social and economic relevance. It presents a typology of cross-border trade in Africa, differentiating trade across the ‘green’ border of bush paths and villages, the ‘grey’ border of roads, railways and border towns, and the ‘blue’ border of transport corridors to oceans and airports. The three groups of actors associated with these types of trade have competing visions of the ideal border regime, to which many dynamics in African cross-border politics can be traced back. The article contributes to African studies by analysing diverging political and economic developments in African countries through the lens of the border, and to border theory by distilling general features of borders and borderlands from African case studies.
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Nwanna, Clifford. "Dialectics of African Feminism A Study of the Women's Group in Awka (the Land of Blacksmiths)." Matatu 40, no. 1 (December 1, 2012): 275–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18757421-040001019.
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There appears to be a lack of interest from researchers on African art, on feminist related issues. Their researches are devoted to other aspects of African art. This situation has created a gap in both African art and African gender studies. The present essay interrogates the socio-economic and political position of women in Africa from a feminist theoretical viewpoint. Here, the formation and the activities of the women group in Awka was used as a case study, to foreground the fact that feminism is not alien to Africa; rather it has existed in Africa since the ancient times. The women group stands out as true African patriots and protagonists of the African feminist struggle.
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Ghebremusse, Sara. "Application of Y.S. Lee’s General Theory of Law and Development to Botswana." Law and Development Review 12, no. 2 (May 27, 2019): 403–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ldr-2019-0017.
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Abstract Botswana has achieved significant socio-economic development despite its low-income status in 1966 when colonial rule ended, earning it the status of an “African success story” and “African miracle”. Botswana’s development was achieved in great part to its abundance of natural resources (diamonds), in contrast to other African countries that displayed conditions affiliated with the “resource curse”: corruption, rent-seeking behaviour by the ruling class, Dutch disease, declining terms of trade, the absence of economic diversification, and even civil conflict. Despite its extensive coverage in political economy and development studies literature, Botswana’s socio-economic development has yet to be interrogated through a law and development lens. Yong-Shik Lee offers a theoretical framework to conduct such an analysis in his article, General Theory of Law and Development, which proposes that law directly impacts development through three categorical Regulatory Impact Mechanisms: regulatory design; regulatory compliance; and quality of implementation. This article applies Lee’s theory to Botswana, making it one of the first applications of Lee’s theory to an African case study.
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Adedeji, Femi. "Singing and Suffering in Africa A Study of Selected Relevant Texts of Nigerian Gospel Music." Matatu 40, no. 1 (December 1, 2012): 411–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18757421-040001027.
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A major aspect of African music which has often been underscored in Musicological studies and which undoubtedly is the most important to Africans, is the textual content. Its significance in African musicology is based on the fact that African music itself; whether traditional ethnic, folk, art or contemporary, is text-bound and besides, the issue of meaning 'what is a song saying?' is paramount to Africans, whereas to Westerners the musical elements are more important. This is why the textual content should be given more priority. In terms of the textual content, Nigerian gospel music, an African contemporary musical genre which concerns itself with evangelizing lost souls, is also used as an instrument of socio-political and economic struggle. One of the issues that have been prominent in the song-texts is the suffering of the masses in Africa. This essay aims at taking a closer look at the selected relevant texts in order to interpret them, determine their message, and evaluate their claims and veracity. Using ethnomusicological, theological, and literary-analytical approaches, the essay classifies the texts into categories, finding most of the claims in the texts to be true assessments of the suffering conditions of the Nigerian masses. The essay concludes by stressing the need to pay more attention to the voice of the masses through gospel artists and for people in the humanities to work energetically towards fostering permanent solutions to the problem of suffering in Africa in general.
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Emonena, Sunny Ekakitie, and Egede Nwawuku Matteo. "Driving SMEs Through Nepotism and Individualism: A Cross Cultural Analysis & Implications for Enterprise Success in Sub-Sahara Africa." Journal of Management and Strategy 11, no. 2 (June 1, 2020): 29. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/jms.v11n2p29.
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As we gravitate deeper into the 21st century, work patterns that drive productivity tend towards teamwork, group specialization, hi-tech and hi-touch processes. This study in acknowledging this new paradigm advocates the adoption of the twin practices of nepotism and individualism for African SMEs. The authors argue that given the peculiar cultural inclinations of Africans where socio-economic activities are woven around family subsistence and individualism in optimizing skills and competences, coupled with readily available labour in most African families; it will be economically wise to drive SMEs set-up and start-ups through family. The authors contend that given the weak capacities of African entrepreneurs competitively, they can become effective if they make a strategic retreat and gradually develop their enterprises via deploying family resources cost effectively to increment capacities for productivity. The paper in examining extant literature evidenced the application of nepotism and individual acumen in the growth of enterprises across notable cultures in the world. Theories of entrepreneurship lending credence to arguments canvassed include Cantillon’s theory, the Knightian theory, the individual-opportunity nexus theory and the Mill’s theory of individualism among others. These along with empirical studies outcome cited reveal the immense benefits and successes recoverable in the creation/administration of SMEs along these dimensions. In the light of these benefits, the authors suggest among others that policies of government in sub-Saharan Africa should tilt towards incentives for family-patterned SMEs. It also advocates for a platform were innovative SMEs can receive recognition and sponsorship from government and trade/industrial associations. Finally, the paper suggests that SMEs in Africa link up via the Internet with SMEs abroad with a history of family business to learn success and survival strategies and gradually become global players themselves.
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De Wet, C. "Die invloed van taalhoudings op onderrigmediumkeuse in Suid-Afrika." Literator 21, no. 3 (April 26, 2000): 37–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/lit.v21i3.495.
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The influence of language attitudes on the choice of the medium of instruction in South Africa The South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) recognises language as a basic human right and emphasises the right of choice of every individual with regard to the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). In exercising their democratic language choice, the majority of South African learners and their parents reject their right to mother-tongue education and disregard research findings that emphasise the benefits of mother-tongue instruction. From a study of subject-related literature it has become clear that the masses in South Africa believe that a knowledge of English is the key to economic and political empowerment. Against the background of these findings, the article reports on an empirical study on the language attitudes of undergraduate Education and B.Ed. students at the Bloemfontein and Queenstown campuses of the University of the Free State. The study confirms the findings of the subject-related study to a large extent, namely that English is seen as the key to economic and political empowerment. The opposite is, however, proven by literacy and poverty figures, as well as by studies on blacks’ proficiency in English. Proceeding from the economic, political and educational realities, the article offers a few suggestions for the development of African languages as LOLT.
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Robinson, Zurika, and Rebone Gcabo. "Tax compliance and behavioural response in South Africa: an alternative investigation." South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 10, no. 3 (July 11, 2013): 357–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v10i3.695.
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Taxpayer behaviour has in South Africa moved to the forefront of the investigation of revenue collection with regular tax awareness campaigns being launched by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). Issues relating to tax amnesty and the contribution of the informal sector (second economy) to tax revenue have become important. This paper attempts to find explanations, be they economic or psychological, for taxpayer behaviour in South Africa. Factors influencing tax evasion and ultimately collection targets are thus examined. A questionnaire was designed to determine how individuals, in this case a sample of students, respond when filing taxes. Each question frames a scenario to invoke a specific tax regime. The paper’s unique findings show, generally, that behaviour is to a large extent determined by economic factors, specifically inequality as predicted by the expected utility theory. This theory also successfully predicts 50 per cent of the responses to the control questions. The remaining 50 per cent are explained by combined economic and psychological factors, modelled by the prospect theory. This is significant considering the fact that the results were generated within a developing and not a developed context as is the case in most studies of this type.
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Baer, Wolfgang, Ahmed Bounfour, and Thomas J. Housel. "An econophysics non-monetized theory of value." Journal of Intellectual Capital 19, no. 3 (May 14, 2018): 519–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jic-01-2017-0001.
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Purpose Mobile phones are radically transforming micro-finance in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Kenya, in particular. The introduction of the micro-financial transaction mobile phone application, “MPesa,” created a means to facilitate micro-transactions without the need for an intermediary, such as a banking system. The purpose of this paper is to posit an econophysics model to predict the value of Mpesa for Kenyan and South African consumers. The econophysics framework posits several fitness matrices and a distance measure that can account for the concepts of mass, distance, momentum, velocity, action, and force. The authors begin with a table of the match between the physics concepts and the economic concepts followed by the vector model that utilizes these concepts for the MPesa application case. In this paper, the authors will argue that MPesa succeeded in Sub-Saharan African countries, such as Kenya, because the fit between what this group of customers needed and the solutions Safaricom’s MPesa offered was a better fit with a smaller distance to adoption than in the South African case. Design/methodology/approach The research develops an econophysics approach to the assessment of micro-finance development in Sub-Saharan countries. Findings The research shows clearly the reasons of the success of MPesa in Kenya in comparison of its relative failure in South Africa: the distance between customers’ expectations and the system supply. Research limitations/implications The research is limited to two case studies and needs to be extended to other contexts, in order to demonstrate its robustness, especially with regard to the intangible dimension, e.g., the distance between a system potential and what it really offers. Practical implications The research shows the importance of system’s characteristics in its success. Social implications The social implications are very high, especially in this case, where micro-finance is a high stake for developing societies. Originality/value This is one of the first works to develop an econophysics approach for the evaluation of the key characteristics of a system.
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Mlambo, Victor H., and Toyin Cotties Adetiba. "Effects of Brain Drain on the South African Health Sector; Analysis of the Dynamics of its Push Factors." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 9, no. 4 (September 4, 2017): 62. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i4.1822.
