Browsing by Author "Wilson, Francis"

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    A socio-economic study of an African development scheme
    (1969) Reynolds, Norman; Wilson, Francis
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    A tapestry of people: The growth of population in the province of the Western Cape
    (Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Horner, Dudley; Wilson, Francis
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    The agro-economic development of the lowland region of Lesotho
    (1971) Helman, Chaim; Wilson, Francis
    The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities of agricultural development through the intensification of crop production in the lowland of Lesotho. The methodology used went through the following steps: a) A representative "village model" based on studies of lowland conditions was formulated. b) The alternative ways of intensifying crop production in the lowlands were studied. c) Linear programming was used in comparing the alternative ways by planning the "village model" with the objective of profit maximization. d) The planning results were analysed and conclusions were drawn. e) Organization patterns which are required for their implementation were recommended.
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    An analysis of the independent trade unions in South Africa in the 1970s
    (1986) Maree, Johannes Gerhardus Bester; Wilson, Francis
    The thesis is an historical and sociological study of the independent trade unions in South Africa in the 1970s. Several research methods were used: participant and non-participant observation, primary and secondary source, and open-ended interviews. In addition, shown to the unions for correction of clarification of issues. material, structured earlier drafts were factual errors and the findings of the thesis are as follows: historically, the independent unions went through two stages in the 1970s. During the first stage they struggled for survival against capital and the state, which opposed their very existence. At the end of 1976 their future hung in the balance because of political turmoil, economic recession, and state repression. But they survived and in the second stage they fought to gain formal recognition at a limited number of companies. Sociologically, the thesis focusses on two major themes: the efforts of the independent unions to be democratic organisations and their strategies to acquire power. A central finding is that the independent unions strove to build up their strength by organising democratically at the workplace. Certain strategies in organising and tactics in industrial disputes were more successful than others in helping the unions build up their strength. The unions went through a democratisation process that entailed three phases: the creation of democratic structures in the unions, developing workers' capacities to take control of the structures, and the emergence of representative and accountable worker leadership. While this process had not been completed by the end of the period under consideration, the strong influence initially exercised by intellectual leaders was reduced considerably. The empirical findings of the thesis are used to evaluate the appropriateness of relevant sociological theories of trade unions and related issues. They are frequently found to be inappropriate , being based on conditions very different from those that faced the independent unions. Finally , it is concluded that the democratic form of organisation adopted by the independent unions in the 1970s had a definite political significance which started emerging in the 1980s.
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    Beyond the record : the political economy of cross border trade between Cyangugu, Rwanda and Bukavu, DR Congo
    (2003) Mthembu-Salter, Gregory; Wilson, Francis
    Bibliography: leaves 138-143.
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    Carnegie Conference Overview
    (Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Wilson, Francis
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    The distribution and redistribution of health resources in South Africa
    (1991) Van den Heever, Alexander Marius; Wilson, Francis
    This thesis is intended as a broad examination of the distribution of health resources in South Africa. Issues both macro and micro in nature have been covered to provide a perspective that would be Jacking in a narrower study. Although the title refers to a redistribution of resources, the intention of this thesis is to stress the importance of providing appropriate health measures rather than merely apportioning existing facilities evenly. This realization is insufficient, however, if it is not accompanied by the introduction and utilization of analytical approaches for identifying resource selection priorities. The influences on health status are many. In defining appropriate measures to improve health status it is important to be aware of the limitations of medical-care. Chapter three involves a cross-sectional regression analysis of various countries in order to examine the influences certain variables have on health status. This study suggests the need for an integrated approach to improving the health of a population. Merely focusing on medical care will only have a limited affect. However, this does not mean that medical-care is not important. It must just be provided in an appropriate manner. The rest of the thesis evaluates health-care resource distribution in South Africa. The existing distribution of health-care resources in South Africa is ill-suited to the existing health status of the population. There is a bias toward urban based curative facilities. Furthermore, the location of facilities has been based on racial criteria, whereby some areas have sufficient resources for their needs while others do not. Two methods of identifying how these issues should be dealt with are produced in this thesis. The first deals with a method for adjusting the broad distribution of funds toward those areas where need is greatest. The suggestion put forward by this thesis is that a formula be developed that would be able both to define need on a geographical basis, and to allocate resources based on that need. The formula would be used to allocate government health expenditure. This section is based on a formula that was developed in the United Kingdom. The second deals with a method for defining appropriate medical interventions on the micro level. It is called cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). CEA is used for micro-economic decision-making where a choice has to be made between at least two alternatives for attaining a particular objective. Furthermore, CEA evaluates projects or programmes that are on-going in nature. It should be noted that CEA can also evaluate non-medical interventions to solve a particular health problem. In order to indicate the type of information that a CEA can provide, an investigation into cervical cancer procedures used on black females was produced. The entire black female population of South Africa was examined. A computer simulation of incidence and mortality rates of the disease was used to evaluate various scenarios. The results indicate that significant gains can be made by introducing cervical cancer screening on a large scale in South Africa. A major priority of this thesis was to stress the importance of using economic criteria to assist in making decisions concerning health-care resource allocations. Very little work of this nature is produced in South Africa. Hopefully this will not always be the case.
