The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing career choice among students of th... more The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing career choice among students of the fourth year of secondary education (also known as Grade 10) in Mauritius. Based on primary data which were sourced through survey among 400 students across the Island in 2016, both qualitative and quantitative analysis were done. There was evidence of parents influences on children’s career choice. Most of students considered their academic performance and spent 1 to 3 months to decide what to study. Our results highlighted that students are happy with their present subject combination which is providing them with the necessary skills and training that they will need in the future to achieve their career goals. The findings also showed that many schools do not provide career guidance services. The key findings of the factor analysis showed that factors affecting students career choice can be grouped under three categories. The first group encompasses environment factors, followed by personality factors and lastly opportunity factors. Thus, from the findings, some recommendations were made to enable students to make informed decisions.
Over the last two decades Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) claimed an impressive economic record, ... more Over the last two decades Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) claimed an impressive economic record, as it enables economy to transit from an agrarian to knowledge based economy. This paper focuses on the determinants and impact of FDI in Mauritius using annual time series data from 1975 through 2015. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) analysis reveals that macroeconomic variables namely inflation rates and exchange rate are among the major and important factor that affect FDI in Mauritius over this period of time. Exchange rate exhibited negative significant influence on FDI while interest rate affects FDI positively. The study therefore recommends that government should continue to diversify the export and tourism markets, ensure stable macroeconomic policies, implement reforms on doing business, increase its expenditure in the area of infrastructural development and redirect FDI in productive sector of the economy as ways to accelerate the growth of Mauritian economy.
This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction in Mauritius based on primary data w... more This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction in Mauritius based on primary data which were sourced through survey among 500 youth workers across the island in 2014. The purpose of this study is to explore the association between job satisfaction and selected demographic, education and employment variables. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were done. Results indicated significant relationships between job satisfaction and demographic variables, job variables and mismatch variables, but we find that job satisfaction among youth is explained by different set of variables respectively for males and females and for the whole sample. From the key findings and analysis from the factor analysis showed that factors affecting the respondent current job satisfaction can be grouped under three categories namely socioeconomic shocks and demographic indicators, social evils and psychological well-being. Thus, these findings have implications for future research on job satisfaction among youth.
This paper describes the use of ordered logit model to examine the incidence of education mismatc... more This paper describes the use of ordered logit model to examine the incidence of education mismatch in Mauritius. The research uses primary data which were drawn from a survey of 750 graduates below 35 years across the island. The education-job mismatch was determined by comparing the number of years of the education level attained and the required number of years of education for the job. The study confirms 59 percent of graduates are facing education-job mismatch. Our results highlight that explanatory variables namely age, age squared, education level, field of study, job occupation (professional work) and monthly incomes less than 12, 500rs are statistically significant. In that case, it was concluded that the authorities should analyse the labour market needs (short, medium and long term) in order to create quality jobs. Reform in labour market institutions and human resource development is needed, and a demand driven education is needed. Citizen education should also be introduced in order to develop positive attitudes among the graduates towards the Mauritian labour market.
This paper uses daily observations for United States Dollar for the period July 2001 to July 2014... more This paper uses daily observations for United States Dollar for the period July 2001 to July 2014 to examine the efficiency of the Mauritian Foreign Exchange market. To examine the randomness of the Mauritian Foreign Exchange market, we employed both parametric and non-parametric tests. The parametric tests include the Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root tests, while the non-parametric tests include Phillips Peron unit root test and Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin. Moreover, we run the different unit root tests on natural and log terms of the spot exchange rates. The unit root tests reveal that the Mauritian foreign exchange market is weakly efficient. This indicates that the values for earlier period cannot be used to forecast the present values of the exchange rate.