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While there has been a plethora of studies that addresses migration in Africa, many have yet to successfully unpack the effects of brain drain on the South African health sector. Using textual analysis of the available literature relevant to the topic under consideration; this work seeks to identify the major structural and socio-economic push factors that drive the migration of health professionals in South Africa, relying on Revestain’s laws of migration and Lee’s push/pull theory of migration. The study also looks at explaining other factors that contribute to the migration of health professionals in South Africa. We argue that for South Africa to retain health professionals, the government needs to increase the training of health workers, improve their working conditions and security, upgrade infrastructure and ensure availability of resources as well as develop a more open immigration policy prioritizing skilled immigration.
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Peprah, Philip Agyei, Yao Hongxing, and Jean Baptiste Bernard Pea-Assounga. "Regional Foreign Direct Investment Potential in Selected African Countries." International Journal of Economics and Finance 11, no. 10 (September 20, 2019): 66. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijef.v11n10p66.
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The recent devolutionary trend across the world has been in part fuelled by claims of a supposed ‘economic growth by direct investment dividend’ associated with the fiscal decentralization. There is however, little empirical evidence to substantiate these claims. Most prior research has determined different research techniques of measurement by generating mix results. More so, these studies do not differentiate between short and long run techniques and mechanisms through which county expenditure affects economic growth, by investment growth, and by foreign reserve of African countries. The background has investigated empirically the short and long run techniques effect of components of county expenditure on economic growth investment, by foreign direct investment growth in the African countries in period of 2013 to 2017. The variables tested by unit root by no stationary at interval levels. The long and short run of variables computed by ARDL methods by Keynesian theory. However, the budget allocation and execution improved to capital infrastructure and like transport communication help to improve private capital accumulation and economic growth.
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Muslih, Assist Inst Waleed Shihan. "The Racial Discrimination from Romantic Perspective: A Postcolonial Study of Langston Hughes's Selected Poems." ALUSTATH JOURNAL FOR HUMAN AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 216, no. 1 (November 10, 2018): 11–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.36473/ujhss.v216i1.576.
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.Postcolonial literary theory critically studies the cultural, societal and historical analysis and modes of discourse of the people of the colonies in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Third World. Moreover, postcolonial studies deal with forms of imperialism particularly the domination of some nations and people by other nations. Thus,"this rethinking of empire has brought the United States into focus as an object of postcolonial [studies]both as a contemporary empire and as itself a postcolonial nation"(Abrams,1960:307,8).African-American studies, however, fit together well with postcolonial studies as it "forms a number of angels interrogates the relations between the west pretty much the rest of the world in the light of the history or Western expansion and military and economic domination"(Bertens,2001:112).On this basis, it is possible to read and analyze the African-American literary themes through a postcolonial vision. However, the prevailing theme that most African-American poems tackle in common is the theme of racial discrimination, but it is rather meticulous to say what the poems share in terms of theme instead of mode. The present study aims at examining Langston Hughes's selected poems to judge whether the modes of these poems are romantic or racial and the motive behind this. This will give a better understanding of the personal and the psychological factors that affected the life of the African-American individual in the heyday of the racial segregation
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Mlambo, Victor H., and Toyin Cotties Adetiba. "Effects of Brain Drain on the South African Health Sector; Analysis of the Dynamics of its Push Factors." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 9, no. 4(J) (September 4, 2017): 62–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i4(j).1822.
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While there has been a plethora of studies that addresses migration in Africa, many have yet to successfully unpack the effects of brain drain on the South African health sector. Using textual analysis of the available literature relevant to the topic under consideration; this work seeks to identify the major structural and socio-economic push factors that drive the migration of health professionals in South Africa, relying on Revestain’s laws of migration and Lee’s push/pull theory of migration. The study also looks at explaining other factors that contribute to the migration of health professionals in South Africa. We argue that for South Africa to retain health professionals, the government needs to increase the training of health workers, improve their working conditions and security, upgrade infrastructure and ensure availability of resources as well as develop a more open immigration policy prioritizing skilled immigration.
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Owusu, Richard Afriyie, and Terje I. Vaaland. "A business network perspective on local content in emerging African petroleum nations." International Journal of Energy Sector Management 10, no. 4 (November 7, 2016): 594–616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijesm-06-2014-0006.
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Purpose The paper aims to identify and analyze the actors and their interrelationships in realizing local content objectives in African oil- and gas-producing nations. Design/methodology/approach The paper includes content analysis of relevant research papers and reports within the oil and gas industry, local content and industrial networks published between 2000 and 2014. Findings The study developed a framework that integrates the literature on local content with the industrial network theory. The framework classifies the various critical actors for achieving local content, proposing that achieving local content requires the development of business network links and a resource alignment among local companies and institutions and foreign companies and institutions, in addition to multinational oil companies. Research limitations/implications The framework of this study contributes to an emerging theory on local content by integrating the industrial network theory, which provides specific frameworks for analyzing embedded business environments, along with the previous economic and legal-based studies of local content achievement. Practical implications The way the relevant actors organize their resources and business networks provides potential for local content in an emerging oil and gas industry in Africa. Originality/value The paper is one of the few to integrate studies of local content with the industrial network theory. The literature review provides a summary window of the research on the subject over a 14-year period.
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Roitman, Janet L. "The Politics of Informal Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa." Journal of Modern African Studies 28, no. 4 (December 1990): 671–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x00054781.
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There is evidence of a new trend in recent scholarship on African political economy: an effort to tip the scale towards the latter end of the so-called state-society balance. This nascent movement portends to serve as a corrective to past academic work devoted to defining and delineating the form and nature of the African state. The statist literature has traditionally formed two camps, one based on liberal, neo-classical theory, and the other informed by the neo-Marxistdependenciamodel. No matter what the approach, in these studies the state is the central locus of macro-economic and political processes: as the centre of resource extraction and distribution, and the determinant of the nature of national politics, the state is fixated upon as the source of, and/or solution to, the economic status of African societies.
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Barber, Michael. "Motivation and phenomenological foundation: A Schutzian response to a current dilemma in African-American studies." Philosophy & Social Criticism 45, no. 5 (November 8, 2018): 597–616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0191453718808082.
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Two philosophical approaches are prominent in race studies: (1) an interpretive phenomenological method, utilized by Sartre, Fanon and Schutz, that describes how Blacks and non-blacks interpret each other and (2) Marxist methodologies, wielded by Sartre, Fanon and Stephen Ferguson, that investigate the economic structures underpinning race relations. Schutz’s theory of motivation accommodates these often antagonistic approaches. Future-oriented ‘in-order-to motives’ constitute a domain of lived, subjective meanings, operative in the interpretive interrelations the first method thematizes. Because motives, an ‘objective category’, include the historical, social-structural factors that the second methodologies focus on, that influence actors ‘behind their backs’ and that are discoverable to reflective observers. Further, Schutz’s situating of economic science with reference to his phenomenological psychology of the everyday lifeworld permits scientific-type analyses that provisionally omit the freedom of social actors that is, however, recovered in the subjective meaning of everyday actors that some Marxist economic reductionists neglect.
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Kopf, Martina. "Encountering development in East African fiction." Journal of Commonwealth Literature 54, no. 3 (May 25, 2017): 334–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021989417707801.
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In this article I address how East African writers have responded to and conceptualized the encounter with development in works of fiction. The article combines two lines of enquiry: first, a historical perspective on “development” as a history of changing and conflicting meanings and practices in planning and controlling social and economic change, and, second, a narrative studies perspective on fiction as a source of knowledge in social and political research. The article presents an analysis of two novels and a short story from Uganda and Kenya: Akiki Nyabongo’s The Story of an African Chief (1935), Meja Mwangi’s Going Down River Road (1976), and Binyavanga Wainaina’s Discovering Home (2003). The texts are from three different historical periods from the colonial past to the present. Bringing them into dialogue with institutional discourses relevant to their respective periods, I argue that these works of fiction open up a unique understanding of key issues and problems in development thinking and planning. Furthermore, my analysis sheds a different light on critical debates that perceive the “development encounter” as a story of the “West versus the rest”. Instead, this essay links recent trends in writing to more entangled histories of development.
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Simmons, Matthew. "Trusting an Abusive System: Systemic Racism and Black Political Engagement." Ethnic Studies Review 36, no. 1 (January 1, 2013): 139–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/esr.2013.36.1.139.
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Africana people in America have relied upon the utilization of political participation in order to address the economic and societal ills that plague its community. Africana people have made strides at all levels of the American government. Africana people were a vital voting block that helped to elect the first American President of African descent. However, studies have shown that the conditions of Africana people in America have not substantially changed since the Voting Rights Act of 1 965 was enacted. Africana political participation has not equated to socioeconomic equality on a large scale for the Africana community. Utilizing Feagin's Systemic Racism Theory, this project looks to examine why solely relying upon the American political system is symptomatic of disagency for Africana people and argues that this dis-agency does not empower our people to seek solutions. It places the power to liberate in the oppressor's hands, thus maintaining the inequality that continues to exist in America. This article also argues for Africana people to look to themselves as the avenue for addressing the societal ills that it faces. It also argues that Africana people must be their own mechanism for liberation. In addition, the terms Africana and Black will be used interchangeably in the project because those terms are most readily identifiable to people of African descent living in America.
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Phiri, Andrew. "Endogenous monetary approach to optimal inflation–growth nexus in Swaziland." African Journal of Economic and Management Studies 11, no. 4 (March 18, 2020): 559–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ajems-07-2018-0217.