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    International migration in Southern Africa
    (Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, 2015-05-28) Wilson, Francis
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    National accounting statistics for the less developed economies (with special reference to Transkei)
    (1982) Abedian, Iraj; Wilson, Francis
    Macroeconomics is that part of economics which studies the overall averages and aggregates of the economic system. It seeks to explain the causes and consequences of fluctuation in the general level of output, or prosperity and depression, the general price level, or inflation. and deflation, the general level of employment, which moves with the level of output, and the general level of interest rates, which is to some degree related to the phenomena above. It is evident therefore that macroeconomic analysis involves the measurement of macroeconomic activity. That branch of macroeconomics which is concerned with the measurement of macroeconomic activity is called national accounting, or national income accounting. Like all other branches of economics national accounting has evolved considerably over the past three centuries. Initially, different countries developed their own national accounting systems, depending mainly on the structure of their economies and the possibilities for data collection. Examples of developments in this direction are the French system of national accounts and the British system of national accounts. Later on, for the sake of international comparability, attempts were made to develop a standard pattern which would be employed by all countries. The results of these attempts were the 1953 and 1968 systems of National Accounts introduced by the United Nations (U.N.), referred to as the U.N. System of National Accounts. This thesis studies the underlying concepts and the general applicability of these two systems, the latter being a revised version of the former.
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    Population explosion and poverty amongst Africans in South Africa
    (1986) Mphahlele, Florence Masabatha; Wilson, Francis
    The current rate of world population growth is one of today's major problems and constitutes a threat to the future of all mankind. Over three and a half billion people live on our small, in places overcrowded planet, and if the present rate of growth continues this figure will double within the next thirty to forty years. This phenomenon has been described as the "population explosion". Why does it constitute a threat? Growth in itself is not necessarily bad; it has been the basis for much human progress in the past. What concerns us is that a large proportion of this growth is concentrated in certain areas of the world and can be linked to the appalling conditions of deprivation endured by millions of men, women and children in these areas. Though the impact of the population explosion is presently restricted to only certain segments of mankind, there is every indication that future consequences may affect all of us. My main focus will be amongst the African population in South Africa. The principal purpose of my thesis is to offer an organised approach to a complex and very controversial subject on the fertility of Africans in South Africa based on research conducted within the Eastern and Western Cape regions. The thesis is divided into five parts. Part A discusses the aims and objectives of the study. It also discusses the methodology of the research and background on area study, and examines the South African population growth. Part B, details theories of population growth. It also reviews literature on the determinants of population growth. In Part C, the research results are tabled and tested for statistical significance. In Part D, the results are compared and discussed with other similar literature findings. Part E, draws conclusions from the findings and recommends possible strategies for action against African population growth in South Africa.
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    Public works as a response to labour market failure in South Africa
    (2002) McCord, Anna Gabriele; Wilson, Francis
    Unemployment has been rising in South Africa for the last three decades, leading to official unemployment rates of 26.4% (37% if the broad definition is used). This implies a jobless total of 7 million, with more than 40% of the rural population unemployed, and the development of a growing pool of workers who are excluded from the labour market. The South African economy is facing labour market failure, with labour supply increasingly outstripping demand. If the economy continues on its current growth path this problem of labour market failure will intensify and the employment situation will continue to deteriorate. The severe levels of unemployment resulting from this market failure are a particular problem in South Africa given the role unemployment plays in exacerbating poverty and inequality in an already highly unequal and segmented society, and the uneven incidence of unemployment among racial groups. Public works programming offers a response to both poverty and unemployment, while also addressing the linked national priority issue of asset creation. This paper discusses the option of state intervention through public works, reviewing the South African response in the context of global public works experience. The paper examines both project based public works programming, which forms the dominant policy response in South Africa, and the option of large-scale labour intensification of state expenditure, and examines the employment creation and cost implications of each, drawing on a case study from KwaZulu Natal. The paper concludes that public works interventions in South Africa to date have been relatively limited in scope and impact, and that the potential exists for far greater job creation and poverty alleviation through both the labour intensification of public spending, and the rationalization of the project based approach.
