The Environmental Impact of Electricity Generation: New Evidence from BRICS Countries (2024)
Energy and its related services are crucial to the well-being of society. Access to clean water and sanitation is dependent on energy supply, and so is the provision of quality education and healthcare services. Of equal importance is the manner in which energy is produced and consumed, as the livelihood of future generations depends largely on this. Recently, policymakers have found themselves in a pickle, having to strike a balance between meeting the energy demands of the current generation without compromising the environmental needs of future generations. Given this context, the crux of this study was to examine the impact of renewable and non-renewable energy sources on environmental sustainability in the BRICS region. The findings revealed that non-renewable energy sources, particularly coal and natural gas, augment higher levels of carbon dioxide emissions both in the short run and long run. In contrast, renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and solar energy were found to lessen the burden of carbon dioxide emissions on the environment.
Does Economic Freedom Bolster Economic Performance? (2024)
In recent times, endogenous factors such as institutional quality and economic liberty have become prerequisites for economic growth and development. As such, evidence on the association between unconventional growth determinants and national income is crucial for informed policymaking. Against this backdrop, the focus of this study is to explore the bivariate relationship between economic liberty and economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Given the characteristics of the variables, the study made use of the Panel Estimated Generalized Least Squares technique and Granger causality analysis. The study established the presence of a positive and robust association between components of economic liberty and economic growth. This implies that less government interference in the economic and financial system as well as the absence of tariff and non-tariff barriers, bolster economic growth at least in the SADC region
Can Credit Scores enhance Tax Compliance in South Africa? (2023)
A compliance enhancing tax system is crucial for revenue mobilization, administrative efficiency and consequently the realization of national strategic goals. There are several factors, however, which influence a taxpayer’s ability to comply with the tax system and these include economic, institutional, demographic and social factors. Against this backdrop, the primary objective of this study is to estimate taxpayers’ perceptions towards credit scores and the extent to which credit scores can enhance tax compliance in South Africa. Perceptions on credit scores were found to be positively associated with higher probabilities of a tax compliant behavior. This, to some extent, implies that linking the tax compliance status of individual taxpayers with their credit scores is most likely to yield positive results. Given these findings, the study recommends a revision of the current credit score framework to include the tax compliance status of taxpayers as this would induce a tax compliant behavior by penalizing the credit score of non-tax compliant individuals..
Economic Fallout of Covid19: Evidence from South Africa (2023)
The covid 19 pandemic was quite challenging for policy makers in that it presented both an economic and health crisis. This meant that policy makers had to strike a balance between saving lives and protecting livelihoods. Against this backdrop, the primary goal of this study is to examine the economic fallout of covid 19 in South Africa. On the education front, the study finds that nearly 15% (2 million) of public-school pupils did not return to school post covid 19. Furthermore, the study finds that the covid 19 pandemic exacerbated the entrenched digital divide in the education system. As regards the economic implications of the covid 19 pandemic, the study found that business liquidations increased by as much as 48.9% following the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic. Even worse, the total number of civil summonses issued for debt increased by 28.9% in the three months ending July 2021 compared to July 2020.
Tax Knowledge, Tax Complexity and Tax Compliance in South Africa (2023)
The key objective of this study is to investigate the influence of tax knowledge and tax complexity on tax compliance in South Africa. The data collection process involved self-structured questionnaires targeted at South African personal income taxpayers. The data was analysed by means of descriptive analysis, inferential statistics and binary logistic regression.The findings from the Pearson correlation test revealed that knowledge on tax types, tax payment methods and tax penalties is positively associated with tax compliance and this association was found to be statistically significant. In addition, the results from the binary logistic regression revealed that knowledge on tax penalties is positively associated with higher probabilities of tax compliance and this association was likewise found to be statistically significant.
A descriptive analysis of barriers to entry in South African markets (2023)
Over the past few years, the ease and likelihood of doing business in South Africa have deteriorated due to various factors, including the political and economic environment. At the lower level, rival firms face significant barriers to entry, which is the focus of this study. Using secondary data from the Competition Commission of South Africa, this study performs an in-depth analysis of barriers to market entry in South Africa. The findings reveal that strategic barriers are dominated by technical know-how, substantial investment in marketing, and long-term contracts. Regulatory barriers, on the other hand, are mainly driven by licensing, registration restrictions, exclusive rights, and standards and safety requirements. Structural barriers include capital investment costs, economies of scale, and initial start-up costs, the chief barriers rival firms face.
South African Taxpayers Perceptions towards E-Filing (2023)
The study has two parts: the first part studies how South African taxpayers felt about e-filing, and the second part analyses how e-filing affected tax compliance. We use self-structured questionnaires to collect data from about 151 South African taxpayers, and we analyze them using binary logistic regression. The study finds that online tax registration and auto-assessment has a negative relationship with tax compliance in South Africa, while online payment methods, difficulty in tax evasion, and higher educational attainment have a positive association with tax compliance. The study also finds that the extent to which the e-filing system encourages taxpayers to become compliant has a positive and statistically significant relationship with tax compliance. Overall, the study suggests that the development of e-filing has a positive impact on taxpayers’ perceptions in South Africa and significantly increases voluntary tax compliance.
