This collection investigates the economic and social impact of multinational corporations on the development trajectory of Kenya. Raphael Kaplinsky, an economist specializing in development and industrialization, compiles a series of academic essays to analyze how foreign capital influences local markets, labor practices, and national policy. The text utilizes a structuralist framework to evaluate the dependency of the Kenyan economy on external corporate entities and the resulting implications for domestic growth.

Experts recognize this volume as a foundational academic resource for understanding the historical economic landscape of East Africa. Readers frequently note the dense, scholarly nature of the prose, which is intended primarily for researchers and students of development economics.