| dc.description.abstract | The main objective of this study is to examine and analyse economic liberalisation and industrial restructuring in the formal manufacturing sector in the City of Nairobi (hereafter CoN), with emphasis on the food processing, textiles and leather sub sectors. Specifically, it investigates the effects of Kenya's economic liberalisation on industries in the formal manufacturing sector in the CoN and attempts to evaluate the applicability of the flexible specialisation model in the production organisation of the sector. The study also examines the industrial spatial economy of manufacturing industries in the study area.
To analyse data, both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques are utilised. The descriptive statistics used are percentages, frequencies and means while the inferential statistics are the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, factor analysis and chi-square test.
Some of the main findings and conclusions of this study are: (a) the
liberalization of Kenya's economy has negatively affected the performance of industries in the study area. It has not only led to a decline in demand for manufactured products of the industries but also an increase in production costs as well as unemployment. (b) Industrialists in the study area have adopted a variety of strategies to deal with the effects of liberalization, including marketing strategies, product changes strategies and technology changes strategies. (c) It is apparent from the research findings that the features of flexible specialization model as theorized by
Pi ore and Sabel and other scholars are not well developed in the study area. (d) There is no significant spatial reorganisation of industries in the study area.
This study recommends that there is need for the design and implementation of deliberate policies and plans aimed at expanding the market for manufactured goods, not only in the study area and the rest of Kenya but the rest of the World as well. It is also important for planners and policy makers to put in place measures to revamp local Industries that were adversely affected by liberalization through, for instance, the design and implementation of specific and targeted incentive packages. There is also need to improve infrastructure not only in the study area but also in Kenya as a whole so as to reduce the costs associated with' the transportation of inputs to industries and outputs to markets. Furthermore, there is need for further research on the effects of Kenya's economic liberalization on other sectors of the economy such as agriculture and trade | en |
