This paper uses a dataset of Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa to examine the determinants of the probability of their returning to their country of origin. It analyses migrants' return migration intentions using a logistic regression that examines 10 demographic and socioeconomic factors. Six factors -reason for migrating, the number of dependants supported in the home country, the level of education, economic activity in the host country, the level of income and the duration of stay in the host country -are found to be statistically significant determinants of the return migration intentions. The main policy implication of these findings is that the chances of attracting back skills are high if political and economic stability can be achieved.

No abstract

We empirically examine the impact of bank credit on agricultural output in South Africa using the Cobb-Douglas production function. We utilize time series data of agricultural output, bank credit, capital accumulation, labour and rainfall from 1970 2009. With agricultural output as the dependent variable, we determine OLS estimates of the Cobb-Douglas production function. We observe that bank credit has a positive and significant impact on agricultural output in South Africa. With other factors of production kept constant, a 1% increase in credit results in 0.6% increase in agricultural output. Capital accumulation is also observed to have a positive and significant impact on agricultural output, albeit lower than that of credit, as a 1% increase in capital accumulation results in 0.4% increase in output, other factors kept constant. In terms the Cobb-Douglas elasticities, the combined effect of credit (0.6%) and capital accumulation (0.4%) gives constant returns to scale, meaning that doubling the two inputs will double agricultural output.

In this paper we investigate the dynamic relationship between bank credit and agricultural output in South Africa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of individual characteristics (such as sex, age, education and income) on the likelihood of account ownership and use in selected Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. Account use is operationalized into two constructs namely the use of account to save and the frequency of account use. Design/methodology/approach Data from 18,000 individuals from 18 SSA economies are used for the analysis. These data are sourced from the World Bank’s Global Findex database. Simple probit and selection models are employed as econometric tools. Findings Account ownership and use is found to be higher among males, middle aged, high income and educated individuals. The marginal effect of income and education is most pronounced suggesting more policy attention is required in respect of the two factors. Practical implications Due to causality issues between financial inclusion and income, addressing the plight of the poor in financial inclusion projects will be a continuing challenge for policy makers. Originality/value It supplements the dearth of econometric studies conducted on the topic. Furthermore, regional specific factors affect the generality of results which calls for such type of studies.