The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR) is an expression, which is now used to frame and assess ... more The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR) is an expression, which is now used to frame and assess the impact of emergent technologies in the 21st century. The rapidity and quantity of changes that are occurring will result in socio-economic and also political upheavals as there are likely to be increasing shifts in power dynamics, wealth acquisition, and information. This is clearly a foremost transformation in society, and especially the IT worldview demands appropriate ethical insights, actions and sanction. If we are conversant about the vicissitudes and the rate of their occurrence, society will be better placed to try to ensure that advances in technology will benefit all stakeholders. How organisations are likely to respond to the 4IR and its ethical challenges, especially human rights’, is critical. It is certain that management in for example a hotel will need to understand and consider which technologies may affect them and whether there are opportunities or threats to be fa...
This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, mon... more This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, money supply, interest rates and exchange ratesandinflation. It particularly looked at how inflation was influenced by these variables over time. The findings in this study were consistent with the hypothesis that the values of these variables influence inflation in the short-term and long-term. One of the findingsthat could be of interest especially for South Africa indicates that precious metalsprice changes, especially gold,could act as signals of pending changes to inflation and are also statistically related to interest rate movements. However, it was also found that the relationship between exchange rates movements during the financial crisis era between 2008 and 2010 did affect the other variables like prime, precious metals prices and oil prices which led to significant spikes in inflation. It should be emphasized that these finding of a statistical relationship is only consistent w...
This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, mon... more This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, money supply, interest rates and exchange ratesandinflation. It particularly looked at how inflation was influenced by these variables over time. The findings in this study were consistent with the hypothesis that the values of these variables influence inflation in the short-term and long-term. One of the findingsthat could be of interest especially for South Africa indicates that precious metalsprice changes, especially gold,could act as signals of pending changes to inflation and are also statistically related to interest rate movements. However, it was also found that the relationship between exchange rates movements during the financial crisis era between 2008 and 2010 did affect the other variables like prime, precious metals prices and oil prices which led to significant spikes in inflation. It should be emphasized that these finding of a statistical relationship is only consistent w...
Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions
The paper analyses the association between certain macroeconomic variables and food price inflati... more The paper analyses the association between certain macroeconomic variables and food price inflation, non-food price inflation and overall inflation in Zimbabwe, and also seeks to determine the level of association between these variables, given food security implications and overall well-being of its citizens. The study reveals that during the 2010 to 2016 period, Zimbabwe experienced stable food prices—annual food price inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages averaged a relatively low growth rate of 0.12% monthly, while non-food inflation monthly growth rate was 0.09% and overall inflation growth rate was 0.11%. Although inflation from 2010 had been declining, of late, the increase in annual inflation has been underpinned by a rise in non-food inflation. Zimbabwe’s annual inflation remains lower than inflation rates in other countries in the region. Despite the increases lately in overall inflation, it remained below zero in January 2016, mostly driven by the depreciation of...
The study looked at the relationship between GDP per capita and health expenditure per capita as ... more The study looked at the relationship between GDP per capita and health expenditure per capita as well as that of GDP per capita and education expenditure per capita in South Africa between 1994 and 2012. Adolph Wagner’s “Law” proposes that a state will increase its government expenditure relatively to the national income (Henrekson, 1993). Any change in the amount of health expenditure will influence the per capita health expenditure in a country. In this study, using the Human Development Index (HDI) as the yardstick for Quality of Life (QoL), the concepts of Standard of Living (SoL) and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure in South, the relationships amongst these variabl...
The purpose of this study was is to examine the relationship between stock βeta and returns in th... more The purpose of this study was is to examine the relationship between stock βeta and returns in the JSE Securities Exchange. If the model is applicable in its entirety or can explain the beta-stock returns relationship, it raises an important academic question, mainly, how should the South African financial market be viewed by investors and portfolio managers, given the political-social-economical classifications that South Africa finds itself in, sometimes referred to as developing, emerging or underdeveloped? The time-series data used was from Sharenet as well as from the South African Reserve Bank macro-economic time series data. The sample period consisted of 10 years of monthly time series data between January 2001 and December 2010. Regression analysis was applied using the conditional approach. When using the conditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and cross-sectional regression analysis, the findings strongly supported the significant relationship between stock excess ...
