An Empirical Evaluation of Factors Influencing in Kenya: the Case of Epzs

Abstract

The study reported in this project was aimed at determining the factors influencing investment 111 Kenya's EPZs. Secondly, the study was aimed at determining the adequacy of the incentives offered by the Kenya Government in retaining investment in the zone. In order to meet these objectives, information was sought through the use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was directed to the Managing Directors or the General Managers of the EPZ companies operating in Kenya. The data collected was analyzed using mean scores, Yates chi-square and factor analysis. Using these, the responses from the active companies were compared with those from dormant companies. The findings from the analyses led to two major conclusions; (i) The factors considered important for investment decision differed significantly between active and dormant EPZ companies. (ii) Some of the incentives offered by the government of Kenya were found inadequate by the EPZ companies. In view of these conclusions, the following recommendations were made to the government of Kenya: (i) The incentives found adequate by the EPZ companies should be maintained. (ii) A major effort should be 1118c1eto improve the incentives found to be inadequate. A research could be done to determine the possible ways of improving these investment incentives.