How do petrol prices respond to variations in crude oil and the exchange rate? Evidence from South Africa (2022)
Energy resources are a significant production input due to being at the bottom of supply chains. The study investigates the response of petrol prices to variations in the domestic and international components. Methodologically, the research rests on the neoclassical economics. Monthly time series data spanning from 2002 to 2021 is analysed by means of econometric modelling. The impulse response function indicated that basic petrol prices respond positively to their own shocks and to shocks in Brent crude oil prices and this response is substantial in size. On the contrary, basic petrol prices respond negatively to shocks in exchange rates, albeit the response is small in size. The variance decomposition reveals that variations in basic petrol prices are largely explained by their own shocks in the short run and by shocks in Brent crude oil prices in the long run
Do Energy Prices drive Inflation in South Africa? An unrestricted VAR Approach (2022)
This study was aimed at investigating the effects of energy prices on inflation in South Africa. This was achieved by means of econometric analysis and annual time series data spanning from 1994 to 2020. The findings revealed that electricity tariffs and petrol prices exhibit a positive effect on inflation in South Africa. On the contrary, interest rates and the exchange rate as control variables were found to have a negative effect on the inflation rate. The impulse response function indicated that inflation responds positively to innovations in petrol prices, electricity tariffs and money supply in the medium and long term but responds negatively to innovations in interest rates and exchange rates.Further to this, the variance decomposition function revealed that variations in inflation are largely explained by its own innovations and partially explained by innovations in petrol prices, money supply and interest rates.
How Does Financial Market Stress Respond to Shocks in Global Economic Activity and Exchange Rate Stability? A Structural VAR Approach (2022)
The study examines the response of financial market stress to innovations in global economic activity and the exchange rate in emerging and advanced market economies during the period 2006Q1 and 2020Q4. This is achieved by means of time series econometric analysis. The impulse response function estimated through structural factorization indicates that financial market stress responds positively towards its own innovations and to innovations in global economic activity. In contrast, financial market stress responds negatively to a one standard deviation in the exchange rate in the long run albeit the response is neutral in the short run. The findings from the variance decomposition show that in advanced market economies, a larger fraction of the discrepancies in financial market stress are explained by its own innovations followed by innovations in global economic activity.
The Interplay Between Economic Freedom and Tax Revenue Performance: Panel Evidence from SADC (2021)
This study aims to scrutinize the interplay between economic freedom and tax revenue performance in 14 SADC countries. The study makes use of dynamic panel data spanning from 2000 – 2017 with 238 year-country observations. The econometric modeling applied includes Generalized Methods of Moments and Cross-country Correlations. The dynamic panel estimation results indicate that both conventional and unconventional determinants of tax revenue mobilization are statistically significant in explaining variations in tax revenue performance. In contrast to earlier studies, the researcher found that economic freedom exhibits a negative impact on tax revenue mobilization. These findings can be based on the assumption that African countries are characterized by agrarian activities which take place in the informal sector and are thus are difficult to regulate and tax.
Does South Africa’s tax effort fall short of its tax capacity? (2021)
The main objective of this study is to assess South Africa’s tax revenue performance. This is achieved by estimating tax capacity and tax effort for the period 1960–2017 through econometric methods. The 2Stage-Least Square results indicate that GDP per capita and inflation have a strong positive and statistically significant impact on revenue mobilisation while population growth, trade openness and agriculture share in GDP have a strong negative and statistically significant impact on revenue mobilisation. Furthermore, we find that South Africa’s tax effort index varies between 0.92 which is below capacity and 1.10 which is above capacity. On average, the tax effort index is 1.00, implying that South Africa performs well above its potential tax capacity. This study therefore cautiously advice against increases in tax rates in the near term as they will discourage economic activity in the form of labour, output and investment.
How Buoyant Is the South African Tax System? An ARDL Approach (2021)
This study aims to scrutinize the responsiveness of the South African tax system to changes in economic performance. The study made use of annual time series data spanning from 1995 – 2017. The tax system was found to be fairly buoyant, albeit there is still room for improvement. The ARDL bounds test results indicate that VAT revenue and custom duties grow at a faster pace than the growth in final household consumption and import value, respectively. VAT revenue has a long run buoyancy coefficient of 1.35 while custom duties have a long run buoyancy coefficient of 1.42. This implies that VAT revenue and custom duties are perfectly elastic to variations in their respective bases, at least in the long run. The estimated buoyancy coefficient for total tax revenue growth is 0.82, implying that the growth in total tax revenue did not match the growth of the economy during the estimation period.
Secondary education spending and school attendance in South Africa: An ARDL approach (2020)
The education system in South Africa is perceived to be expensive, inefficient, and under-performing relative to its peers. Hence, this study aims to investigate the relationship between secondary education spending and school attendance in South Africa through econometric modelling. The ARDL Bounds test revealed that the variables have long-run relationship. Furthermore, the long run estimates indicate that both secondary education spending, household incomes, and urbanisation are statistically significant in explaining variations in school attendance. Granger Causality test indicates uni-directional causality from secondary education spending to secondary school attendance. Thus, to close the gap in providing quality education in SA, a wide range of interventions are needed. The focus should be on increasing enrolment rates and narrowing dropout rates, more especially those that are due to lack of funding.
An Address of the Global Financial Crises with Unconventional Monetary Policies (2019)
This study aims to assess the impact and spill over effects of the United States (US) Quantitative Easing (QE) to South Africa. Using an event-study analysis on daily data spanning from 25/11/2008 – 12/12/2012 for selected QE dates, the study finds that US Treasury bills fall by 106 basis points on average during QE1, rise by 9 basis points and 8 basis points during QE2 and QE3, respectively. For South Africa, government bonds fall by 61 basis points on average during QE1, 9 basis points during QE2 and 2 basis points during QE3. This leads to the conclusion that UMPs boost the economy in the short run but hurt the economy in the long run, especially those that are targeting inflation, when used extensively. The policymakers should concentrate on the whole financial system to measure the financial risk, and thus consistently strengthen macro prudential orientation.