Price stability is critical for South Africa’s economic development strategy, and, based on previ... more Price stability is critical for South Africa’s economic development strategy, and, based on previous studies, to effectively achieve this, requires a good understanding of the relationship between inflation and selected macroeconomic variables of broad money supply, interest rate, exchange rate and oil price. Monthly data are employed from January, 1999 through September, 2010. To determine this relationship, the independent variables were tested for multicollinearity, and thereafter a multiple regression model was developed. The findings from the study show that approximately 97% of the consumer price index movement is explained by the four macroeconomic variables. The study confirms that money supply and exchange rates have a strong positive relationship with inflation and have to be managed. Interest rates and oil price, on the other hand, have a significant negative relationship with inflation and should be part of a macroeconomic policy framework. This requires managing the del...
This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Develop... more This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a composite statistic used to rank countries by the level of “human development”. Measuring and determining what is QoL is not an easy task. In this study, using HDI as the yardstick for QoL, the concepts of standard of living and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. This research question was seen as the key to addressing the phenomenon of QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure of South Africa for the period 1995 to 2011, the relationships amongst these variables were examined. The findings indicate that there seems to be a significant correlation between HDI and government spending o...
nvestors look at stock market performance and assume that it anticipates economic developments or... more nvestors look at stock market performance and assume that it anticipates economic developments or that the latest GDP quarterly figures have a huge effect on the market’s movements. This study seeks to test if this is true in the long-term. According to a study of the USA stock exchanges done by Holger Sandte (2012) he found that this relationship does not exist. In this paper, we examine the relationship between GDP growth and stock markets returns. We observe that the relationship between these two variables remains complicated because of the effects of multiple factors interwoven over time, which can differ from one country to the next (Boubakari and Jin, 2010). While accurate economic forecasts are helpful for stock investing, we argue that investors should not rely on a single economic indicator in predicting future market developments. As counterintuitive as it might seem, research suggests that high growth rates do not necessarily correlate with the highest long-term stock ma...
In the 21 st century, knowledge management has become as important as information technology and ... more In the 21 st century, knowledge management has become as important as information technology and has therefore, led to significant gains in productivity and profitability. However, few organisations in Malawi have implemented formal knowledge management systems. The question arises as to whether such organisations do not have knowledge management practices in place at all, or whether such practices are more informal. This article reports the results of a study that looked at the extent to which Malawi organisations have knowledge management practices in place. A survey was done using questionnaire to establish how widely knowledge management practices were used by 40 organisations in different sectors in Malawi. Overall, 15-knowledge management practices were identified as the most important practices. The main findings was that although, most Malawi organisations may not have a formal knowledge management system, knowledge management practices are in place and that they benefit employees. Respondents accept that organisations in the future will be forced to introduce formal knowledge management practices by endogenous and exogenous factors.
This article looks at the relationship between the monthly data series of the FTSE/JSE all-share ... more This article looks at the relationship between the monthly data series of the FTSE/JSE all-share index and macroeconomic variables in South Africa for the period 2002 to 2010. While the use of aggregate indices can be misleading when interpreting the actual performance of companies, there is a need for investors and portfolio managers to understand the dynamics of stock prices. The macroeconomic variables used in the study are the manufacturing and mining indices, JSE total return, prime overdraft rate, the exchange rates between the South African rand and the US dollar and the rate of inflation. The findings suggest that the FTSE/JSE index's correlation with the macroeconomic variables studied is statistically significant, a finding similar to studies done in other countries. It was also found that the mining index, a unique index to mining countries, had a non-significant positive correlation with the FTSE/JSE index.
This study examines the relationship between trading volume and stock returns in the JSE Securiti... more This study examines the relationship between trading volume and stock returns in the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa. The study looked at the price and trading returns of the FTSE/JSE index from July 22, 1988 till June 11, 2012. The study revealed that stock returns are positively related to the contemporary change in trading volume. Further, it was found that past returns were not affected significantly by changes in trading volumes. The results present a significant relationship between trading volume and the absolute value of price changes. Autoregressive tests were used to explore whether return causes volume or volume causes return. The results suggest that volume is influenced by a lagged returns effect for the FTSE/JSE index. Therefore, return seems to contribute some information to investors when they make investment decisions.
