Browsing by Author "Ruplal, Kavitha"
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- ItemThe impact of socioeconomic factors on municipal fiscal health in South Africa(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Ruplal, Kavitha; Ajam, Tania; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. School of Public Leadership.ENGLISH SUMMARY: Municipal fiscal health and the measurement thereof has become a concern for governments and public administrators across the world. Significant episodes of fiscal stress experienced by the City of New York and Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the global financial crisis in 2008, inspired a plethora of research into the topic. Since then, several approaches and methodologies have been developed by public finance experts, academics and practitioners on how local government fiscal health can be better measured and even predicted to avert potential fiscal crises. Despite there being no uniform definition of local government fiscal health after four decades of research into the topic, there is consensus that local government fiscal health is a multidimensional concept related to the fields of economics, public administration, public finance, accounting, planning, political science and sociology. There are thus different ways in which local government fiscal health can be measured and understood. Relying dogmatically on any one measurement system limits the ability to understand some of the other causes that may underlie the poor fiscal health of a local government institution. In South Africa, many municipalities are in crisis and despite the urgency of the situation and the myriad of reports capturing symptoms of fiscal distress, comparatively little is known about the underlying root causes from a structural and systemic perspective. In this research study, the researcher uses factor analysis to better understand how structural factors observed through a selection of practical and theoretically relevant socioeconomic variables impact the fiscal health of municipalities. This is particularly important within the context of South African local government given the country’s history of oppressive policies that have impacted the spatial, social, economic and financial landscape. To what extent are these structural issues still impeding the progress of municipalities in South Africa?