'Discouraged Youth’ is defined as those youth who are not working even though they have expressed... more 'Discouraged Youth’ is defined as those youth who are not working even though they have expressed a desire to work, but due to the fact that they felt that undertaking a job search would be a futile effort, have not continued with the effort to seek a job . The magnitude of this crisis is a cause for concern for Mauritius, hence this study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding of discouraged youth. Primary data is used for this study, and the survey covers a sample of 500 unemployed youth across the island. The probit regression model is used to analyse the determinants affecting discouraged youth. The findings of the study found that age, age2, marital status, gender and tertiary education, area of study based on friend’s opinion, length of unemployment less than 12 months and prior experience have an impact on discouraged youth. From the analysis it was noted that education and training systems should be revisited to bridge the skills gap.
This study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding on duration of you... more This study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding on duration of youth unemployment in Mauritius by taking a sample of 500 unemployed youths from all the nine districts of the Island. The multinomial logistic is used to determine factors affecting the spell of youth unemployment. It was found that variables such as gender, single youth, education, location and prior experience have significant impact on the spell of unemployed youths. Female youths are more prone to stay a longer period of time away from the labour market. Single young individuals appear to be in short term unemployment compared to married young individuals. In addition, in both medium and long term, those with secondary, tertiary, vocational and professional qualification do not stay out of the labour market for long. Overall this project has proved very informative and interesting.
SMEs evidently have an important role in the development of the Mauritian economy. It creates emp... more SMEs evidently have an important role in the development of the Mauritian economy. It creates employment and reduces poverty. However, there are several difficult challenges that SMEs are actually facing in Mauritius. These challenges hinder SMEs from achieving their potential levels. Thus, this paper analyses the constraints of SMEs in Mauritius and provides some suggestions to address these constraints. A sample of 400 SMEs in Mauritius around the island was interviewed. Cross tabulations and the multiple responses analysis is used. The results show that both male and female entrepreneurs face more or less the same problems in Mauritius. SMEs mostly faced internal problems namely difficulty in accessing labour, finding in customers, investing in raw materials and financial management. Thus, this study suggests the adoption of pro- SME policies which will expand efficiently and leads to sound development of SMEs in Mauritius.
The paper studies the impact of microfinance on the livelihood approach of poverty through the
i... more The paper studies the impact of microfinance on the livelihood approach of poverty through the
improvement in saving deposits of beneficiaries in a small island economy like Mauritius. Our survey covers a sample
of 400 microfinance beneficiaries of different age groups and educational levels across the island. A probit regression
model is used to examine the factors influencing saving deposits among the Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance.
Our results reveal that there is a strong correlation with increase in income and increase in savings. This positive
impact has improved the lifestyle and living standard of the poor. We further observe that the different types of
occupation, age, gender, marital status and secondary schooling of the respondents do not have a significant impact on saving deposits among the MFIs clients. Variables like family size, primary schooling, and loan amount have an
impact on saving deposits. Hence, the overall analysis shows that microfinance activities have improved the living
standard of the people in economic terms.
The paper aims to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction in Mauritius. A sample o... more The paper aims to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction in Mauritius. A sample of 384 microfinance beneficiaries, of different age groups and educational levels in both urban and rural areas across the country, was chosen. We observe that the poor have smoothed their income in Mauritius. Our results also reveal that the Mauritian Microfinance Scheme contributes to the eradication of poverty and uplift the standard of living of the surveyed households. Further, we note that Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance lack appropriate skills to engage in profitable business activities. This may indicate that financial services alone could not be sufficient enough to raise the living conditions of the poor.
The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing career choice among students of th... more The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing career choice among students of the fourth year of secondary education (also known as Grade 10) in Mauritius. Based on primary data which were sourced through survey among 400 students across the Island in 2016, both qualitative and quantitative analysis were done. There was evidence of parents influences on children’s career choice. Most of students considered their academic performance and spent 1 to 3 months to decide what to study. Our results highlighted that students are happy with their present subject combination which is providing them with the necessary skills and training that they will need in the future to achieve their career goals. The findings also showed that many schools do not provide career guidance services. The key findings of the factor analysis showed that factors affecting students career choice can be grouped under three categories. The first group encompasses environment factors, followed by personality factors and lastly opportunity factors. Thus, from the findings, some recommendations were made to enable students to make informed decisions.