The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR) is an expression, which is now used to frame and assess ... more The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” (4IR) is an expression, which is now used to frame and assess the impact of emergent technologies in the 21st century. The rapidity and quantity of changes that are occurring will result in socio-economic and also political upheavals as there are likely to be increasing shifts in power dynamics, wealth acquisition, and information. This is clearly a foremost transformation in society, and especially the IT worldview demands appropriate ethical insights, actions and sanction. If we are conversant about the vicissitudes and the rate of their occurrence, society will be better placed to try to ensure that advances in technology will benefit all stakeholders. How organisations are likely to respond to the 4IR and its ethical challenges, especially human rights’, is critical. It is certain that management in for example a hotel will need to understand and consider which technologies may affect them and whether there are opportunities or threats to be fa...
This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, mon... more This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, money supply, interest rates and exchange ratesandinflation. It particularly looked at how inflation was influenced by these variables over time. The findings in this study were consistent with the hypothesis that the values of these variables influence inflation in the short-term and long-term. One of the findingsthat could be of interest especially for South Africa indicates that precious metalsprice changes, especially gold,could act as signals of pending changes to inflation and are also statistically related to interest rate movements. However, it was also found that the relationship between exchange rates movements during the financial crisis era between 2008 and 2010 did affect the other variables like prime, precious metals prices and oil prices which led to significant spikes in inflation. It should be emphasized that these finding of a statistical relationship is only consistent w...
This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, mon... more This study looked at the statistical relationship between precious metals prices, oil prices, money supply, interest rates and exchange ratesandinflation. It particularly looked at how inflation was influenced by these variables over time. The findings in this study were consistent with the hypothesis that the values of these variables influence inflation in the short-term and long-term. One of the findingsthat could be of interest especially for South Africa indicates that precious metalsprice changes, especially gold,could act as signals of pending changes to inflation and are also statistically related to interest rate movements. However, it was also found that the relationship between exchange rates movements during the financial crisis era between 2008 and 2010 did affect the other variables like prime, precious metals prices and oil prices which led to significant spikes in inflation. It should be emphasized that these finding of a statistical relationship is only consistent w...
Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions
The paper analyses the association between certain macroeconomic variables and food price inflati... more The paper analyses the association between certain macroeconomic variables and food price inflation, non-food price inflation and overall inflation in Zimbabwe, and also seeks to determine the level of association between these variables, given food security implications and overall well-being of its citizens. The study reveals that during the 2010 to 2016 period, Zimbabwe experienced stable food prices—annual food price inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages averaged a relatively low growth rate of 0.12% monthly, while non-food inflation monthly growth rate was 0.09% and overall inflation growth rate was 0.11%. Although inflation from 2010 had been declining, of late, the increase in annual inflation has been underpinned by a rise in non-food inflation. Zimbabwe’s annual inflation remains lower than inflation rates in other countries in the region. Despite the increases lately in overall inflation, it remained below zero in January 2016, mostly driven by the depreciation of...
The study looked at the relationship between GDP per capita and health expenditure per capita as ... more The study looked at the relationship between GDP per capita and health expenditure per capita as well as that of GDP per capita and education expenditure per capita in South Africa between 1994 and 2012. Adolph Wagner’s “Law” proposes that a state will increase its government expenditure relatively to the national income (Henrekson, 1993). Any change in the amount of health expenditure will influence the per capita health expenditure in a country. In this study, using the Human Development Index (HDI) as the yardstick for Quality of Life (QoL), the concepts of Standard of Living (SoL) and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure in South, the relationships amongst these variabl...
The purpose of this study was is to examine the relationship between stock βeta and returns in th... more The purpose of this study was is to examine the relationship between stock βeta and returns in the JSE Securities Exchange. If the model is applicable in its entirety or can explain the beta-stock returns relationship, it raises an important academic question, mainly, how should the South African financial market be viewed by investors and portfolio managers, given the political-social-economical classifications that South Africa finds itself in, sometimes referred to as developing, emerging or underdeveloped? The time-series data used was from Sharenet as well as from the South African Reserve Bank macro-economic time series data. The sample period consisted of 10 years of monthly time series data between January 2001 and December 2010. Regression analysis was applied using the conditional approach. When using the conditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and cross-sectional regression analysis, the findings strongly supported the significant relationship between stock excess ...
