The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya

Sagire Lucas

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya

Sagire Lucas

Published in Journal of Business and Economic Development (Volume 2, Issue 4)

Received: 25 July 2017 Accepted: 14 August 2017 Published: 11 October 2017

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Abstract

An excellent performance in terms of output or profitability is one of the major goals of any firm. In order to achieve this, firms use various inputs such as financial resources (capital), human resources (labor force), technology among others. Demographic factors such as gender, education level and age also play a key role. The current study investigated the impact of these demographic and social factors on performance of business firms in Kenya using data from MSME 2016 survey, which was conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2016. Firm performance was measured by average monthly revenue, which is equivalent to the value of the firm’s maximized output. The factors investigated include education level, gender and age of the firm. In addition to these factors, the study also investigated the effect of labor force, capital and firm’s ownership structure on performance. Ordinary least squares technique and descriptive statistics were used. The study found that education level and age of the firm have a positive effect on performance. Firms operated by males were found to have a better performance than those operated by females. In addition, the study found that partnerships, cooperatives and companies (both private and public limited) perform better than family owned business firms did. (JEL D21, D22, D24, M21).

Published in	Journal of Business and Economic Development (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
Page(s)	255-261
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Demographic and Social Factors, Firm Performance, Inputs, Revenue

References

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APA Style

Sagire Lucas. (2017). The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. Journal of Business and Economic Development, 2(4), 255-261. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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ACS Style

Sagire Lucas. The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. J. Bus. Econ. Dev. 2017, 2(4), 255-261. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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AMA Style

Sagire Lucas. The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. J Bus Econ Dev. 2017;2(4):255-261. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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@article{10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18,
  author = {Sagire Lucas},
  title = {The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya},
  journal = {Journal of Business and Economic Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {255-261},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jbed.20170204.18},
  abstract = {An excellent performance in terms of output or profitability is one of the major goals of any firm. In order to achieve this, firms use various inputs such as financial resources (capital), human resources (labor force), technology among others. Demographic factors such as gender, education level and age also play a key role. The current study investigated the impact of these demographic and social factors on performance of business firms in Kenya using data from MSME 2016 survey, which was conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2016. Firm performance was measured by average monthly revenue, which is equivalent to the value of the firm’s maximized output. The factors investigated include education level, gender and age of the firm. In addition to these factors, the study also investigated the effect of labor force, capital and firm’s ownership structure on performance. Ordinary least squares technique and descriptive statistics were used. The study found that education level and age of the firm have a positive effect on performance. Firms operated by males were found to have a better performance than those operated by females. In addition, the study found that partnerships, cooperatives and companies (both private and public limited) perform better than family owned business firms did. (JEL D21, D22, D24, M21).},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya
AU  - Sagire Lucas
Y1  - 2017/10/11
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
T2  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JF  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JO  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
SP  - 255
EP  - 261
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2637-3874
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
AB  - An excellent performance in terms of output or profitability is one of the major goals of any firm. In order to achieve this, firms use various inputs such as financial resources (capital), human resources (labor force), technology among others. Demographic factors such as gender, education level and age also play a key role. The current study investigated the impact of these demographic and social factors on performance of business firms in Kenya using data from MSME 2016 survey, which was conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2016. Firm performance was measured by average monthly revenue, which is equivalent to the value of the firm’s maximized output. The factors investigated include education level, gender and age of the firm. In addition to these factors, the study also investigated the effect of labor force, capital and firm’s ownership structure on performance. Ordinary least squares technique and descriptive statistics were used. The study found that education level and age of the firm have a positive effect on performance. Firms operated by males were found to have a better performance than those operated by females. In addition, the study found that partnerships, cooperatives and companies (both private and public limited) perform better than family owned business firms did. (JEL D21, D22, D24, M21).
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Sagire Lucas

School of Economics, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Sagire Lucas. (2017). The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. Journal of Business and Economic Development, 2(4), 255-261. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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ACS Style

Sagire Lucas. The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. J. Bus. Econ. Dev. 2017, 2(4), 255-261. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

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AMA Style

Sagire Lucas. The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya. J Bus Econ Dev. 2017;2(4):255-261. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18,
  author = {Sagire Lucas},
  title = {The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya},
  journal = {Journal of Business and Economic Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {255-261},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jbed.20170204.18},
  abstract = {An excellent performance in terms of output or profitability is one of the major goals of any firm. In order to achieve this, firms use various inputs such as financial resources (capital), human resources (labor force), technology among others. Demographic factors such as gender, education level and age also play a key role. The current study investigated the impact of these demographic and social factors on performance of business firms in Kenya using data from MSME 2016 survey, which was conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2016. Firm performance was measured by average monthly revenue, which is equivalent to the value of the firm’s maximized output. The factors investigated include education level, gender and age of the firm. In addition to these factors, the study also investigated the effect of labor force, capital and firm’s ownership structure on performance. Ordinary least squares technique and descriptive statistics were used. The study found that education level and age of the firm have a positive effect on performance. Firms operated by males were found to have a better performance than those operated by females. In addition, the study found that partnerships, cooperatives and companies (both private and public limited) perform better than family owned business firms did. (JEL D21, D22, D24, M21).},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Impact of Demographic and Social Factors on Firm Performance in Kenya
AU  - Sagire Lucas
Y1  - 2017/10/11
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
DO  - 10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
T2  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JF  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JO  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
SP  - 255
EP  - 261
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2637-3874
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170204.18
AB  - An excellent performance in terms of output or profitability is one of the major goals of any firm. In order to achieve this, firms use various inputs such as financial resources (capital), human resources (labor force), technology among others. Demographic factors such as gender, education level and age also play a key role. The current study investigated the impact of these demographic and social factors on performance of business firms in Kenya using data from MSME 2016 survey, which was conducted by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2016. Firm performance was measured by average monthly revenue, which is equivalent to the value of the firm’s maximized output. The factors investigated include education level, gender and age of the firm. In addition to these factors, the study also investigated the effect of labor force, capital and firm’s ownership structure on performance. Ordinary least squares technique and descriptive statistics were used. The study found that education level and age of the firm have a positive effect on performance. Firms operated by males were found to have a better performance than those operated by females. In addition, the study found that partnerships, cooperatives and companies (both private and public limited) perform better than family owned business firms did. (JEL D21, D22, D24, M21).
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download