Factors Considered Important by Multinational Firms When Deciding on the Host Country to Invest in: a Case Study of Kenya

Abstract

The study reported in this project, was aimed at determining the·factors which multinational firms consider important when deciding on the most country to invest in. Secondly, the study was aimed at determining the adequacy of the investment incentives offered by the Government of Kenya to the foreign investors. In order to meet these objectives, information was sought through the use of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was directed to the General Managers or Managing Directors of multinational firms operating in Kenya. The latter had been sampled using simple random sampling method. The data collected was analyzed using mean scores, Yates Chi .-square, median test and Spearman's rank correlation test. Using these, the responses from the service oriented multinational firms were compared with those from the manufacturing oriented multinational firms. The findings from the analyses led to two major conclusions:- (1) The factors considered important for foreign investment decision differed significantly between service oriented and manufacturing multinational firms.