Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
School of Economic Sciences
Department of Economics
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
One of the major projects of the Faculty during 2005 is undisputedly the research by the Department of Economics on tax modelling and tax policy in South Africa.
A profile of the South African taxpayer population was compiled, which will be published by SA Revenue Services (SARS). For the first time in more than a decade detailed tax data is now available in a format that will enable tax experts to do much more in depth analysis of revenue trends in South Africa. For policy makers such as the National Treasury this will also provide a useful base for tax policies.
The tax database also serves as an invaluable input into the Department of Economics’ macro and micro-simulation tax models with which both SARS and National Treasury are advised with regard to revenue projections. Different policy scenarios are simulated with the models and the Minister of Finance is advised accordingly.
Prof NJ Schoeman
Economics
+27 (0) 12 420 3455
niek.schoeman@up.ac.za
The second and third in a series of bi-annual economic analysis and forecasting reports compiled by the African Institute for Economic Modelling (AFRINEM), Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria were released in May and December 2005 respectively. The main objective of these reports is to present an assessment and forecast of the South African economy based on the outcomes of our suite of models, which include a Macro-econometric and
Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model. The report also includes a detailed assessment and forecast of the agricultural sector by the Bureau of Food and Agriculture Policy (BFAP), Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development at the University of Pretoria.
Prof CB du Toit
Economics
+27 (0) 12 420 3522
charlotte.dutoit@up.ac.za
The Tshwane Metropolis – one of the biggest in the country - contracted the University’s School of Economic Sciences to develop a Business Intelligence Index (BII). The aim of this research project, entitled: Tshwane Management Index is to develop a customized performance measurement tool for the Council, which can be used to measure and improve service delivery.
The BII has been completed and submitted to the Council for approval and possible implementation. Should the Council decide to go ahead with the implementation, the BII will give them a clear indication which service delivery show improvement or deterioration.
Based on the results of this research project, the following recommendations were made:
· A central database should be implemented from where the required data can be sourced. This would simplify the collection process;
· Information that should be captured includes time series data. Information should be collected and maintained accordingly;
· Regions must be standardised in order to simplify comparisons; and
· Workshops in each department have to ensure that the usefulness and application of the data collected (as captured in the index) are properly communicated.
Prof AC Jordaan
Economics
+27 (0) 12 420 3462
andre.jordaan@up.ac.za
This research project entitled: Aligning the provincial budget with its growth and development strategy, was commissioned by the Limpopo Government. The aim was to realign the Province's budget priorities with that of its growth and development strategies. This implied that both the budget and the development strategies of the province had to be scrutinised in detail.
It was found that no more than 7% of the Province's budget was spent on activities listed as priority development initiatives. It was also found that the Provincial Treasury has little executive power and/or influence in resource allocation, which made it an almost impossibility to achieve the set objectives in the Province's Growth and Development Strategy. It was therefore recommended that a high level debate at provincial level should commence to enhance the manoeuvrability of Treasury in terms of resource allocation. It was further recommended that a gap analysis be undertaken to identify the resources necessary to achieve the objectives as stated in the strategy document.
Prof JN Blignaut
Economics
+27 (0) 12 420 2413
james.blignaut@up.ac.za
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