Alternate Author Name(s)

Dr. Hillard G. Huntington, MA '71, PhD '74

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1974

Keywords

Rural-urban migration, Kenya, Ethnic groups, Migration, Kenyan

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Alphonse G. Holtmann

Second Advisor

Clifford Kern

Third Advisor

Lorene Yap

Abstract

The supply of urban labor has been a central concern of the development efforts of low-income nations. Earlier development theories emphasized the benefits of removing labor from peasant agriculture—where labor-intensive techniques and traditional economic organization kept productivity low—and relocating it in an industrial setting, where capital could raise its productivity. Reflecting this perspective, observers of the pre-Independence African experience concentrated primarily on the issue of stabilizing an urban labor force. A common argument was that productivity in nonagricultural industries was hindered by a labor force that circulated frequently between village and towns because this mobility was inconsistent with the adoption of attitudes and industrial discipline required by these industries.

Share

COinS