A Description of Predatory Publishing in South African Economics Departments

Predatory publishers charge fees to authors for open access publishing but have limited peer review or other quality controls. In this paper, we use data from five of the most widely used predatory journals used by South African academics in Economic and Management sciences to show that predatory publications are widespread in Economics departments in South African universities. We also critique the Department of Higher Education and Training’s research publication subsidy system and highlight that several journals on the DHET accredited journal list, that South African academic economists publish in, are probable predatory journals. In improving the data on predatory publications in South African Economic and Management Sciences used by de Jager et al (2017), we show that approximately 50% of predatory publications by South African academic economists are authored by professors or associate professors, a finding which corroborates international evidence on predatory publications in Economics. Our paper is also a source of information on the quality of research produced by South African economics departments.     

Global Risk Factors and South African Equity Indices

South African equity is frequently portrayed as a market requiring a high degree of local expertise – to appropriately understand its many idiosyncratic features – as well as intimate knowledge of its unique drivers – to prudently invest in the same. This claim is evidenced by the amount of research and effort devoted to understanding South African‐specific economics, interest rates and risks. The aim of this research is to debunk this perception with a simple yet robust and highly replicable statistical model (best‐subsets regression) for the majority of the traded South African equity indices. We show how the South African equity market is mostly a one‐way mirror of a confluence of international factors, all arguable largely unrelated to South Africa. We discuss why these models are currently less useful than their longer‐term predictive averages and note the current relevance of including implied volatility and interest rates as predictors.     

Economics Faculty Research at Teaching Institutions: Are Historically Black Colleges Different?

This paper examines the difference in research output of economics departments at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and non-HBCUs that are teaching institutions. We also examine the causal relationship between economics faculty research and the number of an institution's baccalaureate graduates who earn doctorates in economics. Our findings suggest that economics departments at HBCUs produce less research output relative to non-HBCUs. However, research output is equally effective in producing economics doctorates at both types of institutions. These findings suggest that a plausible way to increase the stock of black Ph.D. economists is to increase economics research at HBCUs.     

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF TUTORIALS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS

The deteriorating performance of first-year economics students has become a concern at many South African universities. Addressing the issue requires an understanding of the factors influencing students' success. Studies analysing academic performance use the education production function approach. This approach identifies inputs that are crucial to learning and to achieving certain outputs. Factors that have been investigated in other studies include the impact of lecture attendance on performance, school-leaving exam (matriculation) results, particularly performance in mathematics, and the gender and age of students.
This study adds to existing local empirical research by analysing the impact of the tutorial programme as an input. The case study investigates the tutorial programme for first-year economics students at Stellenbosch University using quantitative analysis. Results confirm what previous studies have found, namely that lecture attendance, gender, and matriculation results contribute positively to the performance of first-year economics students. The main finding of the paper is that tutorial attendance also contributes positively to academic performance.     

Examining the Performance of the South African Economics Departments, 2005‐2014

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.     

DOES ATTENDANCE AT A HISTORICALLY WHITE UNIVERSITY BENEFIT NON‐WHITE STUDENTS OF INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS IN SOUTH AFRICA?

The Equality of Educational Opportunity survey (aka the Coleman Report), published in 1966 in the USA, is arguably the fountainhead of the debate promulgated within the economics of education and allied disciplines concerning the efficacy of schooling. The debate was largely due to the primary conclusion of the Coleman Report that school inputs (other than student demographics) explain little, if any, of the variance in student performance, with the implication that more money was not the solution to educational problems. While the methodology and the conclusions of the Coleman Report have been criticised in the 40 years since its publication, the fundamental question of the magnitude and extent of the consequences of educational inequalities has relevance to the South African situation. Utilising a cross‐sectional data set drawn from three universities, and the theoretical framework of an education production function, this paper addresses the issue of whether, over a decade after the first democratic elections in South Africa, black, Indian and coloured students studying Introductory Microeconomics, have benefited academically from attending historically advantaged (i.e. white) universities (HAU) relative to their counterparts who are attending historically disadvantaged universities (HDU).     

DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION PARTNERSHIPS: DO THEY MATTER FOR INNOVATION OUTCOMES OF SOUTH AFRICAN FIRMS?

This paper studies the impact of the diversity of domestic and international innovation partnerships on the innovation outcomes of South African firms. A number of competing hypotheses are formulated and tested empirically using a sample of South African firms in manufacturing and services by applying Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses. Results show that having an innovation partnership, particularly an international partnership, is beneficial to innovation outcomes. However, it also emerges that too diverse a set of international partnerships is detrimental to innovation outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion and a number of proposals for future research.     

HOW EXPOSED IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY TO INTERNATIONAL TRADE?

