Suchergebnisse

The UN SDG 13 recommends that effective climate action is imperative for attaining target climate change reduction. Similarly, effective investment in renewable energy is a vital strategy for curbing climate change. This paper evaluates the effect of climate action on renewable energy stock price. It adopts a short review and brief quantitative approach. Data on climate action index and renewable energy stock price were retrieved from the MSCI and Fusion Media respectively. The simple OLS results indicate that the climate action index has a negative effect on the renewable energy stock (within the ambits of this study). The paper offers some implication for clean energy stock investors who may want to sell short or long during the time of reduced prices and to make a hedging profit when the prices rise. The findings provide an agenda for further research to expand future research data to other climate action indexes and renewable energy stocks.

This article assesses the link between the four pillars of gender equality and extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Accordingly, the objective of the paper is to empirically examine whether the four pillars of gender equality, namely women's health, women education, political participation of women and economic participation facilitate extreme poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Data were collected from the World Bank development indicators and World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index for 25 sub-Saharan African countries whose data appear on both indexes for three years into the SDGs era. Th e paper applied a quantitative approach with secondary data on poverty gap index drawn from the World Economic Forum Poverty Gap Index for sub-Saharan Africa. Data for twenty-fi ve sub-Saharan African countries were analysed using the fi xed-eff ect panel data regression approach using the Hauseman model selection test. Findings from the analysis indicate that, ceteris paribus, an increase in the threegender equity variables namely economic participation of women, education of women and political participation and leadership of women in sub-Saharan Africa has a signifi cant potential to reduce extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa within the sample of study. Since the fi ndings of this study have shown that extreme poverty can be reduced through increased women participation in economic activity, education and leadership, the SDG of poverty alleviation can be improved in sub-Saharan Africa through better government provision of economic, educational and leadership opportunities for women such as providing women with free-interest small business start-up funds, free education for women and supporting women to ascend and survive in political and leadership positions in sub-Saharan Africa through a balanced quota for female leadership positions. Given that the women's health variable did not prove to be signifi cant on extreme poverty, further research is recommended to separate the health variable into rural health and urban health variables in order to examine the possibility that either of the health clusters might contribute signifi cantly to reducing extreme poverty. Th is paper contributes to existing literature by providing an empirical evidence to show that gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa is a viable policy strategy for achieving the SDGs 2030 Agenda of extreme poverty eradication in sub-Saharan Africa; the paper also provides empirical model for future study.

Abstract
This research examines the differential effect of research-writing teaching innovation on proposal and dissertation completion rates at the Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership (TGSL). The method combined a review with a longitudinal quantitative secondary data design. The data on proposal and dissertation completion rates were compared using a t-test statistics. Findings show that at an alpha level of 0.05, a significant difference (at P<0.05) exists in the proposal and dissertation completion rates between the pre-innovation teaching period and within the innovation teaching period – with improved completion rate occurring during the teaching innovation period. Results also depict a mean difference in research methodology pass marks (albeit insignificance). Based on the findings, the paper contributes by developing an agency-based inclusive framework for teaching dissertation research writing. This framework provides an agenda for further research on teacher and student agency, and hence inclusive teaching of academic writing.

This paper examines the possible influence of violent protests on the effectiveness of governance in South Africa. South Africa continues to experience huge number of labour as well as popular municipal service delivery protests. The popular social view with ensuing protests has often pointed at governance inefficiency as the cause of violent protests. This paper adopts a slightly different view in its analysis of violent protests and instead looks at possible influence of violence as possible instigator of ineffective governance. The paper is conceptually rooted in reviews ? combined with simple regression test of possible relationship between violent protest and governance effectiveness. The authors also present an examination of probable relationship between violent protests and governance effectiveness using observation of macro-economic data trends from the World Bank. The findings reveal a probable weakening in governance effectiveness or its perception thereof as a result of violent protests. Amongst others, violent protests produces a psyche of perpetual victimhood that leads to further violence resulting in less value attached to lives, destruction of economic property, increases pollution, production stoppages for goods and services and in turn depletes government revenue generation and frustrates international investors. We postulate that under condition explained above, government effectiveness in managing public resources becomes weakened and may lead to wastage and inefficiency as the resources and revenues employed in controlling violent protests are unplanned and do not often lead to constructive and sustainable public policy. We suggest that this condition therefore may result in reduction in economic growth which in turn perpetuates the same weaknesses that led to society protests and violence.

