Dissertation

Financialisation in south africa: examining the financial conduct of non-financial enterprises, banks and households

Rodrigues Teles Sampaio, Nuno Jorge

2014

Overview

Financialisation addresses the rising importance of the financial sphere in contemporary capitalist economies, but the concept has remained theoretically vague, often failing to go beyond the narrow confines of the rise of finance and to examine the broader interaction of finance with the rest of the economy. Furthermore, scarce attention has been paid to the relevance of financialisation to developing countries, particularly to middle-income countries. South Africa is an important case-study that enables a stronger conceptualisation of financialisation, encompassing its relation to developing countries. The thesis first develops a political economy approach to the concept of financialisation by drawing on recent work that stresses the changing conduct of non-financial enterprises, banks and households. A theoretical framework for financialisation is developed and is then set against the empirical reality of South Africa. To be specific, the thesis examines the evolution of financial flows as well as of the financial position of different sectors - focusing on non-financial enterprises, banks, and households - during the post-apartheid period, thus testing the relevance and applicability of financialisation to South Africa. The thesis shows that the South African economy is indeed a financialised economy, but which nevertheless presents a number of distinguishing features for each sector due to the specific domestic historical context and connections with the world market. Non-financial enterprises have become increasingly engaged in debt and equity markets, but still rely on traditional sources of funding, such as bank credit. Banks have targeted households as a rising source of income, but investment banking activities have remained marginal. Finally, households have accumulated increasing volumes of debt, although with unequal distribution and cost, reflecting the extreme inequality of the South African society. The results presented contribute to a more robust understanding of financialisation in developing counties showing its variety of form as a phase of capitalist development.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: South African Studies