Following the policies implemented during the 1990s, the South African economy has become more globalised. This is particularly the case as far as international trade is concerned. The implementation of trade reforms, in some cases faster than WTO commitments, has increased the exposure of the South African economy to international trade. Trade in intermediate inputs increases the external orientation of an industry and hence increases the economy's exposure to trade. This in effect means that the economy is more open to external trade shocks than is conveyed by the traditional openness measure which considers only the trade in final products. This paper uses a measure proposed by Campa and Goldberg (1997) to estimate the exposure to trade and finds that around 79 per cent of output in 2000 was accounted for by industries that became more exposed to international trade. Further, domestic production has become more reliant on imported inputs with around 60 per cent of South Africa's GDP being accounted for by industries with a negative external orientation (i.e. industries where imported input costs exceeded export revenue). In addition, it was also found that those sectors that became more externally oriented had lower inflation rates and higher growth rates than the other sectors in the economy for the period under analysis. The extent to which the increased exposure to international trade facilitated these developments remains topical for further research.     

The South African city in relation to international city form

South Africa's apartheid‐induced cities are on the threshold of a critical restructuring in the changing South Africa of the 1990s. The reform and planning of an effective post‐apartheid city require careful consideration of possible international similarities and links. This article seeks to provide answers to the following questions: What are the form and structure of international cities; what are the general characteristics of the South African city; and where do our cities fit in this international framework? Research has shown that the South African city corresponds to a multi‐faceted international profile of First World prosperity. Second World central intervention and Third World deprivation. While the South African city displays numerous similarities to international city form, it has obtained a unique character as a result of the legal enforcement of apartheid. Restructuring the post‐apartheid city will have to take account of the reality that the present South African city is intrinsically a deviant version of the colonial Third World city and that it is likely to revert increasingly to that city form as legal apartheid disappears.     

Discounted Agricultural Growth in South Africa

This paper examines impacts of appropriate resource allocation on subsistence level output. This study uses a stylized Coase Bargaining model and data from the South African Reserve bank to support the second welfare theorem. Back of the envelope calculations indicate the opportunity cost of manufacturing output has been the 20% discount in agricultural output in South Africa since 1968. This paper offers an exercise that can be implemented in developing nations having institutions resulting in two-sector economies. Moreover, the methods used here will help policy makers to estimate an appropriate value for wealth transfers.     

Estimating South Africa's Output Gap and Potential Growth Rate

This paper estimates the potential output of the South African economy using several filters. We demonstrate that potential output measures are very sensitive to the different methodologies. We also provide estimates of South Africa's potential growth rate over the 1960–2015 period. Current estimates of the potential growth rate fall in the 1.9%–2.3% range. However, the evidence suggests that the rate is under considerable downward pressure. South African potential growth may be headed toward the 1% range. The strongest decline is in the real sectors of the economy (Manufacturing, Mining), the greatest resilience in the service sectors (financial in particular).     

ON THE RAND: DETERMINANTS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN EXCHANGE RATE

This paper is an econometric investigation of the determinants of the real value of the South African rand over the period 1984‐2007. The results show a relatively good fit. As always with exchange rate equations, there is substantial weight on the lagged exchange rate, which can be attributed to a momentum component. Nevertheless, economic fundamentals are significant and important. This is especially true of an index of the real prices of South African mineral commodities, which even drives out real income as a significant determinant. An implication is that the 2003‐2006 real appreciation of the rand can be attributed to the Dutch Disease. In other respects, the rand behaves like currencies of industrialised countries with well‐developed financial markets. In particular, high South African interest rates raise international demand for the rand and lead to real appreciation, controlling also for a forward‐looking measure of expected inflation and a measure of default risk or country risk.     

中国对非洲直接投资的出口效应分析

对外直接投资与国际贸易之间的关系是经济领域长期关注的问题,近年来,我国对非洲国家的直接投资和出口贸易成绩斐然,规模逐年增加,但对其相互关系的研究仍是空白。本文综合运用了协整理论、格兰杰检验法,利用1996~2008年间的数据,考察了我国对非洲直接投资与出口之间的关系。结果表明:对非直接投资与出口之间不存在长期均衡关系,投资也不是出口的原因。文章结合对非投资和贸易的特点对这种有悖于理论和经验的结论作出解释。     

Criticism of neo-colonialism: clarification of Sino-African cooperation and its implication to the west

ABSTRACT

This paper examines whether the claims regarding the nature of the Sino-African relations can be qualified or categorised as a neo-colonialism approach. Additionally, the paper analyses the Western perception and implication towards the Sino-African geopolitical cooperation and clarifies whether China is taking advantage of the weak African states in the name of South–South cooperation or playing the role of a contemporary proxy of the old colonial system and re-partitioning Africa. The relation between China and Africa simultaneously presents both challenges and opportunities for either of them. This study argues that the criticism that China is invading the continent and practicing neo-colonialism is just a speculation or Sino-phobia. In fact, the Chinese have no gene in their blood to invade Africa and it is crystal clear that unlike China, the Western world has had an influential history in the African continent. The African government and their societies have the ability to address the issues of Sino-African relations. This paper additionally provides a theoretical analysis of China’s enthusiastic involvement and contribution to the international aid operations and its presence and contribution in Africa.     

