| dc.description.abstract | Although informal establishments dominate the small
firm-segment in Kenyan manufacturing, there are also formal
companies with distinct characteristics. Informal firms are
younger, less capital-intensive, almost never run by Asians, pay
less skilled wages and no taxes, have poor access to credit and
have less educated managers. They invest more often and are less
efficient than Asian-managed formal firms, but more efficient
than those managed by Africans. This suggests that formality
status, independent of size, matter. Also important is how
ethnicity affects these differences and the graduation of firms
from the informal to the formal sectors. | en |
