THE IMPACT OF REPETITIVE XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS ON FUTURE FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: A CASE OF SOUTH AFRICA

The debate of the link between xenophobia and importance of foreign direct investment is of interest. A phrase says it all, “One cannot want foreign money and hate foreign businesses at the same time.” Does South Africa, as a country, love foreign investment, and by extension, foreign investors? A ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ answer will do for this question. Foreign direct investments are the most desirable form of capital inflows to emerging and developing countries. Many benefits are linked to accrue to a nation because of FDI inflows. FDI is climatic sensitive, and usually goes where it is wanted most and where conducive environment prevails. The South African nation is dominated by unending violence that also targets foreigners including their businesses. Effective policies to curb xenophobia seems to be lacking. There exist xenophobia denialism among the political leaders, making it more difficult to halt the problem. Letting the nation continue turning into a hostile destination for foreigners may pose a great investment challenge in the longer term. The path that South Africa is walking today, of protecting and failing to address issues of xenophobia, have a long term impact to investment in the country. Conflicts and violence attacks, hence xenophobia, continue to affect FDI flows several years into the future. The trend of net FDI has already shown a downward trend that may be attributed to issues of unrest persistent in the economy. The study strongly indicate that repetitive xenophobic attacks significantly impact future FDI inflows negatively. Immediate action is required to minimize the damage caused by xenophobia in the country. Investment climate restoration is required to ensure favorable economic growth path for the country. KEYWORDS: Economic Growth, Foreigners, Foreign Direct Investment, Instability, Investment, Investment Climate, Socio-economic Development, Violence, Xenophobia, South Africa

ACCESS OF BARE NECESSITIES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SANGLI DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA

The present study examines that the sectorial inequalities in access of bare necessities to the people by the Bare Necessitates Index (BNI) of Sangli district at the tehsil level along with the sector. This is an innovative study for the Sangli district and it covered all ten tehsils along with sectorial i.e., rural and urban to the grassroots level analysis of BNI. The estimation of the Bare Necessitates Index (BNI) of the Sangli district is based on Census 2011 data. Main observations of this study, the BNI of Shirala and Walwa total, rural and urban has a high category, it all indicates that the better access of basic/bare necessities to total, rural and urban people. Overall estimation of Bare Necessities Index (BNI) of Sangli district total, rural as well as urban has a very low category. It treated access of bare necessities to total, rural as well as urban people are very low in Sangli district. Sectoral analysis of BNI indicates that the access of bare necessities to rural people is very low than urban people in Sangli district.

VERTICAL FISCAL IMBALANCES IN INDIA: CONCEPT AND MEASUREMENT

India is a federation whose roots can be found in the colonial period. Indian federal setup is clearly divided between centre, state and local government and likewise, the sources of revenue and responsibilities are also divided between them. The decentralization process in India is asymmetrical in the sense that decentralization of expenditure has been much more than the revenue decentralization as provided by the Constitution, thereby creating an imbalance in states’ income and spending. When this mismatch between the two is measured at different levels of government, we call it Vertical Fiscal Imbalance. In this paper, I have presented various definitions and measures of VFI given by several economists over the years and tried to measure the extent of VFI that exist in India since 1990-91 to 2014-15. We have used twenty five years data to make an analysis based on the data available in Finance Commission reports and Indian Public Finance Statistics. Our results show that the amount of revenue that has been decentralized over the period of study falls much short of the expenditure requirements that are expected to be met by the state governments. The situation is so intense that the state governments are left with no option other than relying on central transfers for financing their needs and that where the central government enjoys an upper hand and an authoritative power over the internal matters of the states. KEYWORDS: Expenditure, Decentralization, Indian federation, Revenue, Vertical Fiscal Imbalance.