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    Regulation of South African agriculture : performance of agricultural marketing boards
    (1979) Rees, D J; Wilson, Francis
    The object of this thesis is to examine the policies of South African agricultural marketing boards, both as separate entities and within the broader context of South African agricultural policy. Stabilisation and subsidisation are examined from a theoretical standpoint and the analysis supported with empirical evidence. The possibility of a centralised policy of price control is considered and a technique suggested whereby such a policy might be implemented. It is suggested, however,· that market uncertainty and the vast amount of information necessary make such an ambitious programme of market control unworkable in practice. The policies followed by some of the major marketing boards are examined. Three possibilities are identified: i) Revenue maximisation ii) Revenue stabilisation iii) Price/quantity stabilisation In view 6f the wide differences between the boards in respect of type of product handled and export possibilities, it is to be expected that they will follow divergent policies. The evidence presented suggests, however, that the boards have not used their monopoly powers in the manner predicted by conventional economic theory. In the case of several of the boards, price policy seems to have been neutral. The reason for this disparity between theory and empirical obsel'.lvat:ion is discussed. The behaviour of South African agricultural marketing boards is related to evidence on regulatory authorities in the United States. It is suggested that close parallels exist. Due to different property rjghts arrangements, the conventional monopoly profit maximisation mode.I is inapplicable. Instead, marketing boards follow a variety of other policies. Whilst the objectives of the marketing boards may not always be clear, it can be concluded that in certain significant cases, the results have been little different from those generated by the free market. It is stressed, however, that marketing boards are political rather than economic organisations and political constraints are likely to be overriding. This view is further confirmed by an examination of agricultural policy over the last fifty years. It is argued that policy has been dictated by political reality rather than economic rationality. The role of the economist has been to offer evidence in support of predetermined policies.
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    State employment in South Africa
    (1984) Standish, Joseph Barry; Wilson, Francis
    The thesis has two objectives: First to establish what has happened to employment by the State and the causes behind changes. And second to establish the role the State has adopted as a labour market operator for white labour and the effects of this role. The work is divided into three parts: PART I: This establishes some of the economic foundations of the factors affecting State employment. The factors which affect total demand for State employment are those factors which determine the total demand and supply of public output. There are four interested parties who are affected by the supply of public output: Consumers who demand public output through voting and non-voting pressure; the government which designs public output to suit the median voter and to some extent overcomes the political uncertainty problem through the implementation of ideology; producers who affect public output through non-voting pressures; and the bureaucracy which produces public output under the criteria of: (i) when a pure public good is produced this is to the full extent of the bureau budget without regard for average and marginal cost conditions and (ii) in the production of a pure private good the bureau produces efficiency only if the trading surplus accrues to the bureau. PART II: This presents the collected data and discusses problems encountered in the establishment of the data. Employment is presented by race for the various sectors of the State (for example the Central Authorities or the Railways) and for the various types of activity undertaken by the State (for example the provision of Economic Services or Educational Services). PART III: This tackles the two objectives of the work and emerges with four findings. The most surprising result of the study was while State employment has grown, the growth in black employment was proportionately far greater than the growth in white employment. This growth is largely centred on the growth of black bureaucrats and teaching services in the employ of the Central Authorities in the 1950s and Homeland governments since the 1960s. Second, State employment by activity shows the interesting result that half of all State employment is involved in providing economic services. In 1980, education employment ranked as the second most important type of employment having constituted twenty per cent of State employment. Third, the State views its role as a white labour market operator as that of an 'employer of last resort' for white labour which it achieves by means of always having posts vacant for whites, especially at lower skilled white positions. The results of this are first, to set a minimum wage for whites and second, is likely to cause the State to operate inefficiently. Fourth, it appears that certain sectors of the State were constrained by fixed factor proportions. In the public service, the Railways and the Provincial Administrations, the ratio of black to white employed rarely exceeded 1:1 until very recently. The effect of this has been to limit the growth in employment of some of the sectors as a result of the State's difficulties in attracting white labour.
