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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of electricity prices on sectoral output in South Africa from 1994 to 2015 and also econometrically examine the impact of electricity prices on output at sectoral levels over the same period. The paper also put forth a policy proposal that brings together electricity end-users, suppliers and government regulators with the goal of conveying an effective outcome that withstands output growth without necessarily compromising social and developmental objectives.

Local sources of data were utilised in applying panel data analysis. The paper utilised the data from South Africa Reserve Bank and Quantec South Africa. The Hausman test indicated that the fixed effect estimator is the appropriate estimator for this paper. Robust estimators (such as Driscoll Kraay (SCC), feasible generalised least of squares, least square dummy variables and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) were employed for consistent and efficient inferences. The study also utilised the SUR regression to analyse the impact of electricity prices on output at a sectoral level.

The fixed effect estimator results of this paper indicate that electricity prices have a negative impact on sectoral output. Again, the SUR estimator shows that the sectoral output disparately responds to electricity prices change in South Africa over the period 1994–2015.Thus, six out of eight sectors significantly and negatively respond to electricity prices change in South Africa. The mining and the construction sectors seem not to be affected by electricity prices changes unlike agriculture, manufacturing, government services, transport and communication finance and trade.

Although the research has attained its aims, there were some inevitable limitations. For instance, unlike the time series and cross-sectional data, the panel data were tardily assembled, since the researchers had to gather data for specific variables for each and every selected individual sector. However, this did not compromise the research findings since the panel data from both developed and developing countries are available from sources such as Easy data Quantec.

The results of the study show that electricity price is a limiting factor to the sectoral production growth in South Africa. Therefore, any conservation policies regarding energy or electricity should be implemented with caution. Indeed, the government should implement policies that increase energy and electricity supply in the country. Thus, the government should set affordable prices of electricity that benefits both the power and economic sector output. In addition, the electricity regulators should set prices that do not damage output across economic sectors in South Africa. Again, the government should continue supporting the imposition of subsidies on the economic sectors that are more sensitive to electricity price. To this end, the study provides a policy proposal (in line with the South African National Development Plan and the climatic change strategies) that connects electricity producers, government electricity regulators, consumers and the society with the goal of conveying an effective outcome that withstands output growth without necessarily compromising social and developmental objectives.

Cost-reflective electricity prices may be a burden to end users but this will assist in the maintenance and expansion of the power industry to get rid of electricity supply and demand imbalances which may escalate electricity prices in future. Indeed, the electricity end users including the society should pay a price that improves generation capacity to avoid power shortages since the lack of energy (electricity) contributes to poverty and deprivation and can contribute to economic decline. In this regard, the government should work hard to reduce the public resistance towards the cost-reflective electricity prices strategy; there is a need to keep the electricity end users informed on the economic impacts of such strategies in order for them to make informed choices.

This paper utilised the panel data for sectoral analysis. Again, the study aimed to provide policymakers with more information on the behaviour of different sectors with regards to electricity price changes, and hence assisting regulators and policymakers in future decisions on electricity price changes in relation to output at sectoral levels. Better knowledge of the link between electricity prices and the real sector output should permit better regulatory decisions to facilitate economic efficiency. Furthermore, it helps the government to identify sectors in need of power subsidies to enhance economic development.

The paper examined the relationship between financial development and economic growth for the period 1996 to 2018 in Eswatini.

The Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds test (ARDL) was employed to determine the long-run and short-run dynamics of the link between the variables of interest. The Granger causality test was also performed to establish the direction of causality between financial development and economic growth.

The ARDL results revealed that there is a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth. The Granger causality test revealed bidirectional causality between money supply and economic growth, and unidirectional causality running from economic growth to financial development. The results highlight that economic growth exerts a positive and significant influence on financial development, validating the demand following hypothesis in Eswatini.

Policymakers should formulate policies that aims to engineer more economic growth. The policies should strike a balance between deploying funds necessary to stimulate investment and enhancing productivity in order to enliven economic growth in Eswatini.

The study investigates the finance-growth linkage using time series analysis. It determines the long-run and short-run dynamics of this relationship and examines the Granger causality outcomes.

Focusing on Johannes L. Sadie, a South African economist hired to investigate the economic options of Southern Rhodesia at the time of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), this chapter examines the historical, ideological, pedagogical, and international influences of the intersection between economic discourse and racial ideology. Using the example of the Sadie recommendations, this chapter examines how the changing political context informed the state’s approach to the economy. A reading of the context in which Sadie was hired to justify Rhodesia’s UDI and provide legitimacy to its economic policies sheds light onto the Ian Smith regime’s approach to an alternative post-imperial (but not post-settler) state and economy, but it also speaks of the ways in which economic discourse can be deployed for political purposes by authoritarian regimes.