This paper explored the relationship between external pressure and social disclosure in South African banks. The South African Kings III guideline on corporate governance highlighted the importance of inclusion of social disclosure in the integrated reports of banks; however, little prior research has focussed on external pressure and social disclosure within the South African banking sector. Hence, this paper adds a nuance to this branch of literature within the South African context. It used a sample of banks within the JSE SRI Index and applied the content analysis in data collection on external pressure and bank's social disclosure. It then applied the panel data multiple regression statistics. Results showed that profit motive, government pressure and customer pressure proved positively and significantly related to banks' social disclosure at a P value of 0.05. The paper offers practical and policy implication for sustainability advocacy groups and regulators and for academics for research and academic studies. It recommends further expanded research with many years and more financial institutions aside of banks to research on likely strategic reasons behind banks' social disclosure.

This paper examined whether selected South African mining companies obtain sustainability report assurance and whether the sustainability reports are internally or externally assured. The methodological approach is a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis of assurance elements in sustainability reports. Findings indicate that a considerable number of mining companies are complying with the requirements of the King III assurance requirement; however, there is still room for improvement mostly in the external assurance requirement. The study finds that the lack of external assurance from some firms may stem from apparent optional nature of sustainability guidelines. Major finding from the t-test of difference in mean-assurance levels indicate that, whilst it is commendable that companies are responding to assurance requirement, however it took approximately four years for all the sampled companies to adjust toward a significant response to King III requirement for assurance of sustainability reports. Hence the paper recommends amongst others, that policy makers should allow ample time when initiating new sustainability guidelines and/or policies to enable firms to adjust. External assurance of sustainability reports should be made obligatory and that assurance work should be made to rest in the hands of qualified experts, such as the chartered accountants, to instil greater compliance and desired credibility in sustainability reports. It is also recommended that future studies may look into the extent of independence and objectivity of external assurers of sustainability in the mining firms.

The quest for improved self-revenue generation and reduction of the financial burden on government prompted the adoption of public private partnership (PPP) in the management of South African National Parks (SANParks). Accordingly, this paper examined the revenue and conservation implication of PPP in SANParks. Using a statistical t-test of difference in means, before and within the PPP, results show a significant increase in sales revenue and conservation (with significant increase of rare and threatened species) during the PPP period. Additionally, the PPP has supported poverty alleviation through a strategic use of small, micro and medium enterprises with associated local job creation and concomitant increasing support for dependent local family members. This paper thus offers a practical evidence for conservation managers that public private partnership can enhance revenue and conservation of national parks in a developing country. Ascertaining that PPP could enhance revenue and conservation in a national park should motivate conservation managers to improve PPP strategies for reinforcing future revenue streams and attendant conservation in protected areas.

This paper evaluated the relationship between water infrastructure financing and water provision in South Africa. The research followed a quantitative research design; secondary data for water infrastructure financing and water provision in South Africa was obtained from the Trans - Caledon Tunneling Agency (TCTA) and the World Bank for the period 1994 - 2014 . The regression results indicated two separate findings which offers unique contribution to the current literature; results from water asset finance as a single independent variable on water provision showed a significant relationship. However, an addition of two control variables , corruption and violence, neutralised the effectiveness of water asset finance on water provision to the extent that water asset finance became less significant with a P value of 0.05. The paper makes a nuance contribution from the findings, which specifically is that finance alone may not deliver target water provision if corruption and violence is left unbridled. The paper thus recommends the need for public policy makers to control the rate of corruption and violence to enable effective application of water infrastructure finance in water provision. The paper also recommends the need for further research on other government departments to integrate corruption and violence as control variables.