An Econometric Model of Employment in Zimbabwe's Manufacturing Industries

This paper is concerned with the estimation of an employment relationship and employment efficiency under production risk using a panel of Zimbabwe's manufacturing industries. A flexible labour demand functions are used and consist of two parts: the traditional labour demand function and labour demand variance function. Labour demand is a function of wages, output, quasi-fixed inputs and time variables. The variance function is a function of the determinants of labour demand and a number of production and policy characteristic variables. It appears in a multiplicative form with the demand function and it accommodates both positive and negative marginal effects with respect to the determinants of the variance. A multi-step procedure is used to estimate the parameters of the model. Estimation of industry and time-varying employment efficiency is also considered. Employment efficiency is defined in terms of the distance from the employment frontier defined as minimum employment required to produce a given level of output. The empirical results show that the average employment efficiency is 92%.Labour demand; variance; efficiency; manufacturing industries; Zimbabwe;

AN ECONOMETRIC MODEL OF EMPLOYMENT IN ZIMBABWE¡¯S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

This paper is concerned with the estimation of employment relationship and employment efficiency under production risk using a panel of Zimbabwe¡¯s manufacturing industries. A flexible labour demand function is used consisting of two parts: the traditional labour demand function and labour demand variance function. Labour demand is a function of wages, output, quasi-fixed inputs and time variables. The variance function is a function of the determinants of labour demand and a number of production and policy characteristic variables. Estimation of industry and time-varying employment efficiency is also considered. The empirical results show that the average employment efficiency is 92%.Labour demand, Variance, Efficiency, Manufacturing, Industries, Zimbabwe

Amalgamation of South Africa’s rural municipalities: is it a good idea?

The majority of South African municipalities facing the challenges of unemployment, poverty and weak infrastructure are in rural areas. To fulfil their mandate, they depend significantly on financial transfers.  This is something that the government is focused on minimising as evidenced by the recent Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs proposal of amalgamating many municipalities to make them self-reliant and functional.  This paper asks the question: ‘will amalgamations of rural municipalities correct for financial viability and functionality’? Using case studies of amalgamated municipalities, the paper observes that amalgamations will not make all rural municipalities self-sufficient and functional

A Flexible Adjustment Model of Employment with Application to Zimbabwe's Manufacturing Industries

This paper presents a dynamic adjustment model of employment. The model is applied to a panel of ten Zimbabwean manufacturing industries observed over the period 1970-1993. The adjustment process is industry and time specific. The adjustment parameter is specified in terms of factors affecting the speed of adjustment. Industries are assumed to adjust their labour inputs towards a desired level of labour-use. A labour requirement function is specified in terms of observable variables and is used to model the desired level of labour-use. In evaluating alternative specifications, we used a flexible translog functional form where the labour requirement is a function of wages, output and capital stock. The empirical results show that in the long run, employment demand responds greatest to wages, followed by capital stock changes, and least by output. The sample mean annual speed of adjustment in employment is 33%. We further examined labour-use efficiency of different industries defined as the ratio of optimal to the observed level of employment. The rate of over-use of labour ranges across industries from 6.8% to 8.1% over the period of this study.Dynamics; employment; labour-use efficiency; panel data; Zimbabwe's manufacturing; speed of adjustment;

The Nose Brigade and the SRB's: University Education and Class Formation in Zimbabwe during the 1980's

A Department of Economics Working Paper on UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND CLASS FORMATION IN ZIMBABWE during the 1980's.In Zimbabwe, as elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, secondary and tertiary education and training have been the principal vehicles for socio-economic advancement among the African population. This has been as true for the post-colonial period since 1980 as it was during the ninety years of colonial rule by white settlers. Just who obtains access to education and training institutions is, therefore, of central importance in any analysis of the social structure and, more specifically, the process of class formation in contemporary Zimbabwean society.The Research Board of the University of Zimbabwe generously funded this research

Impact of working capital on the profitability of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

This study examines the influence of working capital management components on the profitability of South African firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”). In addition, the study investigates how the influence of the selected working capital management components changes as macroeconomic conditions change. The study used accounting based secondary data obtained from I-Net Bridge and BF McGregor for 254 firms from 2004 to 2010. The Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (“OLS”) regression models were used in the analyses. The key findings from the study indicate the following: (1) that there exists a significant negative relationship between the net time interval between actual cash expenditures on a firm‟s purchase of productive resources and the ultimate recovery of cash receipts from product sales (cash conversion cycle) and profitability. This negative relationship suggests that managers can create value for the shareholders of the firm by reducing the cash conversion cycle; (2) that there exists a significant negative relationship between days sales in receivables and profitability. This indicates that slow collection of accounts receivables is associated with low profitability and suggests that corporate managers can improve profitability by reducing credit period granted to their customers; (3) that an increase in the length of a firm‟s cash (operating) cycle tends to increase profitability during an economic recession than during an economic boom. This result indicates that firms adopt a more generous trade credit policy during an economic recession than during a boom in an attempt to boost sales which would ordinarily dwindle during a recession. The implication of this positive relationship in comparison with a negative relationship between the normal cash conversion cycle and profitability is that corporate managers need to streamline their trade credit policy and change it accordingly as the macroeconomic environment changes in ensuring that the company‟s sales are not adversely impacted as economic conditions change. Furthermore, the study finds that there exists a highly significant negative relationship between profitability and the following respective ratios: days payables outstanding, current ratio, and capital structure. The negative relationship found between profitability and debt to equity ratio (used as a proxy for capital structure) indicates that South African firms‟ profitability tends to decrease at excessively high and increasing levels of debt

Developing pathways to improve smallholder agricultural productivity through ecological intensification technologies in semi-arid Limpopo, South Africa

Agriculture faces an enormous global challenge of feeding nine billion people by 2050. This means a comprehensive intensification of agriculture is required. Ecological intensification is gaining momentum as a clearly defined vision for increasing agriculture productivity and sustainability. How ecological intensification could be tailored to benefit smallholder farming systems in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the major question. In this study, we develop pathways relying on ecological intensification technologies and suiting different farm types of smallholder agriculture. This study relies on multiyear engagements with agricultural experts and smallholder farmers in Ha Lambani, South Africa and leads to the identification of farmer groupings. We analyse 40 in-depth semi structured interviews with farmers which leads to the identification of farming patterns and constraints. We present how farming systems analysis of challenges and constraints helps to identify and link specific ecosystem services with suitable ecological intensification options. We conclude that the expert-based classification of farmers offered a more contextualized representation of farming system heterogeneity, where tailored ecological intensification technologies could play a major role in improving agricultural productivity. Beyond this community, it emphasizes the need to consider farmers type heterogeneity as a strong decision parameter for targeting ecological intensification

Employment, Unemployment and the Evolution of Labour Policy in Zimbabwe

This article discusses the development of the labour market in Zimbabwe. In particular, we analyse the evolution of labour market policy since the colonial period. Empirical evidence on the operations of the labour market are reviewed and the consequences of different labour market policies are analysed

CHAPTER 5 Measuring Fiscal Distress in South African Local Government Sector

The fiscal performance of the South African local government sector is increasingly under scrutiny, as more municipalities are failing to create and deliver public value to their communities, which has caused a plethora of problems. Many municipalities are in fiscal distress; a key public issue that affects the economic, social and political wellbeing of both individuals and communitie