The paradox of Black pupil enrolment growth rates in South African schools

In this paper, an outline is presented of a paradoxical feature of past trends in the demand for and supply of schooling to the Black population of South Africa. The paradox is that demand for Black schooling increased despite disincentives to do so under the apartheid policy. As background, a brief historical review of the provision of schooling to Blacks is also presented.     

Resource shifts in South African schools after the political transition

Although racial data are no longer available, this article uses a 1997 dataset to compare education spending with the pre-democracy situation. The new government emphasised fiscal resource shifts to eliminate spending discrimination rather than changing educational outcomes. Fiscal resource shifts in education and increased education spending were concentrated in formerly black schools. At the geographic level, non-metropolitan regions gained massively. Yet, as qualified teachers remain scarce in poorer schools, fiscal inequalities have remained, also among black schools. In addition, private resources have considerably supplemented the resources of affluent schools. The large spending shift was mainly a fiscal one (higher teacher salaries in poor schools), although real resource shifts (in pupil/teacher ratios) were not insubstantial. However, poor matriculation results indicate that additional resources, whether fiscal or real, were poorly translated into improved educational outcomes. As equity in education should be measured by equitable educational outcomes rather than equity in educational resource allocation, much work remains to be done.     

Contributing to the African Renaissance vision: The role of South African higher education institutions

President Mbeki is emphasising the vision of an African Renaissance in many of his public addresses. Many multifaceted inputs are required to realise this vision, and human resources development is one of the cornerstones of this ideal. South African higher education institutions could play a major role in this quest by sharing their expertise to upgrade the scientific, economic and educational competencies of all people in Africa. Data analysis shows considerable potential for attracting students from Africa, especially from the Southern African Development Community, to study at South African institutions. Current initiatives for facilitating intellectual mobility across the country's borders lack vision, however. Academic exchange programmes in other countries could serve as models to kick-start the contributions of higher education institutions in South Africa in realising Mr Mbeki's vision for an African Renaissance.     

The impact of basic and social infrastructure investment on South African economic growth and development

Basic and social infrastructure investment can assist in addressing widespread inequality and divided societies by promoting economic growth and social development. The aim of this study is to determine whether basic and social infrastructure investment differently affect economic growth and social development indicators of urban and rural municipalities. We used a balanced panel dataset containing infrastructure, economic, demographic and social indicators for rural and urban municipalities for the period from 1996 to 2012. Principal component analysis was used to construct synthetic indices of basic and social infrastructure. Restricted within least squares dummy variable estimation techniques are used to evaluate the differences between urban and rural municipalities. The elasticities of basic and social infrastructure investment generally are more pronounced for economic growth and social development indicators in rural municipalities. These findings could potentially influence policy decisions in terms of infrastructure investment in favour of rural municipalities to increase economic growth and social development.     

The identification of South African technological innovations: A proposed methodology

Technological innovations represent significant indicators of scientific and economic vigour in any society. They are however, extremely difficult to both identify, and to evaluate in terms of their importance.

This paper addresses itself to the problems of identification and measurement. As such it forms a necessary prerequisite to a survey of technological innovations in South Africa, and, in the process, seeks to contribute to the general field of technological enquiry.     

A causal analysis of black and official exchange rates: The turkish case

Zusammenfassung Eine Kausalanalyse von Schwarzmarktkursen und offiziellen Wechselkursen: Der Fall der Türkei. - Diese Arbeit untersucht statistisch den Kausalzusammenhang zwischen Schwarzmarkt- und offiziellen Wechselkursen für das türkische Pfund, und zwar im Verh?ltnis zum US-Dollar und zur D-Mark in der Zwei-Jahres-Periode ab September {dy1985}, wobei Granger-Techniken benutzt werden. T?gliche ?nderungen des Schwarzmarktkurses für die D-Mark gehen den t?glichen ?nderungen des offiziellen Kurses voraus. Bei w?chentlichen und monatlichen ?nderungen liegt eher eine Gleichzeitigkeit vor. Die Ergebnisse für den Schwarzmarktkurs und den offiziellen Dollar-Kurs sind ?hnlich, obwohl es Hinweise für einen schwachen Feedback gibt, wenn Tagesdaten benutzt werden. Diese Befunde stützen die These, da\ Schwarzm?rkte Informationen effizient verwerten.

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Resumen Un análisis de causalidad de tipos de cambio oficial y paralelo: el caso turco. - En este trabajo se examina estadísticamente la relación causal entre los tipos de cambio paralelo y oficial de la lira turca con respecto al dólar EE.UU. y el marco alemán para un período de dos a?os, comenzando en setiembre de {dy1985} y utilizando técnicas de tipo Granger. Los movimientos diarios en el mercado paralelo del marco dan lugar a movimientos diarios en el mercado oficial. Existe una relación contemporánea en los movimientos semanales y mensuales. Los resultados para el dólar paralelo y oficial son similares, a pesar de la evidencia de una respuesta débil en el caso de utilizarse datos diarios. Los resultados apoyan la noción de que los mercados paralelos son eficientes procesadores de información.

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Résumé Une analyse de causalité pour des taux de change noirs et officiels: le cas de la Turquie. - Cet article examine statistiquement la relation causale entre les taux de change noirs et officiels pour la lira turque vis-à-vis le dollar américain et la mark allemande pour une période de deux ans qui commence en septembre 1985. L’auteur applique des techniques de type Granger. Les changements quotidiens sur le marché noir pour la mark allemande précèdent ceux sur le marché officiel. Une relation simultanée existe pour les changements hebdomadaires et mensuels. Les résultats pour le dollar noir et officiel sont similaires bienqu’il y ait quelque évidence pour une répercussion faible si les données quotidiennes sont utilisées. Les résultats supportent la notion que les marchés noirs sont des processeurs efficients des informations.