This article explores the use of informal socio-cultural practices to mitigate formal institutional voids in a qualitative study of informal self-employment in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. Informal socio-cultural values and practices such as ubuntu and indaba were observed to be making meaningful contribution to business and lives. Development of formal institutions as a consequence was not observed though. The article proposes that economic development efforts might best serve communities in sub-Saharan Africa by facilitating institutional development that converges with local socio-culturally informed practices rather than focus on attempts to absorb informal work into a homogenously understood formal institutional system.

The purpose of this paper is to report a numerical solution for the problem of steady, two dimensional boundary layer buoyant flow on a vertical magnetized surface, when both the viscosity and thermal conductivity are assumed to be temperature-dependent. In this case, the motion is governed by a coupled set of three nonlinear partial differential equations, which are solved numerically by using the finite difference method (FDM) by introducing the primitive variable formulation. Calculations of the coupled equations are performed to investigate the effects of the different governing parameters on the profiles of velocity, temperature and the transverse component of magnetic field. The effects of the thermal conductivity variation parameter, viscosity variation parameter, magnetic Prandtl number Pm_r, magnetic force parameter S, mixed convection parameter Ri and the Prandtl number Pr on the flow structure and heat transfer characteristics are also examined.

FDM.

It is noted that when the Prandtl number Pr is sufficiently large, i.e. Pr=100, the buoyancy force that driven the fluid motion is decreased that decrease the momentum boundary layer and there is no change in thermal boundary layer is noticed. It is also noted that due to slow motion of the fluid the magnetic current generates which increase the magnetic boundary layer thickness at the surface. It is observed that the momentum boundary layer thickness is increased, thermal and magnetic field boundary layers are decreased with the increase of thermal conductivity variation parameter =100. The maximum boundary layer thickness is increased for =100 and there is no change seen in the case of thermal boundary layer thickness but magnetic field boundary layer is deceased. The momentum boundary layer thickness shoot quickly for =40 but is very smooth for =50.There is no change is seen for the case of thermal boundary layer and very clear decay for =40 is noted.

This work is original research work.

This study aims to underline the importance of addressing gender issues in family firms. It reinvigorates research in this field by revealing its current state, identifying research gaps and suggesting future agendas.

A bibliometric approach using a co-word analysis of 376 papers from the Web of Science database and their 885 keywords was performed to reveal the thematic structure of gender and family firm research, research topics, associations among them and their evolution over the last 30 years (1991–2021).

This review provides an extensive literature base and suggests research topics that facilitate the adoption of a gendered lens in family firm literature and business practice.

This review demonstrates how gender issues are intertwined with management, leadership and family firm approaches. Our observations inform scholars, policymakers and practitioners on the need to integrate gender issues into organizational culture and to connect empowerment strategies with the sociocultural environment.

This study shows the need to address women’s empowerment in business, considering different sociocultural contexts in addition to a Western focus. It also calls for embracing gender and feminist perspectives in research.

This study aims to explore the utility of anticipatory adaptation to climate variability and related livelihood sensitivities in rural African contexts using the case of Mbire district situated in the mid-Zambezi valley region of Zimbabwe. The provision of decadal climate information (up to ten years), as part of an anticipatory adaptation package, is at the centre of analysis.

The study used semi-structured and key informant interviews, with a total of 45 semi-structured interviews being conducted with randomly selected long-term communal farmers in the case study area. Whilst data from semi-structured interviews was arranged in Microsoft Excel, thematic analysis was used in analyzing all data.

Anticipatory adaptation and decadal climate projections are shown to potentially enhance flexibility in adaptation planning vis- à-vis responding to climate variability and other challenges, as well as reduce chances of maladaptation in responding to climate challenges in the context of multiple and reinforcing stresses and shocks.

Anticipatory adaptation, with its three main pillars of future analysis, flexibility of strategies and proactive action, is emerging as key in assisting adaptation planning, the harnessing of opportunities and decision-making vis- à-vis responding to climate uncertainties and related livelihood sensitivities. Yet there have not been much empirically grounded analyses in understanding the role of anticipatory adaptation in rural Africa. This study therefore adds to evidence-based analyses towards understanding the role and utility of anticipatory adaptation in local communities in Africa.