John M. Luiz

Bio: John M. Luiz is an academic researcher from University of Cape Town. The author has contributed to research in topics: Emerging markets & Multinational corporation. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 109 publications receiving 2232 citations. Previous affiliations of John M. Luiz include Vista University & University of Sussex.

Fractionalization and Lon-Run Economic Growth: Webs and Direction of Association between the Economic and the Social - South Africa as a Time Series Case Study

Abstract: Recent cross sectional growth studies have found that ethnolinguistic fractionalization is an important explanatory variable of long-run growth performance. In the present paper we follow the call of earlier studies to conduct a more detailed clinical analysis of the growth experience of a specific country. South Africa constitutes an interesting case in which to explore these questions. The results of this study provide important nuance to the existing body of evidence. We find that fractionalization is subject to strong change over time. In addition, we find strong evidence of webs of association between the various social, political and institutional dimensions. Thus various forms of social cleavage tend to go hand in hand which presents the danger of spurious inference of association. Further, the direction of association in the preponderance of cases runs from economic to social, political and institutional variables, rather than the other way around. However, there remain significant impacts from some, but only some fractionalization indexes on economic growth. Which social cleavage, when, how and for what period of time will depend on the historical path of specific societies.

Game in Africa: Seizing the Opportunity

Abstract: By June 2010, Jan Potgieter, chief executive of the Johannesburg-based Massdiscounters — a division of Massmart — had gone some way to achieving his goal of “painting Africa pink” with the expansion of Game, one of the group’s large-format, general merchandise discounters, into the rest of the African continent. (Game’s corporate color was pink.) In that year, Game had stores in 11 other African countries, with plans to expand into another six in the near future. However, there was a strong possibility that a large international player would soon be entering the African market and competing directly with Game. Potgieter therefore had to consider whether Game’s Africa strategy was sound, or whether it needed to change so that Africa did indeed become pink and not different shades of blue.

The Role of Prospect Theory in Screening Behavior Decision-Making in aHealth-Insured Population of South Africa

Abstract: Background: Prospect theory suggests that people avoid risks when faced with the benefits of a decision but take risks when faced with the costs of a decision. Screening for diseases can be defined as a ‘risk’, in the context of uncertainty. The outcome can either be a ‘benefit’ of good health or a ‘cost’ of ill health or poor-quality health. Purpose: To assess whether prospect theory can predict screening behavior in the context of a chronic disease diagnosis as well as the exposure to incentives to screen. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal case-control study for the period 2008-2011 was conducted using a random 1% sample of 170,471 health-insured members, assessing screening for cancers, chronic diseases of lifestyle and HIV, some of whom voluntarily join an incentivized wellness program. Results: Individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease screened up to 9.0% less for some diseases over time. Mammogram screening however increased (p<0.001). Where a family member was diagnosed with a chronic disease, individual screening decreased up to 8.6%. Similarly females in families where a member was diagnosed with a chronic disease screened more for breast cancer (p<0.001). Males were more sensitive to incentives only for HIV screening (p<0.001), while the female responses to incentives were inconsistent. Conclusion: A chronic disease diagnosis or the risk of developing a chronic disease resulted in reduced future screening behavior for most diseases. The role of incentives was inconsistent. Prospect theory adequately predicts screening behavior when diagnosed or faced with a possible chronic disease diagnosis for most screening tests except for females screening for breast cancer.

Health Care in the New South Africa: Surveying the More Radical Options

Abstract: MrJ M Luiz, a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Vista University's Welkom Campus in the Orange Free State, argues that health care in South Africa urgently needs to be revamped but that economic realities must be taken into consideration to avoid idealistic wish lists.

The future of the South African retail pharmacy industry in the light of inter-national experience and the changing healthcare market

Abstract: The paper evaluates how the changing South African healthcare market is likely to affect the future of retail pharmacy. It examines current developments in retail pharmacy and the impact that these developments will have on the retail pharmacy market. This information is used to create scenarios as to what types of retail pharmacies are likely to thrive in the future.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Abstract: NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

An Analysis of Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks

Abstract: Frantz Fanon’s explosive Black Skin, White Masks is a merciless expose of the psychological damage done by colonial rule across the world. Using Fanon’s incisive analytical abilities to expose the consequences of colonialism on the psyches of colonized peoples, it is both a crucial text in post-colonial theory, and a lesson in the power of analytical skills to reveal the realities that hide beneath the surface of things. Fanon was himself part of a colonized nation – Martinique – and grew up with the values and beliefs of French culture imposed upon him, while remaining relegated to an inferior status in society. Qualifying as a psychiatrist in France before working in Algeria (a French colony subject to brutal repression), his own experiences granted him a sharp insight into the psychological problems associated with colonial rule. Like any good analytical thinker, Fanon’s particular skill was in breaking things down and joining dots. His analysis of colonial rule exposed its implicit assumptions – and how they were replicated in colonised populations – allowing Fanon to unpick the hidden reasons behind his own conflicted psychological make up, and those of his patients. Unflinchingly clear-sighted in doing so, Black Skin White Masks remains a shocking read today.