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PurposeThe purpose of our study is to examine the inflation–growth nexus relationship for Swaziland between 1975 and 2016 with the intention of estimating an optimal level of inflation, which maxims economic growth or minimizes growth losses.Design/methodology/approachWe estimate on an endogenous monetary model of economic growth augmented with a credit technology using a smooth transition regression (STR) model, which allows us to estimate an optimal inflation rate characterized by smooth transition between different inflation regimes.FindingsOur empirical results point to an inflation threshold estimate of 7.64 per cent at which economic growth gains are maximized or similarly growth losses are minimized. In particular, we find that above this threshold economic agents may be able to protect themselves from inflation through credit technology and a more urbanized population and yet such high inflation adversely affects the influence of exports on economic growth. This noteworthy since a majority of government revenues is from trade activity via the country's affiliation with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).Originality/valueThe major contribution of this paper is that it becomes the first to draw directly from endogenous growth theory to estimate the inflation threshold for any African country, which will hopefully pave a way for similar studies on other African countries.
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Mohammed Abdullah, Mustafa, Hardev Kaur, Ida Baizura Bt Bahar, and Manimangai Mani. "XENOPHOBIA AND CITIZENSHIP IN MEG VANDERMERWE’S ZEBRA CROSSING." Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews 8, no. 2 (May 3, 2020): 756–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8284.
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Purpose of the study: In the past two decades several researchers have explored the concern of xenophobia in South African fiction. Studies sought to determine the reasons behind the prevalence of xenophobic violence in South Africa. Previous research on xenophobia claims that xenophobic violence is prevalent in the state is, in fact, due to economic and social reasons only. Yet, this article aims to correct the misconception of the Rainbow Nation that South Africa was supposed to have been achieved after 1994.
Methodology: The text Zebra Crossing (2013) by the South African novelist Meg Vandermerwe is under the focus. The concept of Michael Neocosmos of Citizenship from the postcolonial theory is applied to the selected text. A close reading of the text and qualitative research is the method of my analysis. The article will focus on the acts of violence reflected in the text in an attempt to find the reasons behind such acts. Neocosmos' valid conceptualization about the outbreaks of xenophobia in South Africa in the post-apartheid is applied to the selected text.
Main Findings: the article will conclude that the notion of the rainbow nation in South Africa is no more than a dream due to the outbreaks of xenophobia and the ongoing violence against foreigners. It will also prove that the continuous xenophobic violence in South Africa is not because of social or economic reasons only yet, there is a political discourse that engenders and triggers the natives to be more xenophobic. Thus, the state politics of exclusion, indigeneity, and citizenship are the stimuli for citizens to be more aggressive and violent against foreigners.
Applications of this study: the study will add new insight to the domain of English literature generally and the South African literature specifically. The study will be valuable in immigration literature as it deals with the plights of migrants in South Africa and their suffering from xenophobic violence. The study is located in the postcolonial approach.
Novelty/Originality of this study: the study offers new insight towards xenophobia in South Africa. The concept applied in the study has not been explored so far in the selected text. Previous research claimed that xenophobia in South Africa is due to economic and social reasons but did not focus on the legacies of postcolonialism nor the new political system. The study is original and new as it discusses an ongoing and worldwide phenomenon utilizing a new concept.
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Promise Opute, Abdullah, Chux Gervase Iwu, Risimati Maurice Khosa, Chukuakadibia Eresia-Eke, Sirak Berhe Hagos, and Bridget Irene. "African Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the UK." Harvard Deusto Business Research 10, no. 1 (May 29, 2021): 53–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.48132/hdbr.335.
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The importance of ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) has been lauded in the entrepreneurship discourse. Building on entrepreneurial orientation theory, this study seeks to understand family influence on the entrepreneurial processes, practices, and decision-making activities in a relatively under-explored social group. The methodological approach in this study involved in-depth interviews with 10 entrepreneurs based in the United Kingdom. This study found strong social identity congruence behaviour of explored entrepreneurs from the point of how their entrepreneurial orientation is family-influence driven. For the entrepreneurs, the family is a central behaviour factor that exerts significantly on their entrepreneurial processes and decision making. As a result, actual judgement and decision making of entrepreneurs may not necessarily be driven by economic logic but largely by family control factors that even exert more significantly on entrepreneurial behaviour. This study contributes to the psychological and family control perspectives on entrepreneurship discourse. This study has two core limitations: it is based on the qualitative approach and explores only one social group. Future research in the form of quantitative studies that also examine other cultural enclaves would therefore help to enhance the causes and effects conclusions suggested in this study.
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Nsibande, Mduduzi, and Douw Gert Brand Boshoff. "An investigation into the investment decision-making practices of South African institutional investors." Property Management 35, no. 1 (February 20, 2017): 67–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/pm-09-2015-0050.
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Purpose The South African listed property market has changed its legal basis from property loan stock companies and property unit trusts to adopt the more familiar international structure, real estate investment trusts. The main distinction is how shareholding is structured and investment returns are paid out to shareholders, which results in a different tax treatment. It is hoped that this change would attract more foreign investment, but it is questionable if this is sufficient to convince global investors who, amidst a seeming worsening of the stability in the political and economic environment, would probably need more insight into aspects such as investment decision making within these South African organisations. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using a balanced scorecard (BSC) framework, this study investigates the relevance of investment decision-making frameworks in South Africa. A survey using a sample of institutional investors that are included in the South African Property Market Index was conducted. Findings The study found similarities in decision-making priorities of South African institutional investors to those of previous studies. With the focus on retail property, tenant mix and secondary to that, quality of the centre management team is found to be important for forecasting expected returns in a retail investment decision environment. Diversification strategies were found to have similar results to previous studies, leaning more towards geographic location than economic location. Further, the study suggested the use of a BSC framework, linking the financial information and different financial ratios to nonfinancial aspects that need specific consideration in a retail investment environment. Research limitations/implications Retail property is considered to be of particular concern due to the business enterprise value that could be created if superior management techniques are applied. The investment decision stage concerned with forecasting expected returns relies on financial and quantitative models such as those derived from Modern Portfolio Theory. In a shopping mall environment, however, future performance is driven by nonfinancial factors, for example, tenant mix and superior customer experience. Therefore, forecasting expected returns in a retail environment requires a nuanced approach relative to other commercial property sectors. Originality/value The paper is considered to be original in its analysis of the retail real estate market in South Africa. This offers new insight into retail properties specifically, but also how investors in South Africa react to decision-making practices. This adds value in the internationalisation of the property market and the consistency and transparent practices applied globally.
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Grant, Julian, and Pauline B. Guerin. "Motherhood as Identity: African Refugee Single Mothers Working the Intersections." Journal of Refugee Studies 32, no. 4 (September 20, 2018): 583–604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fey049.
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Abstract We explored the strategies that refugee single mothers used to manage socio-emotional, physical and economic challenges of raising children during resettlement in a Western country. Ethnographic case studies of 10 families and 12 focus groups were conducted. Bourdieu’s theory of social relations informed the primary analysis. Intersectionality was adopted as a secondary analysis, attending to the agency and empowerment experienced by the participants. Motherhood was identified as a key gendered capability important for the development of capital. Within motherhood, five core themes were identified, including ‘loneliness and sadness’, ‘not enough money’, ‘racism’, ‘struggle for education’ and ‘striving to connect’. Findings suggest the importance of a feminism that legitimizes motherhood as identity with attendant intersections of race, class and gender. Further, the theoretical link between motherhood as a capability and development of capital suggests that investment in structural resources could improve capability and outcomes for refugee mothers and children.
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Lee, Gregory John. "Seeking rigor in South African business research: Aspirational principles in contrast to a recent publication." South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences 17, no. 4 (September 1, 2014): 501–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v17i4.935.
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Studies of organizational success and other aspects of management are critical in understanding and improving critical areas of African economic stability. This article seeks to urge high levels of rigor in South African research in this area, notably empirical research, proposing several aspirational research principles. First, the article considers claims of uniqueness versus the practical value of embedding research as a replication in a well-considered wider body of knowledge. Second is the desirability of conforming to sufficiently high norms of model fit and effect size and accuracy. Third is empirical comparison of South African studies with previous findings, with attendant possibilities for new theory development. Fourth is proper tests for and treatment of common method bias. Fifth is specification of appropriate sets of constructs. Finally, this article proposes specification of alternate models that will add substantial rigor to such research. In advocating these possibilities, the current article contrasts these aspirational principles to a recent SAJEMS article. This critique serves an exclusively illustrative purpose, showing some pitfalls of not conforming to the aspirational principles, the benefits of explicitly including certain easy to achieve solutions, and the ease with which greater rigor can sometimes be achieved. Ultimately, this article seeks to constructively advance African business research standards.
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Rafapa, Lesibana. "Indigeneity in modernity. The cases of Kgebetli Moele and Niq Mhlongo." Tydskrif vir Letterkunde 55, no. 1 (February 2, 2018): 90–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2309-9070/tvl.v.55i1.3038.
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The study of South African English literature written by black people in the postapartheid period has focused, among others, on the so-called Hillbrow novels of Phaswane Mpe and Niq Mhlongo, and narratives such as Kgebetli Moele's Book of the Dead (2009) set in Pretoria. A number of studies show how the fiction of these writers handles black concerns that some critics believe to have replaced a thematic preoccupation with apartheid, as soon as political freedom was attained in 1994. However, adequate analyses are yet to be made of works produced by some of these black writers in their more rounded scrutiny of the first decade of democracy, apart from what one may describe as an indigenous/traditional weaning from preoccupation with the theme of apartheid. This study intends to fill this gap, as well as examine how such a richer social commentary is refracted in its imaginative critique of South African democratic life beyond its first decade of existence. I consider Mhlongo's novels Dog Eat Dog (2004) and After Tears (2007); together with Moele's narratives reflecting on the same epoch Room 207 (2006) and The Book of the Dead (2009). For the portrayal of black lives after ten years of democracy, I unpack the discursive content of Mhlongo's and Moele's novels Way Back Home (2013) and Untitled (2013) respectively. I probe new ways in which these postapartheid writers critique the new living conditions of blacks in their novelistic discourses. I argue that their evolving approaches interrogate literary imaginaries, presumed modernities and visions on socio-political freedom of a postapartheid South Africa, in ways deserving critical attention.  I demonstrate how Moele and Mhlongo in their novels progressively assert a self-determining indigeneity in a postapartheid modernity unfolding in the context of some pertinent discursive views around ideas such as colourblindness and transnationalism. I show how the discourses of the author's novels enable a comparison both their individual handling of the concepts of persisting institutional racism and the hegemonic silencing of white privilege; and distinguishable ways in which each of the two authors grapples with such issues in their fiction depicting black conditions in the first decade of South African democratic rule, differently from the way they do with portrayals of the socio-economic challenges faced by black people beyond the first ten years of South African democracy.
