THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN KENYA

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between corruption and unemployment in Kenya from the year 2000 to 2017. Over the last two decades the rate of corruption in Kenya has been high as millions of Kenyan money is stolen by few individuals. Kenya has been eaten so deep by corruption as the young and old, learned and the unlearned, men and women have been implicated on corruption scandals. The fight against corruption has become difficult as the majority of those who engage in it are government officials. To fight this menace of corruption, many youths in Kenya have resorted to engage in unlawful activities such as theft and crime as most of them blame corrupt leaders to be the cause of their unemployment situation and they don’t have hope of being employed even though they are well educated. On the hand Kenya is doing relatively better in Eastern Africa in terms of economic growth and development but reports by the Human Development Index (HDI) 2017 recorded 39.1 per cent unemployment rate in Kenya. This clearly indicates that Kenya has the highest number of unemployment rates in East Africa as countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda recorded a lower rate of unemployment. The high rate of Unemployment in Kenya when its economy is relatively better shows that there are other serious factors which are affecting unemployment in Kenya. Corruption being one of the major factors that many Kenyan people see as a cause of unemployment was analysed in this study. The study established that corruption has a long term impact on unemployment in Kenya as on the long run an increase in corruption rate increases unemployment rates.

Keywords

• Corruption,Unemployment,Economic Growth

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN KENYA

Abstract

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between corruption and

unemployment in Kenya from the year 2000 to 2017. Over the last two decades the rate of corruption in Kenya

has been high as millions of Kenyan money is stolen by few individuals. Kenya has been eaten so deep by

corruption as so many people have been implicated in corruption scandals. The fight against corruption has

become difficult as the majority of those who engage in it are government officials. To fight this menace of

corruption, many youths in Kenya have resorted to engage in unlawful activities such as theft and crime as most

of them blame corrupt leaders to be the cause of their unemployment situation and they don’t have hope of being

employed even though they are well educated. On the hand Kenya is doing relatively better in Eastern Africa in

terms of economic growth and development but reports by the Human Development Index (HDI) 2017 recorded

39.1 per cent unemployment rate in Kenya. This clearly indicates that Kenya has the highest number of

unemployment rates in East Africa as countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda recorded a lower rate of

unemployment. The high rate of Unemployment in Kenya when its economy is relatively better shows that there

are other serious factors which are affecting unemployment in Kenya. Corruption being one of the major factors

that many Kenyan people see as a cause of unemployment was analysed in this study. The study established that

corruption has a long term impact on unemployment in Kenya as on the long run an increase in corruption rate

increases unemployment rates.

Keywords

• Corruption,Unemployment,Economic Growth

References

1. Akinseye George, Y: Legal System, Corruption and Governance in Nigeria, Lagos. (2000)
2. Amundsen, I. (1999). Political corruption: An introduction to the issues. Working Paper - Chr. Michelsen Institute. https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2014.955981
3. Awogbenle, A.C. & Iwuamadi, K.C: Youth Unemployment: Entrepreneurship Development Programme as an Intervention Mechanism. . (2010)
4. Bouzid, Bechir N.. 2016. Dynamic Relationship between Corruption and Youth Unemployment : Empirical Evidences from a System GMM Approach. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7842. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/25158 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
5. Brooks, R. C. (1909). The Nature of Political Corruption. Source: Political Science Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2007.54.1.23.
6. Dwivendi, O. P. 1967. Bureaucratic Corruption in Developing Countries. Asian Review, April 1967.
7. Engle, R. F., & Granger, C. W. J. (1987). Co-Integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation, and Testing. Econometrica. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913236
8. International Labor Organization: Youth: Pathway to Decent Work (2005).

9. Lackó, M. (2004). Tax Rates and Corruption: Labour-market and Fiscal Effects. Empirical cross-country comparisons on OECD and transition countries. Wiiw Research Reports.
10. Lipset, S. M., & Lenz, G. S. (2000). Corruption, Culture, and Markets. In Culture Matters: Values and Human Progress.
11. Nye, J. S. (1967). Corruption and Political Development: A Cost-Benefit Analysis. American Political Science Review. https://doi.org/10.2307/1953254
12. Orwell, G. (1978). Animal farm ; 1984. The Collected stories of the world’s greatest writers.
13. Rahmaddi, R., & Ichihashi, M. (2012). How Do Foreign and Domestic Demand Affect Exports Performance? An Econometric Investigation of Indonesia’s Exports. Modern Economy. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2012.31005
14. Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Development. https://doi.org/10.2307/40203469
15. Todaro, M: England: Longman Group, U.K. Limited; Economics for a Developing World, (1992)
16. Transparency International Corruption Perspective Index (2013)
17. World Bank: World Development Indicators. Washington, D.C. (1998)