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    Technological change and employment in South African agriculture : the case of maize harvesting in the Western Transvaal
    (1983) De Klerk, Michael John; Wilson, Francis; Spandau, Arnt
    Changes in the choice of technique in the harvesting and delivery of maize and weeding, the causes of these changes, and their consequences for employment and unemployment, were investigated. Data was collected for 61 farms in six magisterial districts of the Western Transvaal for the period 1968-1981. In 1968 about 30 percent of the crop was being harvested mechanically; by 1981, 95 percent. Sacks, in which almost half of total output was being delivered to depots in 1968, had, by 1977, been almost completely displaced by bulk handling. From 15 percent of the total crop area of 1968, weed sprays were being applied to 95 percent in 1981. There was an increase of about 75 percent in the average surface area of farms, and more than a doubling in the average yield per hectare. The greatest part of most of these changes occurred between 1973 and 1977. The causes of changes in the choice of technique were sought both in theory - neo-classical and historical-materialist - and in empirical evidence. A growing shortage of men but not of women, the convenience and controllability of combine-harvesting, and economies of scale generated by the increasing size of farms, were all important causes. But the cost advantage of mechanical over hand-harvesting on all except the smallest farms is what appears to have been crucial. For various reasons, this was not fully exploited until the middle '70s. Exogenous developments in technology, rather than changes in relative factor prices, should be seen as the fundamental cause of changes in harvesting techniques. Seasonal workers were still employed to glean after combine-harvesting and to hoe spray-resistant weeds, but whereas in the late '60s seasonal harvesting teams consisted typically of a comparatively large number of workers from black rural areas, mainly adults - women in the majority - and a few children, by the late '70s they were composed of a comparatively small number, most of whom were the wives and children of permanent farm workers, living on white farms. Between 1968 and 1981, the number of seasonal jobs per 1 000 hectares of maize fell by about 70 percent in harvesting and delivery, and by 60 percent in weeding. Rough estimates show total seasonal employment to have fallen from about 105 000 to 43 000 annually, the mechanization of reaping being the most important single cause. The employment of permanent workers in harvesting and delivery declined by almost 50 percent per 1 000 hectares, enabling the total number of workers to contract from about 30 000 in 1969 to 25 000 in 1976. Since 1977 employment patterns have stabilized. Though few men appear to have become unemployed because of changes in technology, women from black rural areas, chiefly in Bophuthatswana, have generally not been able to find other jobs. The real wages of permanent workers rose by 150 percent between 1970 and 1981, while those of seasonal workers increased only marginally. Changes in both wage and employment patterns have greatly narrowed the distribution of agricultural income.
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    Towards a regional development strategy for Namaqualand
    (1986) Dunne, Janeen Mary; Wilson, Francis
    Initiated by the Second Carnegie Conference on Poverty in South Africa, this study analyses the causes and extent of underdevelopment and poverty in Namaqualand and outlines a possible approach to redress these problems. Namaqualand is shown to be a sparsely populated area, the physical characteristics of which are both a fundamental cause of underdevelopment and a constraint on future development. It is argued that competition for land and other resources is an important cause of poverty in the region. The processes by which the indigenous population was forced into uninhabitable areas, and mission stations were established to reserve land for local people, are traced. The contradictory role of missionaries is analysed as well as Government and other's efforts to coerce the region's inhabitants into wage labour. Relevant literature is reviewed to elucidate underdevelopment and the scope for future development. The conclusion drawn is that no body of theory adequately explains Namaqualand's underdevelopment or offers workable solutions. An eclectic approach is adopted. The present socio-economic characteristics of the population and the state of development in the major economic sectors are described. It is evident that there is little economic diversification. Namaqualand's inhabitants depend heavily on economic activities vulnerable to marked fluctuations. Employment opportunities are limited. Living standards are constrained by poor education, physical and social mobility. Current development projects and strategies are listed and analyzed. Initiatives taken by various development agents are found to have been retarded by the constraints already mentioned. It is concluded that they lack co-ordination and do not form part of a clearly formulated development strategy. A development proposal encompassing distinct strategies is presented. These are: (i) to enhance economic mobility (ii) to improve the quality of life (iii) to exploit development potential. The ways in which these strategies complement one another are outlined, and government's role emphasized. It is argued that efforts should be concentrated on activities in which Namaqualand appears to have a comparative advantage. The need for applied research into appropriate projects and techniques is stressed as is community involvement in all phases. Close co-operation between development agents is essential. Finally in an addendum some constraints and parallels between Namaqualand and some smaller black homelands in South Africa are drawn. Statutory influx control has not determined Namaqualand's low population mobility. Emigration is possible and should constitute a vital element of any development strategy for the region. The effect on the rest of South Africa would be negligible compared to the black homeland's surplus population. At the same time the need for local government initiatives and for the transfer of public resources into such regions is stressed.