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Klemz, Bruce R., Christo Boshoff, and Noxolo‐Eileen Mazibuko. "Emerging markets in black South African townships." European Journal of Marketing 40, no. 5/6 (May 1, 2006): 590–610. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/03090560610657859.
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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess differences between the guidance offered by cultural studies in the services literature and the retailing literature for emerging markets. To research these differences, the role that the contact person has towards South African township residents' willingness to buy is to be assessed.Design/methodology/approachA services quality survey of black (ethnic Xhosa) township residents was performed for two different retail types: new, small, independently owned grocery retailers located within the townships, and established, large, national chains located within the city centres. The influence of these services quality measures on willingness to buy was assessed using the partial least squares method for each of the two retail types. Differences between the model parameters for these two retail types were assessed using ANOVA.FindingsThe results show that, consistent with the retailing literature, the contact people in these new, small, local and independently owned retailers focus extensively on empathy to influence willingness to buy, while the contact people in the large, traditionally white‐owned national retailers jointly focus on assurance and responsiveness to influence willingness to buy, and spend very little effort on empathy.Research limitations/implicationsResearch implications are based on the usefulness of supporting theory, namely that the guidance offered by the cultural studies in the retailing literature is more predictive than that in the services literature for the emerging South African retailing market.Practical implicationsIt is found that core elements in relationship marketing are well ingrained in collectivist Xhosa cultural norms. The results suggest that these cultural norms can, and should, be leveraged by the new independently owned grocery retailers.Originality/valueThe research addresses a key concern within emerging markets and offers practical help for retail development within this dynamic economic setting.
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Edoun, Emmanuel Innocents, Alexandre Essome Dipita, and Dikgang Motsepe. "Illicit financial flows and foreign direct investment in developing countries." Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets and Institutions 6, no. 4 (2016): 442–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/rgcv6i4siart1.
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Africa is facing a number of challenges that are negatively affecting socio-economic development at all levels of governments and local governments are expected to play a leading role for Africa’s development. One of these challenges are illicit financial flows that are perceived by many as a crime against Africa’s transformation. The continent is losing billions of dollars every year because of tax evasion, corruption and inappropriate transfer pricing and maladministration. With tax being one of Africa’s main sources of revenue, current and past researches revealed that, illicit financial flows (IFFs) cripple African Governments tax base as a results of capital outflows and lack of good governance. This situation obviously is a challenge for Africa’s development as governments struggle to finance structuring projects and this in turn compels these governments to seek funds from international organisations at very high interest rates. It is also important to reveal that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rapidly grew after the Second World War with the intention to maximize profit on investment in less developed countries and specifically in the African continent. In competing in Africa, most multinationals main objective is to pay less tax, make extensive profits and transfer the proceeds to their country of origin. This subsequently gave rise to illicit financial flows in Africa where the continent is losing billions of dollars. Past studies equally revealed that, Africa’s revenue could increase between 55 and 65%, if appropriate mechanisms of monitoring the flows were in place. This study therefore is based on the premise that, tax evasion, illicit financial flows, corruption and abusive transfers pricing are all factors that affect Africa’s development. Using appropriate method of inquiry, this study wants to demonstrate the presence of FDI’s in Africa as a modus operandi behind tax evasion. It also using the “Appropriability Theory” to explain the rationale for FDI in Africa.
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Katumba, Samy, Inger Fabris-Rotelli, Alfred Stein, and Serena Coetzee. "A spatial analytical approach towards understanding racial residential segregation in Gauteng province (South Africa)." Abstracts of the ICA 1 (July 15, 2019): 1–3. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/ica-abs-1-164-2019.
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<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The introduction of apartheid in 1948 resulted in racial residential segregation that has influenced the spatial distribution of the population in South Africa. Apartheid laws, which were mainly based on race, brought about the exclusion of the non-white population from urban areas and the mainstream economy of South Africa, as well as the benefits that come with it. In the early 1990’s, apartheid was abolished and the South African government set to bring about social and spatial justice, address inequalities and promote social cohesion. This also meant doing away with racial residential segregation that had been entrenched into the urban morphology of the country. Despite this, in the post-apartheid era, racial-residential segregation still exists (Parry and Van Eeden 2015).</p><p>Figure 1 shows the density (kernel) distribution of each of the four population groups in Gauteng in 2011: Indian/Asian (IA), white (W), black African (BA) and coloured (C). It is a reflection of the legacy of apartheid town planning which isolated non-whites to the peripheral areas of urban economic centers. Densely populated areas are coloured in red while less populated areas are coloured in green. As it can be seen in the map (Figure 1), the white population group densely occupies areas close to the business centers of the province in places such as Pretoria and northern parts of Johannesburg, while non-whites densely occupy peripheral areas in former townships designated to non-whites, such as Soweto (black African), Mabopane (black African) and Lenasia (Indian/Asians). This observed pattern is more pronounced for black Africans.</p><p>To study the pattern of racial residential segregation in South Africa, non-spatial indices of segregation are widely employed despite their shortcomings. Parry and Van Eeden (2015) are among the few authors who have acknowledged the importance of employing spatial indices of segregation, even though they did not explicitly use one due to the lack of ready to use GIS software. Massey and Denton (1988) define residential segregation as “the degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of the urban environment”, i.e. racial residential segregation manifests itself across space. Hence, in order to assess the extent to which the levels of racial residential segregation have subsided, adequate empirical studies that employ spatial segregation indices on socio-economic data are necessary. The purpose of this research is to study the pattern of racial residential segregation by employing a spatial index of segregation namely the ‘spatial information theory index (H)’ for Gauteng province, the economic hub and most populated province of South Africa.</p><p>Some of the shortcomings of existing non-spatial indices of segregation (and also of some of the spatial ones) include the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) which refers to how such indices are sensitive to the size of the areal units (i.e. administrative or political boundaries) of analysis that might be arbitrarily chosen or might not accurately reflect the actual racial composition of the local neighbourhoods. This introduces possibilities of obtaining inaccurate measures of racial residential segregation and also being unable to compare the results at various scales of analysis (Reardon et al. 2004; Weir-Smith 2016). One of the major challenges that impedes the use of spatial segregation indices is the lack of ready to use software that has implemented spatial segregation indices which have attempted to address the MAUP. To address such a challenge, Hong et al. 2014 implemented a series of spatial equivalences of existing segregation measures in R under the package ‘seg’ based on Reardon et al. (2004)’s formulation of spatial segregation indices. Reardon et al. (2004) emphasise the computation of spatial indices of segregation based on the racial composition of the population as reflected by their immediate local environment instead of relying on arbitrary or fixed administrative boundaries. The ‘spatial information theory index (H)’ as implemented by Reardon et al. (2004) is experimented in this study.</p><p>This study explores existing literature related to racial residential segregation in order to further complement and supplement existing theories on segregation in South Africa by adopting a spatial analytical approach. The authors take advantage of the R implementation of spatial measures of segregation (Hong et al. 2014), namely the spatial information theory index (H), to study the patterns of residential segregation in Gauteng province (South Africa).</p>
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Adams, Katherine. "Du Bois, Dirt Determinism, and the Reconstruction of Global Value." American Literary History 31, no. 4 (2019): 715–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/alh/ajz036.
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Abstract W. E. B. Du Bois wrote extensively about African-American cotton growers and the Southern Black Belt, beginning with the sociological studies he conducted while at Atlanta University. Over time, his approach to these subjects became increasingly literary and experimental. He made the region—and specifically its dirt—a medium for analyzing the history and dynamics of racial capitalism, and for imagining forms of value not grounded in the violent extraction and mystification of black labor power. In doing so Du Bois countered the blame narrative developed by white southerners like Alfred Holt Stone, who attributed soil exhaustion and economic stagnation to the “monstrocity” of self-possessed black labor. He dismantles racist figures of black encumbrance, nomadism, and decay in which antebellum theories of climate determinism were retooled to promote new forms of racial exploitation. This essay analyzes Du Bois’s dirt poetics in The Souls of Black Folk (1903) and The Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911). Drawing from Ernesto Laclau’s work on the rhetoricity of Marxist social movements, it examines the revolutionary forms of radical contingency that Du Bois discovers at the intersection of linguistic and economic value.
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Frątczak-Dąbrowska, Marta. "Social (in)Justice, or the Condition of Global Capitalism in the Lost Child (2015) by Caryl Phillips." Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 54, no. 1 (March 1, 2019): 5–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/stap-2019-0001.
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AbstractThe present article is a critical rereading of Caryl Phillips’s latest novel The Lost Child (2015). It looks at the text as both a literary comment on the crisis of today’s global capitalism and as an acute socio-economic analysis of the crisis’ roots and effects. It is being argued that, by placing Wuthering Heights (1847) as an intertext for his contemporary novel and by linking the figure of Heathcliff with African slavery and contemporary poverty, Caryl Phillips aims to emphasise the affinity between the socio-economic conditioning of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century England, as well as between the contemporary and historical experience of economic marginalisation. Thus, he shows global capitalism as a universal experience of long modernity and asks some vital questions about its shape and its future. The following analysis, in line with recent scholarship in the field of postcolonial studies, combines postcolonial criticism with socioeconomic theories and argues that the novel deserves a place in the ongoing debates on the condition of the global economy, social (in)justice and (in)equality, which nowadays become part of the postcolonial literary scholarship.