THE CYCLICALITY OF MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICY IN SOUTH AFRICA SINCE 1994

This paper uses a structural vector‐autoregression approach to discuss the cyclicality of fiscal and monetary policy in South Africa since 1994. There is substantial South African literature on this topic, but much disagreement remains. Though not undisputed, there is growing consensus that monetary policy has contributed to the remarkable stabilisation of the South African economy over this period. The evaluation of the role of fiscal policy in stabilisation has been less favourable and there is little evidence that a countercyclical fiscal stance was a priority over this period. This paper considers these issues in an empirical framework that addresses some of the shortcomings in the literature. Specifically, it constructs a structural model in contrast with the reduced form models typically used in the South African literature, incorporates the dynamic interaction between monetary and fiscal shocks on the demand side and supply shocks on the other, and avoids controversy over “neutral” base years and the size of fiscal elasticities. The model confirms the consensus on monetary policy, finding it to have been largely countercyclical since 1994. On fiscal policy, this paper finds evidence of pro‐cyclicality, especially in the more recent period, though the policy simulations suggest that the pro‐cyclicality of fiscal policy has had little destabilising impact on real output.     

Agricultural Exports: Important Issues for Sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract: The central argument of this paper is that African countries stand to benefit more from the goodwill currently being shown by industrialized countries who have committed themselves to further opening up of their markets for commodities from the region. However, more needs to be done by African governments and the international community if these benefits are to trickle down to the African farmers and result in attaining the goal of poverty reduction. This paper identifies the issues that need to be addressed by all parties involved. At the macro level, our results find that the distortion in the macro environment is a major factor hindering African exports. At the micro level, our results show that for farmers to benefit from the opening up of the international market, they would need more access to market information, easier road access to the markets for both their output and inputs, improve their farming techniques by utilizing modern scientific farming methods and inputs, and to increase their productivity. At the international level, our study finds strong results indicating that foreign tariff rate, price support (PNAC) and standards act as a market barrier to African agricultural exports.     

Immigration policy in South Africa: does it make economic sense?

Current levels of international labour migration are exceptional. Several thousand skilled South Africans leave the country each year. Historically, the country attracted more skilled workers than it lost, from Europe and, more recently, other African countries. But emigration is increasing and immigration is restricted by policy and a range of socio-economic factors. The trends in the ‘brain drain’ from South Africa and its causes and severity are relatively well understood and will be reviewed in this paper. However, the policy response has been slow and confused. The paper highlights some of the economic determinants and effects of South African emigration and immigration and reviews recent changes to South African migration legislation. It asks how South Africa can attract the right kind of skilled immigrants and what more can be done to stem the loss of professionals from the country.     

Ranking U.S. Economics Programs by Faculty and Graduate Publications: An Update Using 1994–2009 Data

This article ranks academic institutions by pages published in top economics journals over the 1994–2001 and 2002–2009 periods. Because it uses a methodology similar to several earlier articles, this article permits a consideration of how institutions' ranks have changed over the past 35 years. I construct rankings based on publications by individuals affiliated with each institution, by faculty members in the economics departments at each institution, and by alumni of each doctoral program. With few exceptions, the positions of programs near the top of the rankings change little over time. However, much more dramatic changes in rank occur for lower‐ranked institutions.     

Thinking regionally: Aviation and development implications in the Karoo region,South Africa

This study focuses on regional economic development in South Africa, across provincial political jurisdictions. The article argues that remote hinterlands can be more usefully understood as forming an integrated whole, rather than functioning as the poor rural cousins of their provincial metropoles. This article considers three propositions: that key transport projects (such as airports) may unlock regional development; that this may stimulate regional spatial integration; and that this may spur the South African government to address its weak regional planning system. All three propositions are speculative, drawn from the international literature, but they contribute to an argument for greater spatial coherence in South African planning in rural regions. The argument is illustrated with reference to the Karoo region of South Africa, and the potential of a new airport to impact on regional economic dynamics. Furthermore, the article argues that such impacts will require new regional planning systems, which are currently absent from the South African political system.     

The state of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) training and research in South African universities

Geographical Information Systems or GIS has become one of the more prominent research and training tools in South African university departments in the 1990s. GIS developed in the 1970s in North America in response to the expanding capacity of computer systems and the need to integrate spatial and attribute data (Maguire et al, 1991). It was only in the mid‐1980s that the first systems were set up in South Africa, primarily at research institutions such as the Department of Water Affairs and the Institute for Natural Resources in Pietermaritzburg. Since then the use of the technology has grown exponentially and most of the country's major municipalities (Szecsei, 1990; Van Rensburg, 1992), government departments, town and regional planners (Zietsman, 1992; Venter, 1993), engineering concerns (Poolman, 1990) and universities have become regular users. At universities GIS is used more as a research tool than as a defined analytical procedure. This article reviews the development of GIS and its use in South African universities. It also discusses the advantages and impediments to the use of the technology and its development.