Theses and Dissertations
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Item Effects Of Macroeconomic Factors On Income Inequality In East Africa(KCA University, 2017) Ndungi, Griffins M.Stable macroeconomic environment enables achievement of the macro-economic objectives and targets. Therefore, governments should continually focus on stabilizing macroeconomic factors such as interest rates, inflation rates, trade openness and unemployment levels while implementing policies that spur fair distributive economic growth. Generally, inequality in the world with the East African region included has got the attention of development organisations, policy makers and governments as well as citizens. The objective of the study was to establish the impact of macroeconomic factors on income inequality levels in East Africa. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the influence of unemployment, interest rates, international trade openness and inflation on income inequality in East Africa. The study applied a descriptive research design. The study focused on Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Data that was utilized in the study was data for forty one years (1975-2015). Secondary data was used in this study. This data was sourced from World Trade Organization, World Bank, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics and Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) was applied for analysis using stata statistical software. The results indicated that in Kenya, inflation had a negative and significant effect on income inequality (B = -7.31; p < 0.05). Interest rates on the other hand had a significant positive effect on income inequality (B = 2.8; p < 0.05). Unemployment (B = 4.13; p > 0.05) and international trade openness (B = 0.69; p > 0.05) had long term insignificant effect on income inequality. In Uganda, inflation (B = -.043; p < 0.05), unemployment (B = -4.13; p < 0.05) and international trade openness (B = -.498; p < 0.05) had negative and significant effects on income inequality. Interest rates on the other hand had a significant positive effect on income inequality (B = 0.29; p < 0.05). In Tanzania, inflation (B = 2.33; p < 0.05) and international trade openness (B = 1.16; p < 0.05) had significant positive effects on income inequality while unemployment (B = -13.86; p < 0.05) and interest rates (B = - 1.71; p < 0.05) had significant negative effect on income inequality. The following were the recommendations. First, the three east African governments should institute policies to reduce income inequality. Some of the policies that could be considered include reducing interest rates to enhance aggregate demand, developing the human capital to reduce long term structural unemployment and also lowering the minimum wage so as to deal with real wage unemployment. Secondly, the countries should moderately engage in trade openness by balancing exports and imports ensuring that the balance of trade deficit does not grow. Lastly, the monetary policy organs of the country should carefully analyse the inflation, interest rates and macroeconomic factors to ensure that the expansionary or contractionary policies they adopt lead to the desired outcomes of improving income distribution.Item Factors affecting financial performance of employees’ savings and credit co-operative societies. (A case study of Pesa and k-rep welfare association Saccos)(Kca University, 2016) Ndonga, Javan O.Amongst most salaried Kenyans, personal financial development is achieved through SACCOs especially since they are not only more affordable but also due to the fact that they are easily accessible by the majority. This study sought to examine the factors that affect the financial performance of employee Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies with specific regards to Interest rates charged, attitude towards risk, amount of loan desired and the savings mobilized. The study design was descriptive in nature and the research used a sample of 225 respondents from a combined population of 450. The study was conducted in two SACCOs: Pesa SACCO and KWA SACCO. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis was carried out on the data using STATA 12. The research yielded a positive and significant relationship between the financial performance of SACCOs and all independent variables except interest rates. This shows that that the issue of interest rates should be approached with caution since inasmuch as an increase in interest rates may increase the financial performance of financial institutions, it might as well cause other results such as decreased demand for loans, negating the profitability of SACCOs. The study recommended that SACCOs should institute measures to improve their customers’ attitude towards risk, amount of loan desired, and the value of savings mobilized since these three have a positive impact on financial performance. A deeper investigation into the particular circumstances of every SACCO should be carried out before interest rates are increased.