ABSTRACT The Kenyan government has been implementing policies to expand financial access including promoting mobile enabled financial services to those excluded by formal banking sector. Despite the efforts, 65 percent of Kenyans have no access to a bank account due to limited bank branches in rural areas and information asymmetry about the sector. To facilitate financial inclusion and reach out to rural areas historically marginalized by convectional banking, mobile network operators have ma...
ABSTRACT The importance of a firm’s productivity cannot be overemphasised as it not only results in the growth of firms but also contributes to the overall growth of an economy. More than half of the variation in economic growth across different countries is said to be explained by differences in total factor productivity arising from the firm level. One major challenge facing developing economies, including Kenya is extremely low productivity level at the firm. Studies have pointed to inno...
ABSTRACT Child marriage is a familiar phenomenon in many countries in Africa and Asia. It is a harmful traditional vice, a human rights violation which not only denies young girls a choice on whom to marry, but also exposes them to psychological, social, health and economic risks. Globally, girls from impoverished households are more likely victims of child marriages. Further combined with traditional practices and beliefs, poverty gives education preference to boys in situations of economic ...
ABSTRACT The banking sector in Kenya is characterized by intermediation inefficiency in the form of interest driven exceptional bank profitability.Competition among commercial banks should remedy this situation by driving bank profitability to the competitive norm. This study examined how competition is correcting this inefficiency byinvestigating competition and profitability of commercial banks in Kenya.Specifically, the study ascertained the level of competition among commercial banks; det...
ABSTRACT Despite the aggressive marketing of local films and the creation of policies aimed at boosting their consumption in Kenya, consumption is still low. Attempts to critically analyze this problem have focused on the qualitative content in films with little investigation of consumers’ tastes and preferences. The aim of this study was to identify and analyze factors that affect demand for locally produced films in Nairobi County, Kenya. Film being a hedonic and experience good, the stud...
ABSTRACT Crude oil is one of the main drivers of economic growth and a key ingredient to sustainable development. It is therefore vital that crude oil products be efficiently and competitively priced in order to accelerate economic growth. Realization of a 10 percent economic growth in Kenya by the year 2030 requires a massive development in the energy sector. Kenya suffers from a shortage of internal energy resources, including oil and as a result, Kenya continues to be in the category of n...
ABSTRACT The prudential regulation's main objective is to mitigate financial instability's threat and macroeconomic costs. In the last decade (2007 to 2018), the banking sector in Kenya has expanded rapidly, making some banks operate within thin capital margins, while others have begun regional operations exposing themselves to cross-border country risks. The country needs to be cautious about risks to the financial system and spillovers of these risks to the economy. The aim of this research...
ABSTRACT The Kenya government has instituted fiscal decentralization over the years to promote social economic development, reduce poverty and income inequality and ensure balanced regional development. These include: local government system that was inherited from colonial rule and remained relevant until 2013 when it was replaced by county government; District Focus for Rural Development 1983; devolved funds such as Local Authority Transfer Fund 1999; and Constituency Development Fund...
ABSTRACT The exchange rate is an important variable in international trade due to the expectations that trade reacts to its movements and therefore determines a country’s international competitiveness. Prudent management of trade and exchange rate policies have been associated with faster growth in developing countries. In order to orient the economy outwards, Kenya has pursued various measures from 1990s to 2000s. Despite these export oriented efforts, Kenya’s trade has remained skewed ...
ABSTRACT Kenya has been a recipient of Foreign aid since she gained her independence in 1963. The Official foreign aid to Kenya is always issued to the government to fund government spending especially development expenditure. The rapid growth of foreign aid and government expenditure in Kenya however, have elicited concerns among policy makers on their implication on GDP growth. Foreign aid and government expenditure to the Agriculture and Forestry, Education and Health sectors have been inc...
ABSTRACT The topic of the study was; The Short and Long Run Phillips Curve with the Lucas Critique in Kenya. This paper determined the Phillips curve in Kenya both in the short term and long-run. The non- accelerating inflation rate of unemployment was also estimated and the Lucas critique tested to proof whether it is evident in Kenya. This study was necessary in Kenya since the Kenyan rates of inflation and unemployment are both high simultaneously contrary to what Phillips curve theory exp...
ABSTRACT During the recent years, it has been observed that countries compete with each other to attract foreign investment. Countries have gone further than simply removing barriers to inward foreign investment and have taken a more pro active approach towards attracting FDI through the use of fiscal and financial incentives. This has been done owing to the notion that when foreign companies invest in a host country, productivity gains are assumed to accrue to domestic producers from spillov...
ABSTRACT Over the past four decades, Kenya has been experiencing fiscal instability with average fiscal deficit as percent of GDP being greater than 5 percent threshold for developing countries. This, together with poor donors’ relations in the 1980’s, and the substitution of foreign borrowing with internal borrowing has led to continued increase in fiscal dominance. Kenya has been unable to reach the 10 percent economic growth target required for realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030, wi...
ABSTRACT The Kenyan economy is predominantly informal. The informal sector employed 132,100 workers in 1974; and 13,442,200 workers in 2016, which translate to 19 percent and 84 percent of the total work force in the respective time periods. The government has from 1986 put in place policy measures to develop the sector for employment creation, economic growth, and poverty alleviation. Among the country‟s Big Four Agenda as contained in the Medium Term Plan (2018-2022), is the development o...
ABSTRACT International trade has broadened possible opportunities available to countries for upgrading economic activities, including the development of manufacturing. Since the late 1980s, Nigeria has progressively pursued trade liberalization which has significantly exposed manufacturing activities to the international market. The goal was to raise the GDP share of manufacturing, share of manufactured exports in total merchandise exports, and manufacturing sector capacity utilization to 25 ...