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Boubakary, Ben, Doumagay Donatienne Moskolaï, and Gladys Che Njang. "A Study of the Impact of Managerial Innovation on SME Performance in Africa." Review of innovation and competitiveness 7, no. 1 (April 26, 2021): 5–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.32728/ric.2021.71/1.
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Purpose. Managerial innovation, if it constitutes a real lever for transformation and performance of companies in developed countries, in Africa, only a tiny part of SME managers make it a priority. At the same time, most African economies continue to be at the forefront of the adoption of global technological innovations. Given the fact that managerial innovation has proven itself in the Western context, and that the context of Sub-Saharan Africa is still unclear, it is important to develop management methods in this context by adapting them to new ones economic models, new objectives, new processes in order to see its impact on improving the productivity and performance of SMEs. Design/Methodology/Approach. A survey instrument based on the questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data to explain the performance of SMEs through the adoption of managerial innovation. For data analysis, multiple linear regression analysis was used. Findings and implications. The findings indicate that, managerial innovation, through its two main components, "change in management practices" and "change in organizational structure", make it possible to increase market share, production efficiency, the bottom line and, in turn, improve the overall performance of the business. Overall, the results of the study show that the fit model is of good quality and can be used to explain the theory. Limitations. The results of this study may not be generalisable to all African SMEs because they are based only on a sub-Saharan African country and the sample size therefore remains small. Originality. The contribution of this article is manifold: it supports the theories of contingency and resource dependence that organizations are adaptive systems that introduce changes to function effectively and improve their performance. Second, it allows SME managers to optimize the chances of sustainability for their businesses, because managerial innovation allows them to: differentiate themselves from their competitors by inventing new offers. Finally, it allows SME managers to no longer confine themselves to the technological aspect of innovation (products, processes) whose lifespan is constantly shortened. Studies of this nature can lead to stimulating managerial innovation in emerging and developing countries, by developing horizontal or networked organizational structures and no longer vertical and pyramidal structures which no longer meet current requirements.
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Hongslo, Eirin. "An ecology of difference: fence-line contrast photographs as scientific models in ecology." Journal of Political Ecology 22, no. 1 (December 1, 2015): 339. http://dx.doi.org/10.2458/v22i1.21112.
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Political ecologists have long acknowledged the links between knowledge and power. Recently there has also been a growing interest in detailed studies about knowledge production within critical political ecology. This article is a study of the use of photographs in scientific articles on dryland ecology, and investigates the functions of photographs. Contrary to the straightforward manner in which they are presented, photographs are not value-free documentary proofs of 'how things are.' Rather, photographs constitute arguments in their own right. Using photographic and textual theory, this study analyzes two articles that include photographs of fence-line contrasts between two different management regimes. Contrasting areas divided by a fence-line is a methodology that demonstrates how management differences lead to differences in vegetation. In a Southern African context, however, differences across a fence tend to encompass deep racial and economic divides, and the fence-line photos risk encompassing these differences. This article argues that the fence-line contrast photographs in this study function as models that order the causal links between vegetation dynamics, land tenure and land management. These models correspond closely to equilibrium models in range ecology, and the fence-line photographs thus contribute to a degradation narrative that has been influential for land reform policies in Southern Africa, and that feeds into land use policies that favor private land ownership in communal areas.Keywords: Critical political ecology, fence-line photography, scientific models, rangeland ecology, Southern Africa
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Whyte, Grafton, and Andy Bytheway. "The V-model of service quality: an African case study." European Journal of Marketing 51, no. 5/6 (May 8, 2017): 923–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ejm-05-2015-0270.
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Purpose This paper aims to introduce and demonstrate a new model for service quality that separates out the measurement of service quality in ways grounded in psychological theory and methodological symmetry. Design/methodology/approach A review of experience in service quality management suggests that new approaches are needed. By seeking a way of managing service at different levels, with symmetry between data collection and data analysis, a model is presented that has more potential applicability and flexibility than is found in traditional models. Findings A national study in Namibia, Africa provided data that successfully demonstrate the method of working and illustrate the contextual, analytical and data management issues and the reporting potential out of complex service management data. Research limitations/implications This new approach to the design of service quality measurement and assessment extends the capability that is generally found in other existing approaches. It provides a new foundation for further research into complex patterns of service success and that will establish more clearly the inter-dependencies between service encounters, service attributes and service measures at the survey item level. Practical implications Studies of multiple service sectors and multiple service recipient groups can now gather and manage large complex data sets and analyse and report that data in ways appropriate to the needs of different stakeholders. Social implications In any context where service quality is a socio-economic or development issue, it is now possible to take a more careful and nuanced approach to the collection and aggregation of data, which will inform policy makers and other stakeholder groups at the national or regional level. Originality/value This new model addresses a range of problems that have been reported with historical approaches such as SERVQUAL and related methods of working. It also provides foundations for new designs for large-scale service management data collection, organisation and analysis.
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Kojo Oseifuah, Emmanuel, and Agyapong Gyekye. "Working capital management and shareholders' wealth creation: evidence from non-financial firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange." Investment Management and Financial Innovations 14, no. 1 (March 31, 2017): 80–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/imfi.14(1).2017.08.
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Working capital plays a vital role in shareholders’ wealth creation, yet there is a dearth of empirical studies on the relationship between working capital management and firm value in the South African economic environment. This study attempts to fill this gap by using Richards and Laughlin’s (1980) Cash Conversion Cycle theory to investigate the impact of working capital management efficiency and its separate components on firm value of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Panel data regression methodology was used to analyze accounting data obtained from I-Net Bridge/BFA McGregor for 75 firms for the 10 year period, 2003 to 2012, to determine the nexus between WCM and profitability (proxied by return on assets). The key findings of the study are as follows: 1) there exists a significant positive relationship between firm value and both inventory conversion period and receivables conversion period; 2) the relationship between the cash conversion cycle and firm value is positive but insignificant; 3) there is a significant positive relationship between accounts payable deferral period (PDP) and profitability; 4) firm size and firm value are significantly positively related, and 5) there is a significant negative relationship between leverage and firm value.
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LeBlanc, Julie M. A., and Vivianne LeBlanc1. "National Parks and Indigenous Land Management." Ethnologies 32, no. 2 (September 15, 2011): 23–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1006304ar.
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Tourists make decisions that impact the places they visit. Through an economic and development perspective, tourism has grown into a capital venture for most countries all while having the challenging task of operating under specific policies that shape visiting experiences. These experiences are critical in assessing how, by and for whom land is developed and managed. This article explores three continents as case studies: Eastern Africa's Maasai Mara, Australia's Uluru-Kata Tuta site and the Torngat Mountains National Reserve Park in Canada. The African and Australian examples are based on participant-observation fieldwork by the authors while the Torngat Mountains serves as an example of what could become the new National Reserve Park in Canada and its possible tourism impact forecasting. Critical analysis is particularly important in this article as we examine, compare and contrast the development approach and land management policies from the tourist's experiential perspective. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the various levels and politics of planning involved in the recognition, nationalization and touristification of heritage sites as well as the creation of identities based on local confines. More specifically, with the focus on tourist experience, we attempt to uncover the nature of theory and practice in indigenous, private and public land management for tourism exploitation.
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Thomson, Eleanor, Yadvinder Malhi, Harm Bartholomeus, Imma Oliveras, Agne Gvozdevaite, Theresa Peprah, Juha Suomalainen, et al. "Mapping the Leaf Economic Spectrum across West African Tropical Forests Using UAV-Acquired Hyperspectral Imagery." Remote Sensing 10, no. 10 (September 24, 2018): 1532. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10101532.
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The leaf economic spectrum (LES) describes a set of universal trade-offs between leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf nitrogen (N), leaf phosphorus (P) and leaf photosynthesis that influence patterns of primary productivity and nutrient cycling. Many questions regarding vegetation-climate feedbacks can be addressed with a better understanding of LES traits and their controls. Remote sensing offers enormous potential for generating large-scale LES trait data. Yet so far, canopy studies have been limited to imaging spectrometers onboard aircraft, which are rare, expensive to deploy and lack fine-scale resolution. In this study, we measured VNIR (visible-near infrared (400–1050 nm)) reflectance of individual sun and shade leaves in 7 one-ha tropical forest plots located along a 1200–2000 mm precipitation gradient in West Africa. We collected hyperspectral imaging data from 3 of the 7 plots, using an octocopter-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), mounted with a hyperspectral mapping system (450–950 nm, 9 nm FWHM). Using partial least squares regression (PLSR), we found that the spectra of individual sun leaves demonstrated significant (p < 0.01) correlations with LMA and leaf chemical traits: r2 = 0.42 (LMA), r2 = 0.43 (N), r2 = 0.21 (P), r2 = 0.20 (leaf potassium (K)), r2 = 0.23 (leaf calcium (Ca)) and r2 = 0.14 (leaf magnesium (Mg)). Shade leaf spectra displayed stronger relationships with all leaf traits. At the airborne level, four of the six leaf traits demonstrated weak (p < 0.10) correlations with the UAV-collected spectra of 58 tree crowns: r2 = 0.25 (LMA), r2 = 0.22 (N), r2 = 0.22 (P), and r2 = 0.25 (Ca). From the airborne imaging data, we used LMA, N and P values to map the LES across the three plots, revealing precipitation and substrate as co-dominant drivers of trait distributions and relationships. Positive N-P correlations and LMA-P anticorrelations followed typical LES theory, but we found no classic trade-offs between LMA and N. Overall, this study demonstrates the application of UAVs to generating LES information and advancing the study and monitoring tropical forest functional diversity.
