Do FDI and Public Investment Crowd in/out Domestic Private Investment in the SADC Region

Our study examines the crowding-in/out effect of foreign direct investment and government expenditure on private domestic investment for 15 members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for the period 1991–2019. The study employed the panel Pool Mean Group (PMG)/ARDL technique in estimating the short-run and long-run cointegration relationships between FDI, government capital expenditure and domestic private investment and adds three more variables for control purposes (interest rate, GDP growth rate and trade openness). For the full sample, FDI crowds-in domestic investment whilst government crowds-out domestic investment. However, in performing a sensitivity analysis, in which the sample was segregated into low and high income economies, both FDI and government investment crowd-in domestic investment whilst government expenditure crowds-out domestic investment in lower income SADC countries with no effect of FDI on domestic investment. Policy implications are discussed.

A Review of Methodological Choices Relating to Work-Life Boundary Research

A methodological review was performed on work-life boundary-related studies published from the year 2010 to 2018. This review systematically selected 59 journal articles on the work boundary phenomenon. The selection criteria for this review closely followed three previous systematic methodological reviews performed on work-life research. Where possible, comparisons were made to integrate the findings of the current study with these previous systematic reviews. Articles were reviewed based on methodological choices such as research design, sampling strategy, data collection, data analysis, reliability, and validity measures. Findings of the review revealed that researchers had utilised a variety of methodological stances to conduct their studies. The majority of the studies in the field followed a quantitative approach, and most studies relating to work boundary management were field studies with a cross-sectional design. Qualitative studies in the area were primarily based on grounded theory. Significant methodological gaps were identified that could be bridged by future studies. Further, notable suggestions were proposed relating to reliability and validity measures taken by the researchers.

Income Inequality and Socio-Political Instability in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this paper, we analyse the impact of income inequality on Socio-Political Instability (hereinafter SPI) in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1990 to 2018 with a sample of 47 countries. We first present the theoretical and empirical debate on income inequality and SPI. This literature review allows us tomeasure SPI using the principal component analysis method and hierarchical clustering and partitioning to analyse the similarities and differences between countries from a multidimensional perspective. We then estimate the SPI concerning income inequality and democracy. The findings are that assassinations are not linked to a regime’s duration, and the duration of a regime reduces if coups d’état (successful or not) are rampant. Between democracy and income inequality, the former has 34 times more impact on SPI. GDP growth increases SPI and education reduces SPI.

Regional Business Confidence as Early Indicator of Regional Economic Growth

Official sub-national GDP figures in South Africa are usually published with long delays or not at all, i.e. relevant, reliable, and real-time economic data on a provincial and local (municipal) level are often non-existent, causing a significant data asymmetry at the sub-national level. The search for an ‘optimal’ sub-national proxy for regional economic growth focuses on the possible use of regional business confidence. This article, therefore, investigates the use of regional business confidence indices (RBCI) as an early indicator or proxy of the regional economic growth rate (RGDP). To this end, the study employed panel cointegration methodology and techniques to interrogate the possible association between regional business confidence and regional economic growth, focusing on three specific regions of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The results suggest that the utilisation of regional business confidence indicators indeed has merit. Constraints experienced in the study indicate the direction that further studies may follow, especially concerning the scope of the period and cross-sections. The research, therefore, addresses a fundamental gap in the data asymmetry in South Africa, while also setting a benchmark for other researchers to follow.