The Cape Town International Jazz Festival: More than just jazz

Economic impact studies have been used to value goods with the characteristics of both public and private goods, such as arts festivals, and have been useful in providing a quantifiable monetary estimate of their worth and, more accurately, of the impact of such events on a specific region. This paper provides just such a valuation, using economic impact analysis conducted on surveys of visitor and organiser spending at the 2009 Cape Town International Jazz Festival. On the basis of the survey data and event budget, a social accounting matrix (SAM) for the Western Cape Province was used to estimate the economic value of the festival to the province's economy (using the classic SAM's multiplier approach). The results of the analysis show that the festival generates approximately R158 million via visitor and organiser spending, and that 1059 jobs depend on it.     

Country Equity

Abstract

The idea of country branding, while controversial, has gained broad acceptance and is actively practiced at the national and regional levels. A number of new research studies are indicative of the growing interest and importance of the topic. This article focuses on practical opportunities for South Africa to become more adept at using marketing communications to promote itself to critical international audiences.     

Does sustainable agricultural growth require a system of innovation? Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

This paper tests the ‘systems of innovation’ hypothesis for a selection of crops in Ghana and Burkina Faso that have shown significant growth in production over an approximately 20-year period. The question is whether such growth can only occur if supported by a system of innovation. Using two indicators (a common understanding on objectives and priorities, and a high level of interactivity), we find little evidence for the existence of anything that might be considered a high functioning system of innovation.     

AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON SOUTH AFRICA'S PUBLIC DEBT, 1962‐1994

The history of public debt reflects the cumulative effect of fiscal decisions and real outcomes in the economy. In the South African case the published record on public debt distorts the historical perspective on the associated fiscal decisions. This paper shows the impact of adjusting the South African public debt on an accrual basis to take account of two major obligations assumed in the first half of the 1990s, namely actuarial pension fund deficits and government debt of the apartheid homelands. The adjusted series is less volatile and rose less steeply between 1989 and 1996 than the official, cash‐based debt series. Failing to account for the evolution of these obligations exaggerates the impression of weak fiscal discipline in the early 1990s and exemplary fiscal prudence in preceding decades.