Browsing by Author "Jansen, Ada"

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    The limits of laws : traffic law enforcement in South Africa
    (AOSIS, 2020-04) Du Plessis, Sophia; Jansen, Ada; Siebrits, Krige
    Background: The aim of many public policies is to change behaviour. Governments tend to rely on regulations, taxes and subsidies to effect such change. These measures, which affect agents’ economic incentives, have a mixed record. A key insight of the New Institutional Economics is that the efficacy of such formal institutions depends on the strength of their enforcement and the extent to which they are compatible with prevailing informal institutions. Aim: This article uses the road safety situation in South Africa as a case study to explore aspects of the relationships among formal institutions, law enforcement and informal institutions. Setting: South Africa has a strong suite of road safety laws but poor road safety outcomes. Methods: The article draws on ideas about the relationships between formal institutions, law enforcement and informal institutions to undertake a case study of the road safety situation in South Africa. Results: The article argues that improved law enforcement cannot fully solve the problem; complementary changes to the informal institutions shaping the behaviour of road users are essential. Conclusion: Institutional economists have to take a greater interest in the insights of research in behavioural economics, behavioural and cognitive science and other disciplines in order to provide useful advice in settings where such change is an important policy objective.
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    Tax revenue mobilisation : estimates of South Africa’s personal income tax gap
    (AOSIS, 2019-07-15) Dare, Chengetai; Du Plessis, Sophia; Jansen, Ada
    Background: Tax evasion is one of the factors impeding tax revenue mobilisation. Although there are efforts to reduce non-compliance, the extent and nature thereof remain fairly unknown in many developing countries, including South Africa. To adequately address tax evasion, it is imperative to determine the tax gap (i.e. the difference between the theoretical tax liability and the actual tax revenue collected). Aim: To estimate the extent and nature of South Africa’s personal income tax gap, disaggregating the gap by the type of income (salaried and non-salaried). Setting: The study looks at the South African personal income tax system. Methods: This study employs a micro-simulation approach using data from the Income and Expenditure Survey of South Africa for the periods 2005/2006 and 2010/2011. Results: The findings reveal that South Africa lost tax revenue of R60.1 billion in 2005/2006, and R26.2 bn in 2010/2011 (in 2017 prices). Of the total compliance gap in 2005, 28.5% emanated from taxpayers with salaried income, and 71.5% from non-salaried income taxpayers. In 2010, salaried income taxpayers contributed 1.1% to the total compliance gap. Conclusion: Despite an overall improvement in the individual compliance rate, non-salaried income taxpayers (self-assessment reporting) are the main contributors to South Africa’s personal income tax gap.
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    Tutoring is fun: a study investigating tutor motivation
    (AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, 2009) Burgoyne, Megan; Jansen, Ada; Smit, Carina
    Introduction: In the global higher education context, diminishing resources, growing student numbers, larger class sizes and a pressure on academic staff time, are cited as some of the reasons for the increase in use of tutors in undergraduate education (Park, 2002). The reality of reduced resources often requires departments to fulfil the dual requirement of improving the quality of teaching, while ‘doing more with less’ (Topping, 1996:321). In response to this challenge, tutorial programmes have, in many instances, become a vital part of the academic support structure of undergraduate modules (Barrington, 1999). The tutors who work on these tutorial programmes are usually young graduate students who are enthusiastic, yet have no formal teaching experience (Brailsford, Bartlett-Trafford, Bates & Mead, 2008). Contract university tutors have been characterised as ‘departmental donkeys’ (Park & Ramos, 2002), are often seen to be over-worked and undervalued and often bear the brunt of the undergraduate teaching load (Brailsford et al., 2008). While the range of educational advantages for students participating in tutorial programmes is well researched, the benefits of tutoring, as experienced by the tutors themselves, should not be underestimated. Peer tutoring requires tutors to, for example, re-acquaint themselves with knowledge of their discipline they have already acquired, which may have a positive impact on their own studies (Topping, 1996). Peer tutoring, often promoted by the mantra ‘teach once, learn twice’, is characterised by ‘specific role-taking as tutor or tutee, with high focus on curriculum content and usually also on clear procedures for interaction, in which participants receive generic and/or specific training’ (Topping, 2005:632).