Price stability is critical for South Africa’s economic development strategy, and, based on previ... more Price stability is critical for South Africa’s economic development strategy, and, based on previous studies, to effectively achieve this, requires a good understanding of the relationship between inflation and selected macroeconomic variables of broad money supply, interest rate, exchange rate and oil price. Monthly data are employed from January, 1999 through September, 2010. To determine this relationship, the independent variables were tested for multicollinearity, and thereafter a multiple regression model was developed. The findings from the study show that approximately 97% of the consumer price index movement is explained by the four macroeconomic variables. The study confirms that money supply and exchange rates have a strong positive relationship with inflation and have to be managed. Interest rates and oil price, on the other hand, have a significant negative relationship with inflation and should be part of a macroeconomic policy framework. This requires managing the del...
This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Develop... more This study looked at the phenomenon of the quality of life (QoL) as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI), which is a composite statistic used to rank countries by the level of “human development”. Measuring and determining what is QoL is not an easy task. In this study, using HDI as the yardstick for QoL, the concepts of standard of living and per capita income were examined closely in relation to the role of government in its public expenditure programmes and how these programmes in turn influenced QoL. This research question was seen as the key to addressing the phenomenon of QoL. In particular, the role of government expenditure on health and education seems to signify the commitment of a government in improving the HDI or QoL. Using data on government expenditure of South Africa for the period 1995 to 2011, the relationships amongst these variables were examined. The findings indicate that there seems to be a significant correlation between HDI and government spending o...
nvestors look at stock market performance and assume that it anticipates economic developments or... more nvestors look at stock market performance and assume that it anticipates economic developments or that the latest GDP quarterly figures have a huge effect on the market’s movements. This study seeks to test if this is true in the long-term. According to a study of the USA stock exchanges done by Holger Sandte (2012) he found that this relationship does not exist. In this paper, we examine the relationship between GDP growth and stock markets returns. We observe that the relationship between these two variables remains complicated because of the effects of multiple factors interwoven over time, which can differ from one country to the next (Boubakari and Jin, 2010). While accurate economic forecasts are helpful for stock investing, we argue that investors should not rely on a single economic indicator in predicting future market developments. As counterintuitive as it might seem, research suggests that high growth rates do not necessarily correlate with the highest long-term stock ma...
In the 21 st century, knowledge management has become as important as information technology and ... more In the 21 st century, knowledge management has become as important as information technology and has therefore, led to significant gains in productivity and profitability. However, few organisations in Malawi have implemented formal knowledge management systems. The question arises as to whether such organisations do not have knowledge management practices in place at all, or whether such practices are more informal. This article reports the results of a study that looked at the extent to which Malawi organisations have knowledge management practices in place. A survey was done using questionnaire to establish how widely knowledge management practices were used by 40 organisations in different sectors in Malawi. Overall, 15-knowledge management practices were identified as the most important practices. The main findings was that although, most Malawi organisations may not have a formal knowledge management system, knowledge management practices are in place and that they benefit employees. Respondents accept that organisations in the future will be forced to introduce formal knowledge management practices by endogenous and exogenous factors.
This article looks at the relationship between the monthly data series of the FTSE/JSE all-share ... more This article looks at the relationship between the monthly data series of the FTSE/JSE all-share index and macroeconomic variables in South Africa for the period 2002 to 2010. While the use of aggregate indices can be misleading when interpreting the actual performance of companies, there is a need for investors and portfolio managers to understand the dynamics of stock prices. The macroeconomic variables used in the study are the manufacturing and mining indices, JSE total return, prime overdraft rate, the exchange rates between the South African rand and the US dollar and the rate of inflation. The findings suggest that the FTSE/JSE index's correlation with the macroeconomic variables studied is statistically significant, a finding similar to studies done in other countries. It was also found that the mining index, a unique index to mining countries, had a non-significant positive correlation with the FTSE/JSE index.
This study examines the relationship between trading volume and stock returns in the JSE Securiti... more This study examines the relationship between trading volume and stock returns in the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa. The study looked at the price and trading returns of the FTSE/JSE index from July 22, 1988 till June 11, 2012. The study revealed that stock returns are positively related to the contemporary change in trading volume. Further, it was found that past returns were not affected significantly by changes in trading volumes. The results present a significant relationship between trading volume and the absolute value of price changes. Autoregressive tests were used to explore whether return causes volume or volume causes return. The results suggest that volume is influenced by a lagged returns effect for the FTSE/JSE index. Therefore, return seems to contribute some information to investors when they make investment decisions.
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