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The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector

With less than a decade before the impending deadline for the realisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda for Development and with the Covid-19 pandemic having significantly slowed down progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aggressive collaborative efforts from all sect...

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Main Author: Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
Other Authors: Biekpe, Nicholas
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Graduate School of Business (GSB) 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
author2 Biekpe, Nicholas
author_browse Biekpe, Nicholas
Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
author_facet Biekpe, Nicholas
Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
author_sort Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
collection Thesis
description With less than a decade before the impending deadline for the realisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda for Development and with the Covid-19 pandemic having significantly slowed down progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aggressive collaborative efforts from all sectors of the global economy are required now more than ever, not only for the achievement of the targeted goals but also to aid in an inclusive global economic recovery. With the global airline industry having been identified as one of the key pillars for propelling this agenda forward as it is believed to contribute to at least 15 of the 17 SDGs, exploring ways in which this industry can remain profitable and sustainable, so it continues to contribute towards the unified goal has become an important focus area for those at the forefront of the agenda. One of the identified major threats to the longevity and prosperity of the airline industry is said to be the inherent exposure to the volatility in commodity markets, as fuel expenditure generally makes up the single largest cost component of an airline's operating expense. This dissertation, therefore, investigates the relationship between fuel hedging and the firm value of commercial airlines in order to establish the effectiveness of fuel hedging as a potential lever that can be used to effect the desired change towards the realisation of the SDGs. The study draws on evidence from African, European and North American airlines and makes use of a panel least square estimation technique to estimate the behaviour of the parameters in the selected statistical sample over a 10-year period from 2009 to 2019. Using Tobin's Q as a proxy for firm value, the study computes a series of regressions, incorporating different control variables such as airline size, percentage of jet fuel cost to total operating costs, jet fuel cost per passenger, and profit per passenger - which are all deemed to have significant explanatory power to allow for the isolation of the effect of fuel price hedging. The study further makes use of two hedging variables (percentage hedged and fair value of hedging derivatives to assets) in separate regression equations to ascertain their individual relationships with the dependent variable - Tobin's Q. The analysis of the results in this dissertation reveals a positive correlation between the airlines' hedging activity and airline firm value thereby suggesting that mitigating the risks associated to fuel price volatility could yield positive outcomes for firm value. These findings can prove to be useful for those at the forefront of the 2030 global development agenda, as well as the airline companies themselves in driving the SDG goals.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:31.718Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Graduate School of Business (GSB)
publisherStr Graduate School of Business (GSB)
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35925 The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe Biekpe, Nicholas Development Finance With less than a decade before the impending deadline for the realisation of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda for Development and with the Covid-19 pandemic having significantly slowed down progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aggressive collaborative efforts from all sectors of the global economy are required now more than ever, not only for the achievement of the targeted goals but also to aid in an inclusive global economic recovery. With the global airline industry having been identified as one of the key pillars for propelling this agenda forward as it is believed to contribute to at least 15 of the 17 SDGs, exploring ways in which this industry can remain profitable and sustainable, so it continues to contribute towards the unified goal has become an important focus area for those at the forefront of the agenda. One of the identified major threats to the longevity and prosperity of the airline industry is said to be the inherent exposure to the volatility in commodity markets, as fuel expenditure generally makes up the single largest cost component of an airline's operating expense. This dissertation, therefore, investigates the relationship between fuel hedging and the firm value of commercial airlines in order to establish the effectiveness of fuel hedging as a potential lever that can be used to effect the desired change towards the realisation of the SDGs. The study draws on evidence from African, European and North American airlines and makes use of a panel least square estimation technique to estimate the behaviour of the parameters in the selected statistical sample over a 10-year period from 2009 to 2019. Using Tobin's Q as a proxy for firm value, the study computes a series of regressions, incorporating different control variables such as airline size, percentage of jet fuel cost to total operating costs, jet fuel cost per passenger, and profit per passenger - which are all deemed to have significant explanatory power to allow for the isolation of the effect of fuel price hedging. The study further makes use of two hedging variables (percentage hedged and fair value of hedging derivatives to assets) in separate regression equations to ascertain their individual relationships with the dependent variable - Tobin's Q. The analysis of the results in this dissertation reveals a positive correlation between the airlines' hedging activity and airline firm value thereby suggesting that mitigating the risks associated to fuel price volatility could yield positive outcomes for firm value. These findings can prove to be useful for those at the forefront of the 2030 global development agenda, as well as the airline companies themselves in driving the SDG goals. 2022-03-06T14:59:08Z 2022-03-06T14:59:08Z 2021 2022-03-06T14:43:08Z Master Thesis Masters MBA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35925 eng application/pdf Graduate School of Business (GSB) Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Development Finance
Mhlongo, Samkelisiwe
The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
title_full The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
title_fullStr The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
title_short The Impact of Using Derivatives as a Hedging Instrument in Supporting Global Development Trends: An Analysis of the African Aviation Sector
title_sort impact of using derivatives as a hedging instrument in supporting global development trends an analysis of the african aviation sector
topic Development Finance
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35925
work_keys_str_mv AT mhlongosamkelisiwe theimpactofusingderivativesasahedginginstrumentinsupportingglobaldevelopmenttrendsananalysisoftheafricanaviationsector
AT mhlongosamkelisiwe impactofusingderivativesasahedginginstrumentinsupportingglobaldevelopmenttrendsananalysisoftheafricanaviationsector