The impact of Economic globalization and trade liberalization on Kenya; period between 1985 and 2004
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Date
2010Author
Ndiga, Francis K
Type
ThesisLanguage
en_USMetadata
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Economic globalization has often been viewed as the epicenter of the world's economic development. It is therefore anticipated that countries that embrace economic globalization are bound to advance both economically and socially. This is as a result of the benefits derived from increase in trade, employment, national income, productivity, foreign Direct investment (FDI), foreign capital flows, technological advancement and other indicators of economic globalization.
This study sets out to scrutinize the effects of economic globalization and trade liberalization on Kenya. It examines the Kenyan economic situation a decade before and after the establishment of WTO (1985-2004). The objective is to determine whether Kenya has benefited from its membership in the WTO and the subsequent adoption of economic globalization and trade liberalization strategies.
As a developing country, Kenya faces numerous challenges in its quest for economic growth; especially in terms of developed countries' competitive advantages. This raises the question on whether WTO has engineered an equal platform where each of its members can equally benefit from international trade. This paper includes an objective of finding out whether Kenya as a developing country has benefited from WTO membership like the developed nations. The dependency theory is used to explain how developing countries are often marginalized in the world economy which tends to favor developing nations.
From the findings of the study, it can be established that the Kenyan economy has not gained optimally from Kenya's WTO membership. Indicators of globalization such as the balance of trade, GDP growth and unemployment levels among other indicators point out that it may take considerable time and effort to put Kenya at par with its developed country counterparts. Further, the World Trade Organization should prioritize the development of third world nations as it seeks to promote global trade.
Publisher
University of Nairobi, Kenya