College of Business and Economics | Annual Report 2022 86 and Senior Research Associate, Dr Sean Muller, completed research for the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) on estimating the efficiency of education expenditure in South Africa. The study formed part of the FFC’s annual submission to parliament on the 2023/2024 Division of Revenue. CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS PEERC is currently involved in two projects for the Water Research Commission (WRC). These are: • Introducing Dynamic Tariffs in South Africa’s Water System - WRC In 2021, PEERC received grant funding from the WRC to look at introducing dynamic pricing into the South African water sector. The project concludes in March 2024. To date, PEERC has achieved all the necessary deliverables for the project. This includes a review of international case studies that applied dynamic pricing in the water sector, a review of the current water pricing system in South Africa and comprehensive focus group discussions with key stakeholders in the South African water sector. The latter objective explored the configuration of the water value chain and examined methods to implement dynamic pricing at various levels of the water value chain in the country. • Assessing the Welfare Impacts of Municipal Short-term Responses to Water Supply Crises - WRC At the beginning of 2022, PEERC received funding from the WRC to undertake a project entitled “An Analysis of the Economic Efficiency of Municipal Short- term Responses to the Water Supply Crises in South Africa”. The study is based on the responses by the Nelson Mandela Bay and the City of Cape Town municipalities to the water supply crises that they are facing and the impact on the welfare of water consumers within their jurisdictions. To date, PEERC has completed the project’s theoretical review and is engaging with the respective municipalities to collect the necessary data for the analysis. The project’s expected completion date is March 2024 and is being coordinated by Professor Stephen Hosking, Senior Research Associate at PEERC. PUBLICATIONS AND WORKING PAPERS PEERC has published in national and international academic journals during the 2022 academic year. The publications and working papers are given as follows: • Ravat, Z., Dikgang, J. and Mahabir, J. (2022). Influences of Various Pricing Points: An Experimental Study of Plastic Bags in Johannesburg, South Africa. Journal of Applied Economics. 25(1): 1200-1218. • Samkange, C.M., Mahabir, J. and Dikgang, J. (2022). Efficiency of South African Water Utilities: A Double Bootstrap DEA Analysis. Applied Economics. 54(26): 1-19. • Espoir, D.K., Sunge, R. and Bannor, F. (2022). Economic Growth, Renewable and Non-renewable Electricity Consumption: Fresh Evidence from a Panel of African Countries. Energy Nexus. • Bannor, Frank; Magambo, Isaiah Hubert; Mahabir, Jugal; Tshitaka, Jean-Luc Mubenga (2022): Interdependence between climate change and migration: Does Agriculture, geography, and development level matter in sub-Saharan Africa? ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Kiel, Hamburg SUSTAINABILITY, INNOVATION AND FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (4IR) The Research Centre is currently engaged in new and innovative research aligned with the 4IR and the use of technology and artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing systems. One of these is the possibility of introducing dynamic pricing into the South African water pricing system. This entails examining the potential for water tariffs charged by municipalities to adjust to changes in the water supply, i.e., the current water supply in reservoirs. In implementing such a system, the use of new and innovative technologies becomes critical in monitoring water levels in reservoirs and monitoring household water usage for pricing purposes. PEERC is working on a collaboration project with Hydrodrip Limited to introduce a virtual water credit market for water consumers. The aim is to pilot new technology to measure water consumption in water consumer units and to develop a virtual water credit market where consumers can trade water savings with other water users. This system intends to improve the allocative efficiency of water by promoting water savings in lower water users and allocating such savings to higher water users. PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATION PEERC researchers and associates worked on building numerous partnerships with national and international organisations. These include: • African Association of Environmental Economics • Water Research Commission • South African Local Government Association • University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania • The University of Washington, United States of America • University of Gothenburg, Sweden • Makerere University, Uganda
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