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Eyana, Shiferaw Muleta, Enno Masurel, and Leo J. Paas. "Causation and effectuation behaviour of Ethiopian entrepreneurs." Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 25, no. 5 (October 8, 2018): 791–817. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jsbed-02-2017-0079.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of causation and effectuation behaviour of Ethiopian entrepreneurs on the eventual performance of their newly established small firms. It adds new knowledge and insights to advance the theory of effectuation by extending its scope into the domain of entrepreneurial behaviour and firm performance and by testing one of the operationalized scales in an African context. Design/methodology/approach This empirical research is conducted amongst Ethiopian tour operators (n=118) based on primary data from the field. The scales are based on Chandler et al. (2011), which are adapted to fit to the tourism sector and validated in an African context using a two-stage exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Hierarchical multiple regression is used to assess the ability of entrepreneurs’ behaviour (i.e. causation and effectuation) at the startup phase to predict the eventual performance of their newly established firms (self-reported changes in employment size, sales, profit and assets) over three years (January 2012-2015). Findings The findings reveal a varied effect of causation and effectuation on financial and non-financial measures. Causation is positively related to an increase in employment size, whereas the overall effect of effectuation is positively related to financial performance measures, although its dimensions vary in their effects on sales, profit and assets increase. The paper concludes that causation and effectuation have varied implications on firm performance. In other words, unlike the findings of other research in Western contexts, a strong empirical support is not found to claim that effectuation is superior to causation in outcomes such as firm performance in Ethiopian context. Research limitations/implications While this paper provides a new data set for entrepreneurship literature, its findings may lack generalisability. Not only it is industry specific (tourism sector), but also it is conducted in a single African country (Ethiopia). Despite its limitations, the paper adds new knowledge and insights for empirical studies in entrepreneurship field on the effects of entrepreneurs’ behaviour, such as causation and effectuation; on firm performance. Future research should focus on other economic sectors and in different African countries before making generalisations about the effect of causation and effectuation behaviour of African entrepreneurs on firm performance. Practical implications The findings of this paper can be used in other hospitality and tourism sectors like hotels and souvenir shops since tour operating business includes a broad range of service activities such as sightseeing, accommodation, transportation, recreational activities and shopping. Besides, these results have practical implications to prepare and provide business and management training tools to enhance entrepreneurial and managerial skills of owners of small tourism firms in Ethiopia. The findings of the study can also be applied in other African countries with similar culture and business environments to promote tourism development and success in Africa. Originality/value There have been hardly any empirical studies that are undertaken on the implications of entrepreneurial behaviour such as causation and effectuation on the performance of small tourism firms, particularly in an African context. The paper addresses this research gap in entrepreneurship literature in drawing on empirical evidence from small tourism firms (tour operators) in Ethiopia.
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Dadzie, Samuel Ato, and Richard Afriyie Owusu. "Understanding establishment mode choice of foreign manufacturing firms in Ghana." International Journal of Emerging Markets 10, no. 4 (September 21, 2015): 896–920. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijoem-09-2012-0124.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the foreign direct investment (FDI) strategies of manufacturing firms in Ghana using the eclectic model in order to understand how ownership, location and internalization factors impact FDI to developing countries like Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a quantitative methodology in order to statistically explore the relationships between dependent and independent variables. The data comes from a sample of 75 multinational enterprises that invested in the manufacturing sector between 1994 and 2008. Findings – The results reveal that large firm size, extensive international experience and large market size lead to the choice of acquisition mode of entry, while high cultural distance, high country risk, high proprietary assets and incentives lead to the choice of greenfield mode in the context of Ghana. Research limitations/implications – The results imply that the different economic, business and legal (locational) conditions of developing countries create different FDI strategies and paths of companies compared to developed markets. Practical implications – Policy makers in developing countries should make efforts to improve market size, the institutional and regulatory environment, as well as the availability of human capital in order to attract FDI. Originality/value – FDI studies have mainly analysed establishment mode strategies of firms in advanced markets. There is an increasing amount of research on FDI in emerging markets but very little on developing countries and African markets. Therefore, this study enables the authors to develop implications for existing theory and generate practical implications for firms and policy makers related to African and developing country markets.
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K.G., Bokana, and Kabongo W.N.S. "Modelling Real Private Consumption Expenditure in South Africa to Test the Absolute Income Hypothesis." Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies 10, no. 5(J) (November 3, 2018): 138–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v10i5(j).2504.
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This paper explores, the hotly debated topic among economists and policymakers, whether fiscal and monetary policies impact on households by examining the relevance of the absolute income hypothesis in explaining private consumption expenditure and its relationship with household disposable income in South Africa. Worldwide, private consumption expenditure remains a big puzzle for leading consumption function theories. Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis posits that private consumption expenditure is not affected by how much consumers earn on a daily basis, but by what they expect to earn during their lifetime. Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis is at odds with Keynes’s absolute income hypothesis, that private consumption expenditure is affected by fiscal stimulus policies, which are effective for increasing economic activity and employment. Subscribing to the former underrates the potential power of fiscal stimulus policies and other monetary or trade policies that boost short-term income. The overarching objective of this paper is to ascertain whether patterns of private consumption expenditure in South Africa are determined by Friedman or Keynes’s theory. The paper specified econometric equations with quarterly seasonally adjusted data from the South African Reserve Bank for the sample period 1984 to 2015 and estimated them with cointegration techniques consisting of the Engle-Granger two-step approach. The importance of the paper and its scientific novelty are that it is more realistic since it specified models that take into account the reaction time of the dependent variable when the independent variable changes by imposing lags on the variables. The empirical results indicate that in South Africa, when household disposable income changes over time, private consumption expenditure depends more on a household’s previous disposable income than its current disposable income. The main empirical finding is that the absolute income hypothesis is not appropriate in explaining private consumption expenditure in this country. Even when the interest rate was included in a modified absolute income hypothesis, the overall estimates were not robust. Hence, estimates of the short- and long-run regression models were not consistent with the absolute income hypothesis. This is in line with arguments put forward in some extant studies using this model, that the fiscal stimulus policies might not generate the desired increased economic activity and employment. If households use money from the fiscal stimulus policies to bail themselves out of existing debts rather than consume additional goods and services which, would be the catalyzer to increase Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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Meidayati, Anis Wahyu. "Impact of Telecommunication Infrastructure, Market Size, Trade Openness and Labor Force on Foreign Direct Investment in ASEAN." Journal of Developing Economies 2, no. 2 (December 20, 2017): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.20473/jde.v2i2.6677.
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AbstractForeign Direct Investment (FDI) in recent years has created a positive impact for ASEAN countries. FDI give spillover effects that directly contribute capital improvements, technological developments, and global market access, also skills and managerial transfers. In order to attract FDI inflow into country, ASEAN member countries need to know what factors which attract investment related to the needs of infrastructure types and other factors. The purpose of this study is examine the determinant of FDI in ASEAN countries. This research method used is panel data regression period 2005-2015 from 10 countries in ASEAN. The results showed simultaneously and partially telecommunication infrastructure, market size, trade openness, and labor force variable have significant relationship with FDI inflows in ASEAN countries.Keywords: panel data regression, telecommunication infrastructure, market size, trade openness, labor force, FDI.ReferencesAppleyard, DR. Field, JF. and Cobb, SL. 2008. International Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Azam, Muhammad. 2010. “Economic Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan: Theory and Evidence”, Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics. 3 (6), 27-40.Botric, Valerija. 2006. “Main Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in the Southeast European Countries”, Transition Studies Review. Vol. 13(2): 359–377.Calderon, C., and Serven, L., 2010. “Infrastructure and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Journal of African Economies. Vol.19(4): 13-87.Carbaugh, Robert J. 2008. International Economics. Edisi Kedelapan. South Western: Thomson Learning.Chakrabarti, A. 2001. “The Determinant of Foreign Direct Investment: Sensivity Analysses of Cross-Country Regression”, International Symposium on Sustainable Development. Vol 54 (1):89-114.Demirhan, E., & Masca, M. 2008. Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment Flows. Prague Economic Papers.Dutt, Pushan, et all. 2007. “International trade and unemployment: Theory and cross-national evidence”, Journal of International Economics. Volume 78(1): 32-44.Gharaibeh, A. M. 2015. “The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment-Empirical Evidence from Bahrain”, International Journal of Business and Social Science. Vol. 6(8): 94-106.Grigg, N. 2000. Infrastructure System Management & Optimazation. Working Paper of Internasional Civil Engineering Departement Diponegoro University.Hirsch, Caitlin E. 1976. Macroeconomics, Politics and Policy: The Determinants of Capital Flows to Latin America. Texas Tech University.Hymer, Stephen Herbert. 1976. The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), MIT Department of Economics PhD thesis originally presented 1960.Kaliappan, Shivee Ranjanee et all. 2013. “Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) Countries”, International Journal of Economics and Management. Vol 7(1): 136 – 149.Kurniati, Y., A. et al. 2007. Determinan FDI (Faktor-faktor yang Menentukan Investasi Asing Langsung). Jakarta: Bank Indonesia.Mughal, M.M., & Akram, M. 2011. “Does Market Size Affect FDI? The Case of Pakistan”, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business. Vol. 2(9): 237-247.Nasir, S. 2016. “FDI in India’s Retail Sector: Opportunities and Challenges”, Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research. Vol: 23(3): 155-125.Novianti, Tanti et all. 2014. “The Infrastructure’s Influence on the Asean Countries’ Economic Growth”, Journal of Economics and Development Studies. Vol. 2(4):243-254.Rehman, C. A., Ilyas, M., Alam, H. M., & Akram. M., (2011). “The impact of Infrastructure on Foreign Direct Investment: The case of Pakistan”, International Journal of Business and Management. Vol.6(5): 184-197.Salvatore, D. 2007. International Economics. United States: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Sarna, Ritash. 2005. The impact of core labour standards on Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia. Working Paper of the Japan Institute No. 1789.Shah, Mumtaz Hussain. 2014. The Significance of Infrastructure for Fdi Inflow in Developing Countries. Journal of Life Economics. Vol. 3(5):1-16.Shah, Mumtaz Hussain., and Khan, Yahya. 2016. Trade Liberalisation and FDI Inflow in Emerging Economies. Business & Economic Review. Vol 2(1): 35-52.Todaro, Michael P. and Smith, Stephen C. 2011. Economic Development. Ninth Edition. United States: Addison Wesley.Umoru, D. & Yaqub, J.O. 2013. “Labour productivity and Human capital in Nigeria: The empirical evidence”, International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 3(4). 199-221.Vernon, R. (1966). “The product cycle hypothesis in a new international environment”, Oxford bulletin of economics and statistics. Vol 41(4), 255-267.World Bank. 2015. World Development Indicator 2015.Zeb, Nayyra et all. 2015. “Telecommunication Infrastructure and Foreign Direct Investment in Pakistan: An Empirical Study”, Global Journal of Management and Business Research. Vol. 14(4): 117-128.
