Aspects of the motivation for voluntary disclosures: evidence from the publication of value added statements in an emerging economy

This paper investigates the motivation for the voluntary disclosure of financial information by companies in their annual financial statements, by examining aspects of the usefulness of the value added statement. The value added statement is published voluntarily with the annual financial statements and is currently experiencing high levels of publication in South Africa, which is evidently brought about by the high political costs and significant legitimacy threats that companies operating in South Africa are facing. It was found from the literature and from a survey among management that the value added statement was primarily aimed at the employees. Employees have also been regarded as users of financial information in the literature. However, a survey among trade unions in South Africa found that almost no use is made of the value added statement even though the unions make use of other financial information. This indicates that voluntary disclosures do not necessarily satisfy the information needs of their intended audience. The research also indicates that the trade unions might not use the value added statement because they suspect that the statement is being used to reduce political costs and legitimacy threats, and is therefore not reliable. This is a major shortcoming of voluntary disclosures

The value added statement: bastion of social reporting or dinosaur of financial reporting?

South Africa is at present experiencing the highest incidence of publication of the value added statement reported anywhere in the world to date. In addition research investigating the predictive ability of value added information has been conducted in the USA since 1990, even though the value added statement has not been published there. The research reported in this paper sets out to establish whether the value added statement is a disclosure worth considering by companies around the world, by investigating the South African experience with the value added statement. The social accounting theories of organisational legitimacy and political costs were found to be best suited to explain why the value added statement is published. Surveys among the companies publishing the value added statement indicated that management had the employees in mind when they published this information. However, a survey among users has indicated that very little use has been made of the value added statement. The main reason for this seems to be that the unregulated nature of the value added statement allows for inconsistencies in disclosures, which eventually caused users to suspect bias in the reports. The USA evidence that the information has additional predictive power is not confirmed by a South African study, and is complicated by the limited additional information contained in the value added statement. The South African experience with the value added statement does not make a convincing case for publication. Rather, it highlights the need for unbiased and verified social disclosures that will be useful to all the stakeholders of the company. In addition, it has implications for other voluntary social and environmental disclosures

The corporatisation of local body entities: A study of financial performance

The New Zealand electricity industry provides us with a unique opportunity to examine how entities responded to major restructuring of the industry. This research studies the financial performance of three entities, each with a different ownership structure, over a 15 year period from 1988 to 2002. The aim is to examine the possible influence of ownership type and corporatisation on the development and financial performance of the entities by examining the changes that took place from the pre-corporatisation period to the post-corporatisation period and comparing and contrasting the performance and funding of the three entities over that time. In this way an assessment is made of the possible influence of ownership type on financial performance. This research can be framed to some extent by agency theory aspects of positive accounting theory. In addition legitimacy theory has been used to explain the behaviour of managers and the process of organizations adapting to a changing environment. Both theories acknowledge the interaction of organizations and their environment. The comparison shows that at the end of the study period the council owned company was the smallest, in terms of total assets, of the three companies examined (although it was similar in size to the biggest one at the outset). The council owned company also returned most capital to its shareholders and is the most conservatively financed one of the three with only 10% debt at the end of 2002 compared to 28% for the trust-held company and 87% for the listed company. The listed company ended up being the biggest and the one with the highest gearing, the highest ROA and the highest profit margin. The study concludes that ownership structure did have an influence on financial performance and level of debt funding

Investing in health professions education: A national development imperative for South Africa

Background: Human resources for health are an essential component of any health system. South Africa’s National Development Plan identifies the need for a strengthened public health system and improvements in the quality of education and service delivery. While efforts to increase the number of trained health personnel are acknowledged, a lack of sustainable investment in improving the quality of health professions education in South Africa may have detrimental consequences for these national ideals. Discussion: South Africa’s economic growth has declined in recent years, placing pressure on its fiscal capacity and the ability of academic institutions to fund critical aspects relating to training needs within health professions education programmes. Increased intakes at universities have not been supported by concurrent increases in funding required to support evolving training needs. Reduced financial support for health professions education programs has implications for required resource capacity, and will potentially negatively impact the quality, as well as global competitiveness, of health professions training programmes in South Africa. Funding gaps which impact the quality of training also ultimately affect the quality of health services delivered by the health system in the long term. Conclusion: Political will in support of more sustainable funding mechanisms for ongoing investment into health professions education programs and their evolving training needs is required in order for South Africa to meet its development objectives as outlined in the National Development Plan and its National Health Insurance policy.     &nbsp

