Browsing by Author "Kasongo, Atoko"

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    Essays on savings in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Kasongo, Atoko; Sheefeni, Johannes. P.
    Savings is essential for boosting economic growth. Low savings in a country will have negative consequences for both investment and economic growth. South Africa has continued to expe rience declining saving rates and in recent years, accompanied by declining economic growth. The study evaluated savings in South Africa by decomposing it into household saving, cor porate saving and public saving. The focus was to investigate the determinants of household savings, corporate and public savings. In addition to examining the determinants of savings, the research has also analysed the saving-investment relationship for South Africa. The study used a Bayesian vector auto regressive model to investigate the determinants of household sav ing from 1980Q1 to 2017Q4. The results of the investigation on household saving showed that GDP, inflation rate, and financial deepening determine household saving in South Africa. The Bayesian VAR was also used to identify the determinant of budget deficit between 1980Q1 to 2017Q and found Real GDP, inflation rate, total government debt, investment by general government and the inflation rate to be determinants. The Blundel-Bond Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) was used to investigate the determinants of corporate saving in form of cash holding for 80 non-financial firms listed on the JSE between 2007 and 2017. The results showed leverage, cash flow, debt maturity and previous amounts of cash holding to have significant effect on cash holding in SA. Lastly, the study examined the saving-investment nexus for South Africa using yearly data from 1980 to 2016. Using the Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) and the Error Correction Model, (ECM), the study found a cointegrating relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment. It further found a positive relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment in both the short and long run. Causality analysis showed a unidirectional causality from domestic saving to domestic investment.
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    Examining the performance of the South African economics departments, 2005-2014
    (Wiley, 2017) Yu, Derek; Kasongo, Atoko; Moses, Mariana
    This study examines the teaching and research activities of 17 Economics Departments in 2005-2014 by consulting the information from each university’s faculty prospectus, publication in accredited local and international peer-reviewed journals, Economic Society of South Africa conference participation, Economic Research Southern Africa working paper series and the National Research Foundation. The results indicate there is big variation in the departments’ teaching and research activities during the period. Nonetheless, research output increased, in particular publication in accredited international journals in both absolute and proportional terms.
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    R&D the biggest business casualty of Covid-19?
    (2021-06) Kasongo, Atoko; Mustapha, Nazeem
    While the overall economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is still unfolding, there are strong indications that it is causing the largest economic downturn since the 2008 financial crisis. In 2020, the South African government implemented lockdown regulations, to safeguard the population, but had adverse effects on businesses and economic activity at large. This brief assesses the effects on firms with research and development (R&D) activity, and appeals for action to protect the national system of innovation.
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    The South African labour market, 1995–2015
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2016) Festus, Lyle; Kasongo, Atoko; Moses, Mariana
    This study investigates the changes in the South African labourmarket in the post-apartheid period. While unemploymentincreased over the 1995–2015 period, employment also increased.Nonetheless, the extent of employment increase is not rapidenough to absorb all net entrants into the labour force, resultingin increasing unemployment, or an employment absorption rate of65.3%. Unemployment is concentrated in specific demographicallyand geographically defined groups, most notably Africans, thelowly educated and those aged below 30 years, residing in ruralareas in Gauteng. Finally, four worryingfindings are observed:youth jobseekers aged below 30 years struggle tofind theirfirstjob; chronic unemployment is more serious for the relatively olderjobseekers (aged 45 years or above) with past work experience;employees working for small, medium and micro enterprises stillstagnate at approximately 3.5 million; and jobseekers from theolder age cohorts are less likely to actively seek work by enquiringat workplaces and answering job advertisements.