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Bolouki, Shawn, and Peter Lewa. "An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Top Leadership on Effectiveness of Privatization of Hospitals Through Mergers and Acquisitions in Kenya." Journal of Management and Strategy 9, no. 3 (June 20, 2018): 54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/jms.v9n3p54.
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This paper examines the privatization of hospitals through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) using Kenya as the country of focus. It shows that M&A activities are increasing in Africa and there is a history of privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) / parastatals in Africa and Kenya in particular, which started in the 1990s. With the changing dynamics, increasing pressure to achieve universal health and looking at the history of mergers and acquisitions there is no doubt that this is going to become an important phenomenon in Kenya in the near future.Privatization of hospitals, including public and not-for-profit (NFP), has been popular since 1980s in North America (U.S., Canada) and Europe (Germany, England). Privatization and M&A activities of hospitals in other countries such as India, China, Saudi Arabia, Africa and Kenya have also increased. The reasons for these trends are industrialization of developing countries, changing lifestyles, aging populations, longer life expectancy, technological advancement, growth of the middle class, increase of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and inefficiency of public health systems. With the changing dynamics, it would appear there is a need for African countries to expand their private sectors, and privatization of healthcare is an attractive area for private equity firms and private hospital chains. Due to growth of the economy and the middle class, higher demand for healthcare services and particularly expansion of NHIF (National Hospital Insurance Fund) coverage, privatization of hospitals makes economic sense in Kenya.Knowledge of M&A among top leadership is crucial in determining its success or failure. Therefore, the literature review focused on property right, transaction cost, and institutional theory. Relevant M&A theories such as process, synergy, efficiency and disturbance theory were also reviewed.The research philosophy, methodology and design of this study was based on exploratory, post-positivism, deduction and utilized mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) with focus on verifying the hypothesis. The population of this research included Level 4, 5 and 6 hospitals in Kenya, totaling 268 hospitals with at least 50 beds; the sample size was 158 hospitals. Proportionate stratified random sampling methodology was used to determine the sample size of each hospital level (Level 4, 137 hospitals; Level 5, 14 hospitals; and Level 6, 7 hospitals).The hypothesis that there is no relationship between top leadership (X) and the effectiveness of privatization of hospitals (Y) through M&A was tested and there was a strong and positive relationship between the dependent and independent variables (r=0.821), and the regression model was found to be reliable. The null hypothesis was rejected because of the results of the T-test (β1=0.925, t=9.757, p<0.005).It is recommended that similar studies be conducted in East and South Africa to enable researchers to perform comparative analyses in order to improve the body of knowledge.
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Degterev, D. "Non-Western Theories of Development in the Global Capitalism Era." World Economy and International Relations 65, no. 4 (2021): 113–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2021-65-4-113-122.
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Received 31.08.2020. This article is devoted to the evolution of non-Western theories of development in the epoch of global capitalism, i. e. after 1990. It describes in detail what is meant by this concept – models of socio-economic development, alternative to the Western neoliberal paradigm and associated with the modernization of non-Western countries, primarily in the “Global South”. Periodization of these approaches is given in connection with the process of decolonization (early 1960s), the end of the bipolar world, and the strengthening of China (since 2010s). Two main directions of such theories – neo-Marxian tradition, as well as post-colonial and anti-colonial studies – are shown. The author concludes that the “non-Westernness” of post-colonial studies is conditional, while anti-colonial and neo-Marxian studies are very much intertwined. The article shows the role of such organizations as CODESRIA and Third World Network in shaping the intellectual development agenda of the Global South. It traces the evolution of neo-Marxist approaches to development of the poorest countries, which originated in Latin American structuralism, American neo-Marxism, the works of J. Galtung and W. Rodney. By the early 1980s, the world-systemic approach was already dominant, its representatives were relatively capable to explain the collapse of the socialist system, and also made attempts to describe the growing influence of China. Nevertheless, the theory of the transnational capitalist class that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s was more successful from this point of view. The article investigates the phenomenon of an emerging confrontation between China and the United States in the ideological field – for the influence on leftist intellectuals around the world, and shows the main resources of both sides in this conflict. Special attention is paid to Postdevelopmentalism that developed in the 1990–2000s in line with postmodernist approaches; both strengths and weaknesses of this concept are presented. In conclusion, the author summarizes that neo-Marxist approaches play a key role as the major alternative to neoliberal capitalist development in the countries of the “Global South” while national modernization theories are lacking in the non-Western countries. Acknowledgements. The article has been prepared at RUDN University and supported by a grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). Project no. 19-111-50655 (Expansion) “Non-Western Theories of Development in the Age of Global Capitalism”. The author also expresses his sincere gratitude to P. Bond (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), T.M. Gavristova (YarSU), E.N. Grachikov (RUDN University), Li Yan (CASS, China) and V. G. Shubin (Institute for African Studies, RAS) for their valuable comments.
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Komlos, John. "Why African American Economists Should Abandon Mainstream Economic Theory ASAP." Review of Black Political Economy 47, no. 3 (November 19, 2019): 255–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0034644619885395.
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Markets have 14 Achilles heels that reduce the chances of those born into poverty to succeed in today’s complex economy. These intrinsic imperfections, generally overlooked in mainstream Econ 101, include costly information that implies that its acquisition by poor people requires a greater share of their income. Because of inferior schooling opportunities, the poor are more exposed to the myriad of problems associated with bounded rationality. That tastes are assumed to be exogenous is hardly a benign oversight, because people enter the market as children; so the market has a long time to affect their character. This has a harsh effect especially on poor children because they are particularly vulnerable to advertisements and Pavlovian conditioning. Opportunistic behavior means that people with better information can take advantage of others in an immoral, unprincipled, cunning, crafty or deceptive manner. Because of less information at their disposal and because of inferior schooling, minorities are more exposed to the vagaries of predatory advertisements. This often leads to exploitation by people with more power. Mainstream Econ 101 overlooks these Achilles heels. Hence, economists who teach conventional economics provide succor for the maintenance of the status quo which finds minorities in a disadvantageous position in U.S. society.
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Eremyan, Vitaliy V. "COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AND MUNICIPAL LAW SCHOOL (PART I)." RUDN Journal of Law 23, no. 4 (December 15, 2019): 640–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2313-2337-2019-23-4-640-652.
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The beginning of the next calendar year marks sixty years since the Patrice Lumumba University of Peoples' Friendship (later was renamed to Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, RUDN) was founded. Within these sixty years the Faculty of Economics and Law, the Faculty of Law have been operated until the Law Institute, maintaining continuity, took the place. As one of the university graduates and a student of prominent Soviet scholars who stood at the origins of several schools of comparative law that currently exist, the author attempted to follow the dialectical process of formation, development and systematization of the scientific school of comparative constitutional and municipal law that is connected not only with the special nature and features of teaching foreign and domestic students, but also with significant achievements in the field of preparation of candidates in and doctors in this specialty. Contrary to other universities, comparative legal analysis was using as a basis for preparation of domestic law specialists for the states set free from colonial dependence and that explains the choice of regional and country-specific research model for forms of government, administrative organizational structures, political regimes of leading Asian, African and Latin American states with “socialistic” or “capitalistic” orientation. These mentioned states took the path of independent civilizational development, came through the periods of sovereignization and “decolonization” of wide range of political, economic and social relations. The formation of the “grounds” for African, Latin American, ArabMuslim, Indian comparative studies is connected with the Department of Theory and History of State and Law, within which the scientific foundation of the school of comparative constitutional and municipal law was laid, the “baton was picked up”, at first, by the Department of Constitutional, Administrative and Financial law, and then by the Department of Constitutional and Municipal law, Constitutional law and Constitutional justice and Municipal law that maintained and updated the best traditions related to the training of Russian and foreign students, postgraduate students and doctoral students. At the present stage, comparative law is experiencing a new stage, caused by interest in the processes taking place in the United States and the European Union.
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Eremyan, Vitaliy V. "OMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AND MUNICIPAL LAW SCHOOL (PART II)." RUDN Journal of Law 24, no. 1 (December 15, 2020): 158–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2313-2337-2020-24-1-158-169.
