Effects of Collective Action, Agency and Access to Productive Resources on Performance of Women-Owned Manufacturing Enterprises in Selected Counties, Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisorNelson H. W. Wawireen_US
dc.contributor.authorAchungo, Faith Tsuma
dc.date.accessioned2024-02-07T13:06:52Z
dc.date.available2024-02-07T13:06:52Z
dc.date.issued2023-11
dc.descriptionA Research Project Submitted to the Department of Economic Theory in the School of Business, Economics and Tourism in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Economics (Policy And Management) of Kenyatta University, November, 2023.en_US
dc.description.abstractIn boosting manufacturing in Kenya, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are imperative. Moreover, enterprises owned by women constitute 93 percent of informal enterprises whereby only 17 percent do manufacture. Further, manufacturing currently contributes 7.54 percent to Gross Domestic Product. It falls short of Big Four Agenda’s target of 15 percent and the 10 percent per year incremental target as per the Vision 2030. Stakeholders including the government have advanced initiatives so as to promote Micro Small and Medium Enterprises by providing affordable loans and developing policies to help them thrive. Despite these efforts, there is sluggishness in the way manufacturing enterprises owned by women perform. This sluggishness in performance of these enterprises could be due to the effects of unique factors, such as collective action, agency, access to productive resources and other variables, on the enterprises. This study’s objectives were therefore to: determine the effect of collective action on performance of women-owned manufacturing enterprises; analyse the effect of agency on performance of women-owned manufacturing enterprises; and investigate how access to productive resources affect the performance of manufacturing enterprises owned by women. The study acquired primary data from interviewing 55 women who owned such businesses that were selected through simple random sampling technique and a structured questionnaire administered. This data was complimented by published data from government policy documents. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analyses were carried out using STATA software. This was done to establish the degree to which collective action, agency and access to productive resources influenced how women-owned manufacturing enterprises performed in Kenya. Spearman’s Rank correlation analysis established that collective action and agency were both strongly and positively correlated with the performance of women-owned manufacturing enterprises. This was further investigated through regression analysis and it was found that collective action and agency had positive effects on performance of those enterprises. However, access to productive resources was found to negatively correlate with these enterprises’ performance as established through regression. The study therefore recommends that women manufacturers should embrace networking through belonging to a group(s) or business organization(s) such as Women in Business, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Women in Manufacturing among others. The other variable found to positively affect performance was agency, captured as independence of the woman entrepreneur in decision-making. Therefore, the study suggests that business organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations should provide training and mentorship to men and women on the importance of women entrepreneurs having independence in decision-making.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/27600
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherKenyatta Universityen_US
dc.subjectCollective Actionen_US
dc.subjectProductive Resourcesen_US
dc.subjectWomen-Owned Manufacturing Enterprisesen_US
dc.subjectKenyaen_US
dc.titleEffects of Collective Action, Agency and Access to Productive Resources on Performance of Women-Owned Manufacturing Enterprises in Selected Counties, Kenyaen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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