Over the last two decades Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) claimed an impressive economic record, ... more Over the last two decades Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) claimed an impressive economic record, as it enables economy to transit from an agrarian to knowledge based economy. This paper focuses on the determinants and impact of FDI in Mauritius using annual time series data from 1975 through 2015. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) analysis reveals that macroeconomic variables namely inflation rates and exchange rate are among the major and important factor that affect FDI in Mauritius over this period of time. Exchange rate exhibited negative significant influence on FDI while interest rate affects FDI positively. The study therefore recommends that government should continue to diversify the export and tourism markets, ensure stable macroeconomic policies, implement reforms on doing business, increase its expenditure in the area of infrastructural development and redirect FDI in productive sector of the economy as ways to accelerate the growth of Mauritian economy.
This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction in Mauritius based on primary data w... more This paper investigates the determinants of job satisfaction in Mauritius based on primary data which were sourced through survey among 500 youth workers across the island in 2014. The purpose of this study is to explore the association between job satisfaction and selected demographic, education and employment variables. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were done. Results indicated significant relationships between job satisfaction and demographic variables, job variables and mismatch variables, but we find that job satisfaction among youth is explained by different set of variables respectively for males and females and for the whole sample. From the key findings and analysis from the factor analysis showed that factors affecting the respondent current job satisfaction can be grouped under three categories namely socioeconomic shocks and demographic indicators, social evils and psychological well-being. Thus, these findings have implications for future research on job satisfaction among youth.
This paper describes the use of ordered logit model to examine the incidence of education mismatc... more This paper describes the use of ordered logit model to examine the incidence of education mismatch in Mauritius. The research uses primary data which were drawn from a survey of 750 graduates below 35 years across the island. The education-job mismatch was determined by comparing the number of years of the education level attained and the required number of years of education for the job. The study confirms 59 percent of graduates are facing education-job mismatch. Our results highlight that explanatory variables namely age, age squared, education level, field of study, job occupation (professional work) and monthly incomes less than 12, 500rs are statistically significant. In that case, it was concluded that the authorities should analyse the labour market needs (short, medium and long term) in order to create quality jobs. Reform in labour market institutions and human resource development is needed, and a demand driven education is needed. Citizen education should also be introduced in order to develop positive attitudes among the graduates towards the Mauritian labour market.
This paper uses daily observations for United States Dollar for the period July 2001 to July 2014... more This paper uses daily observations for United States Dollar for the period July 2001 to July 2014 to examine the efficiency of the Mauritian Foreign Exchange market. To examine the randomness of the Mauritian Foreign Exchange market, we employed both parametric and non-parametric tests. The parametric tests include the Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root tests, while the non-parametric tests include Phillips Peron unit root test and Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin. Moreover, we run the different unit root tests on natural and log terms of the spot exchange rates. The unit root tests reveal that the Mauritian foreign exchange market is weakly efficient. This indicates that the values for earlier period cannot be used to forecast the present values of the exchange rate.
'Discouraged Youth’ is defined as those youth who are not working even though they have expressed... more 'Discouraged Youth’ is defined as those youth who are not working even though they have expressed a desire to work, but due to the fact that they felt that undertaking a job search would be a futile effort, have not continued with the effort to seek a job . The magnitude of this crisis is a cause for concern for Mauritius, hence this study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding of discouraged youth. Primary data is used for this study, and the survey covers a sample of 500 unemployed youth across the island. The probit regression model is used to analyse the determinants affecting discouraged youth. The findings of the study found that age, age2, marital status, gender and tertiary education, area of study based on friend’s opinion, length of unemployment less than 12 months and prior experience have an impact on discouraged youth. From the analysis it was noted that education and training systems should be revisited to bridge the skills gap.