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The coming calendar year is marked by the fulfillment of the sixtieth anniversary of the Patrice Lumumba University of Peoples' Friendship (later was renamed to Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, RUDN) was founded. Within these sixty years the Faculty of Economics and Law, the Faculty of Law have been operated until the Law Institute, maintaining continuity, took the place. As one of the university graduates and a student of prominent Soviet scholars who stood at the origins of several schools of comparative law that currently exist, the author attempted to follow the dialectical process of formation, development and systematization of the scientific school of comparative constitutional and municipal law that is connected not only with the special nature and features of teaching foreign and domestic students, but also with significant achievements in the field of preparation of candidates in and doctors in this specialty. Contrary to other universities, comparative legal analysis was using as a basis for preparation of domestic law specialists for the states set free from colonial dependence and that explains the choice of regional and country-specific research model for forms of government, administrative organizational structures, political regimes of leading Asian, African and Latin American states with “socialistic” or “capitalistic” orientation. These mentioned states took the path of independent civilizational development, came through the periods of sovereignization and “decolonization” of wide range of political, economic and social relations. The formation of the “grounds” for African, Latin American, Arab-Muslim, Indian comparative studies is connected with the Department of Theory and History of State and Law, within which the scientific foundation of the school of comparative constitutional and municipal law was laid, the “baton was picked up”, at first, by the Department of Constitutional, Administrative and Financial law, and then by the Department of Constitutional and Municipal law, Constitutional law and Constitutional justice and Municipal law that maintained and updated the best traditions related to the training of Russian and foreign students, postgraduate students and doctoral students. At the present stage, comparative law is experiencing a new stage, caused by interest in the processes taking place in the United States and the European Union.
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Trufanov, Gleb A. "THE PROBLEM OF CONFLICT REGULATION IN THE DR CONGO FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF RALPH DARENDORFF'S CONCEPT OF CONFLICT REGULATION." Society and Security Insights 4, no. 2 (August 4, 2021): 49–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.14258/ssi(2021)2-04.
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The question of studying the essence of conflict as a process in the context of modern political studies raises the question of applying a new method – an interdisciplinary one based on the synthesis of paradigms and approaches. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to analyze the conflict in this region in the light of the relevance of assessing support strategies in regions with political and military instability in Africa. The purpose of this study is to consider the essential parameters of the conflict process in the DRC, this conflict process is constitutional and one of the bloodiest in the history of independent African states, complicated by a huge number of participants in the conflict at different stages. It is also necessary to analyze the role of the so-called managers in the conflict in the context of the essential transition and political transformation of the Congo after 1960 and the acquisition of formal independence against the background of the continuing expansion of Western corporations into the economic sector of the DRC. The main problem to solve was the need to assess the procedure for resolving conflict contradictions in the DRC and the possibility of reducing the presence of a violent component in the interaction, and the role of socio-political institutions of society that could favorably act as institutions for peace-building and peace enforcement, with the activities of MONUC and the UN as a whole not losing relevance. The main result of the research is the development of the concept of conflict resolution in the DRC, based on the theory of social conflict by R. Darendorf. The author comes to the conclusion that the reduction of violence in the conflict in the DRC and the settlement of the conflict in this region are possible only with proper methodological and theoretical support for the peace-building process. The author also emphasizes the importance of increasing the pace of development of the army and police in the DRC, the importance of the influence of international actors in resolving the conflict through authority, and not through direct intervention in the conflict.
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Grier, Karissa, Jennie L. Hill, Felicia Reese, Constance Covington, Franchennette Bennette, Lorien MacAuley, and Jamie Zoellner. "Feasibility of an experiential community garden and nutrition programme for youth living in public housing." Public Health Nutrition 18, no. 15 (February 23, 2015): 2759–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1368980015000087.
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AbstractObjectiveFew published community garden studies have focused on low socio-economic youth living in public housing or used a community-based participatory research approach in conjunction with youth-focused community garden programmes. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility (i.e. demand, acceptability, implementation and limited-effectiveness testing) of a 10-week experiential theory-based gardening and nutrition education programme targeting youth living in public housing.DesignIn this mixed-methods feasibility study, demand and acceptability were measured using a combination of pre- and post-programme surveys and interviews. Implementation was measured via field notes and attendance. Limited-effectiveness was measured quantitatively using a pre–post design and repeated-measures ANOVA tests.SettingTwo public housing sites in the Dan River Region of south central Virginia, USA.SubjectsForty-three youth (primarily African American), twenty-five parents and two site leaders.ResultsThe positive demand and acceptability findings indicate the high potential of the programme to be used and be suitable for the youth, parents and site leaders. Field notes revealed numerous implementation facilitators and barriers. Youth weekly attendance averaged 4·6 of 10 sessions. Significant improvements (P<0·05) were found for some (e.g. fruit and vegetable asking self-efficacy, overall gardening knowledge, knowledge of MyPlate recommendations), but not all limited-effectiveness measures (e.g. willingness to try fruits and vegetables, fruit and vegetable eating self-efficacy).ConclusionsThis community-based participatory research study demonstrates numerous factors that supported and threatened the feasibility of a gardening and nutrition programme targeting youth in public housing. Lessons learned are being used to adapt and strengthen the programme for future efforts targeting fruit and vegetable behaviours.
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Pieterse, Hendrik J. C. "A Theological Theory of Communicative Actions." Religion and Theology 5, no. 2 (1998): 176–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157430198x00048.
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AbstractSouth African society is engaged in an intensive process of transformation and change. This transformation is an extremely complex and difficult process in the light of the enormous social and economic problems of the South African population. In this unique context practical theology is practised as an academic theological discipline with a view on the role of religious praxis in the transformation process. The South African approach to practical theology has the following characteristics. It is a critical, contextual theology of a liberational, transformative nature that works with a communicative theory of action based in a critical hermeneutical framework. It takes the concrete practical situation seriously and is therefore empirically oriented.
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Ibrahim, Habiba. "Do institutions matter?" Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 13, no. 3 (July 8, 2019): 319–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jec-04-2018-0027.
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Purpose Guided by the institutional theory of savings, the purpose of this study is to assess the institutional elements of rotating, savings and credit associations (ROSCAs) that enable participants to save. Design/methodology/approach The study used data from in-depth qualitative interviews (N = 10) conducted among the ROSCA group leaders from African immigrant communities in the USA. Findings The primary goal for joining the ROSCA group among participants is to achieve economic stability. The results of the study postulate that, through institutional mechanisms and social networks, ROSCAs create an environment for families to save and invest. The emphasis on the concept of “you cannot save alone” underscores the importance of supportive structures to enable low-income households to save. Although “alternative savings programs” such as ROSCAs are imagined as something that less well-to-do persons use, the findings from this study demonstrate that such strategies also appeal to some people with higher socioeconomic status. This appeal and utility speaks to the importance of ROSCAs as an institutional response, rather than just an informal arrangement among persons known to each other. Research limitations/implications It is prudent to bear in mind that the study sample is not nationally representative, and therefore, the results presented cannot be generalized to immigrants across the country. However, as one of the few ROSCA studies in the USA, the findings from this study make generous contributions to the immigrants’ savings and ROSCA practices literature. Practical implications ROSCAs could be used as a bridge to the formal financial institutions. Non-profit agencies working with these communities could work with these groups to report ROSCA payments to the major credit bureaus, to help them build a credit line in their new country. Originality/value Previous studies of ROSCAs have assessed ROSCAs as community support systems and social networks. The current study has analyzed ROSCAs from an institutional perspective by examining the institutional characteristics of ROSCAs comparable to the institutional determinants of savings that enable savings among the participants.
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Harris, Adam S., Michael G. Findley, Daniel L. Nielson, and Kennard L. Noyes. "The Economic Roots of Anti-immigrant Prejudice in the Global South: Evidence from South Africa." Political Research Quarterly 71, no. 1 (November 3, 2017): 228–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1065912917734062.
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Most research in developed countries on prejudice toward foreign-born minorities suggests that cultural rather than economic threat motivates xenophobia. Prior studies leave unanswered questions about the origins of anti-immigrant prejudice in developing countries, where one-third of worldwide immigration occurs. Alternatively, developing-country research simply assumes that economic threat drives prejudice in the global South but has not presented credible empirical evidence. In this study, we seek to reliably measure anti-immigrant prejudice and examine possible determinants of prejudice and prejudice-based voting behavior. Through a list experiment conducted on a random sample of South Africans ( N = 1,088), we investigate the predictive power of economic threat theory in explaining prejudice toward immigrants in South Africa. The results show that significant prejudice toward immigrants exists among South Africans and that such prejudice is higher among the unemployed, but these sentiments do not seem to influence vote choice. The evidence suggests that the determinants of anti-immigrant sentiments due to South-South migration are distinct from South-North migration.
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Dreyer, Jaco S., Hendrik J. C. Pieterse, and Johannes A. Van Der Ven. "Attitudes Towards Human Rights Among South African Youth." Religion and Theology 7, no. 2 (2000): 111–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157430100x00018.
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AbstractIn this article we examine the attitudes towards human rights of a group of 538 Grade 11 students from Anglican and Catholic church-affiliated schools in the Johannesburg/Pretoria region. A distinction is made between civil, political and judicial ('first generation') human rights, socio-economic ('second generation') rights, and environmental ('third generation') rights. The frame of reference is Ricoeur's theory of human rights. This forms part of his institution theory, which in its turn is embedded in his moral theory of the good life. The students displayed positive attitudes towards socio-economic and environmental rights, ambivalent attitudes towards civil and political rights, and negative attitudes towards judicial rights. The question about where one should look for more positively, more ambivalently and more negatively oriented students, what their characteristics are, and whether religion plays any role in this regard will be explored in the next article.