Retrospective review of right-sided hearts and associated cardiac malformations in children at the Chris Hani Baragwanath academic hospital

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Medicine in Paediatrics (MMed) Johannesburg, 2014Right-sided hearts have three different causes. They are often associated with additional significant cardiac malformations (ASCM) and extracardiac abnormalities. Objectives - To determine the prevalence of right-sided hearts. - To distinguish between dextrocardia, dextroversion and dextroposition. - To examine patient demographics. - To examine ASCM and extracardiac abnormalities. - To document patient management. Methods A retrospective audit of patient records. Results Dextrocardia comprised 1.8% of all congenital heart defects and 58% of all right-sided hearts seen. Situs inversus was the dominant situs arrangement. Situs solitus and situs ambiguous had a high incidence of ASCM. Dextroposition made up 41% of all right-sided hearts and the majority had causes amenable to treatment. Two patients were diagnosed with dextroversion. Conclusions Dextrocardia as a cause of a right-sided heart shows no socioeconomic or ethnic preference. ASCM are commonly seen in dextrocardia, and depends largely on the situs arrangement. Dextroposition is mostly secondary to extracardiac causes. Dextroversion is rare. It is imperative to ascertain the cause of a right-sided heart, as this will influence patient management and outcome

Services provided to relatives of patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital : an assessment of family satisfaction

Bibliography: pages 80-88.This study explores family satisfaction with services provided to them on their relatives' admission to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town. The rationale for doing this research arose from the researcher's encounters with families of psychiatric patients and the perceived lack of involvement of the professionals with the families. In addition, a needs assessment was done to establish the need for family groups. The literature review traced the psychiatric services from the earlier custodial orientation, the subsequent deinstitutionalisation of the services resulting in the families becoming the primary caregivers of their mentally ill relatives, to the emphasis of the biopsychosocial model in the recently established community services. Review of the treatment models indicated supportive family education as the primary form of intervention to ensure compliance, aid the recuperation process, enhance the quality of life for the patient and their families and to equip the families to cope with the illness. A survey method was employed to gather quantitative and qualitative data via questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with 31 relatives of 24 patients who had been admitted during January, February, and in March 1995 to the male and female admission units (wards 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16) at Valkenberg psychiatric hospital in Cape Town. A non-probability convenience sampling procedure, based on the availability and accessibility of the relatives to attend an office interview, was used. Findings from prior studies as well as from this current study have shown a lack of professional involvement with the families in relation to the treatment programme of their mentally ill relatives. The majority of the respondents were not informed about the implications of the illness and the effect of treatment and most of the respondents lacked guidance on how to cope with their mentally ill relatives. Other findings indicated that families are the most concerned about the lack of supported housing, rehabilitation services, adequate financial assistance, day care centres, sheltered employment for their mentally ill relatives and difficulties in relation to admission procedures. More than three quarters of the respondents were interested in family groups and there was a definite need for professional counselling for the parents and siblings. In response to the findings a number of recommendations are made to improve services to families, including the formation of family groups where the relatives of mentally ill people can receive psychoeducation and practical guidance. The need for further research has been identified

Green and grey: the possibility of combining green initiatives with water reuse

Abstract: As water scarcity becomes a bigger issue in South Africa so does the need for water saving practices. Couple this with the push to ‘green’ our cities and you get an interesting and, what some may consider, complex situation. As Water Scientists we are greatly positioned to provide direction towards solving this situation. More and more we are hearing about greywater reuse, especially it’s very real advantages in terms of irrigation, and, thereby, water savings (Jacobs and Van Staden, 2008; Van der Walt, 2012; Gouveia, 2013; Ilemobade et al., 2013; Van der Walt, 2013; Natha, 2015). In addition, more research is being performed on the use of greenroofs on a residential level (Van der Walt, 2013; Baloyi, 2014; Padiachy, 2014; Borchers et al., 2015). The Water Research Group of the University of Johannesburg has been performing a combination of these research areas since 2012 and have, thus far, obtained interesting results that have been used, in conjunction, to better understand the possibilities of the use of these two systems

Building our identity of psychiatry in the past, present and future South Africa

No abstract available