This study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding on duration of you... more This study was conducted with the objective of creating a deeper understanding on duration of youth unemployment in Mauritius by taking a sample of 500 unemployed youths from all the nine districts of the Island. The multinomial logistic is used to determine factors affecting the spell of youth unemployment. It was found that variables such as gender, single youth, education, location and prior experience have significant impact on the spell of unemployed youths. Female youths are more prone to stay a longer period of time away from the labour market. Single young individuals appear to be in short term unemployment compared to married young individuals. In addition, in both medium and long term, those with secondary, tertiary, vocational and professional qualification do not stay out of the labour market for long. Overall this project has proved very informative and interesting.
SMEs evidently have an important role in the development of the Mauritian economy. It creates emp... more SMEs evidently have an important role in the development of the Mauritian economy. It creates employment and reduces poverty. However, there are several difficult challenges that SMEs are actually facing in Mauritius. These challenges hinder SMEs from achieving their potential levels. Thus, this paper analyses the constraints of SMEs in Mauritius and provides some suggestions to address these constraints. A sample of 400 SMEs in Mauritius around the island was interviewed. Cross tabulations and the multiple responses analysis is used. The results show that both male and female entrepreneurs face more or less the same problems in Mauritius. SMEs mostly faced internal problems namely difficulty in accessing labour, finding in customers, investing in raw materials and financial management. Thus, this study suggests the adoption of pro- SME policies which will expand efficiently and leads to sound development of SMEs in Mauritius.
The paper studies the impact of microfinance on the livelihood approach of poverty through the
i... more The paper studies the impact of microfinance on the livelihood approach of poverty through the
improvement in saving deposits of beneficiaries in a small island economy like Mauritius. Our survey covers a sample
of 400 microfinance beneficiaries of different age groups and educational levels across the island. A probit regression
model is used to examine the factors influencing saving deposits among the Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance.
Our results reveal that there is a strong correlation with increase in income and increase in savings. This positive
impact has improved the lifestyle and living standard of the poor. We further observe that the different types of
occupation, age, gender, marital status and secondary schooling of the respondents do not have a significant impact on saving deposits among the MFIs clients. Variables like family size, primary schooling, and loan amount have an
impact on saving deposits. Hence, the overall analysis shows that microfinance activities have improved the living
standard of the people in economic terms.
The paper aims to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction in Mauritius. A sample o... more The paper aims to assess the impact of microfinance on poverty reduction in Mauritius. A sample of 384 microfinance beneficiaries, of different age groups and educational levels in both urban and rural areas across the country, was chosen. We observe that the poor have smoothed their income in Mauritius. Our results also reveal that the Mauritian Microfinance Scheme contributes to the eradication of poverty and uplift the standard of living of the surveyed households. Further, we note that Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance lack appropriate skills to engage in profitable business activities. This may indicate that financial services alone could not be sufficient enough to raise the living conditions of the poor.
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Papers by Medha Kisto
improvement in saving deposits of beneficiaries in a small island economy like Mauritius. Our survey covers a sample
of 400 microfinance beneficiaries of different age groups and educational levels across the island. A probit regression
model is used to examine the factors influencing saving deposits among the Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance.
Our results reveal that there is a strong correlation with increase in income and increase in savings. This positive
impact has improved the lifestyle and living standard of the poor. We further observe that the different types of
occupation, age, gender, marital status and secondary schooling of the respondents do not have a significant impact on saving deposits among the MFIs clients. Variables like family size, primary schooling, and loan amount have an
impact on saving deposits. Hence, the overall analysis shows that microfinance activities have improved the living
standard of the people in economic terms.
improvement in saving deposits of beneficiaries in a small island economy like Mauritius. Our survey covers a sample
of 400 microfinance beneficiaries of different age groups and educational levels across the island. A probit regression
model is used to examine the factors influencing saving deposits among the Mauritian beneficiaries of microfinance.
Our results reveal that there is a strong correlation with increase in income and increase in savings. This positive
impact has improved the lifestyle and living standard of the poor. We further observe that the different types of
occupation, age, gender, marital status and secondary schooling of the respondents do not have a significant impact on saving deposits among the MFIs clients. Variables like family size, primary schooling, and loan amount have an
impact on saving deposits. Hence, the overall analysis shows that microfinance activities have improved the living
standard of the people in economic terms.