Regional Impacts of Small Scale Industrial Enterprises in Akoko Region of Ondo State
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Date
2015-09-29
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Abstract
The study examined the regional planning effects of small scale industrial enterprises in Akoko region of Ondo State. It had the objectives of identifying the types, and pattern of distribution, evaluate the socio-economic characteristics of stakeholders, and assess the socio-economic and environmental effects of this industrial sub-sector on its immediate environment.
In order to collect data for the study Ikare, Akungba and Iboropa were purposively selected to represent major towns, minor towns and major villages in the region. Primary data were collected through the' use of four sets of questionnaires administered on proprietors, employees, customers and residents living in the immediate environment of the industries. By using systematic random sampling, two hundred and four (204) firms representing 50% of industries in the three settlements were selected for investigation. Consequently, two hundred and four (204) proprietors were interviewed using the first set of questionnaires. The second set of questionnaires was administered on two workers also purposively sampled per firm, to give a sample size of 480 workers. The third set of questionnaire was administered on two major customers who were purposively selected in each of the sampled enterprises, to make a total of 408 customers. The last set of 204 questionnaires was administered on one household head of the closest residential buildings to the already sampled small enterprises. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Nearest Neighbour Index and factor analysis as appropriate.
The findings of the study revealed that informal enterprises account for 88.2% of all the enterprises in the region. The study also established variation in the spatial distribution of industries in the region. For example while the Rn (Nearest Neighbour Index) of these enterprises in Ikare was 1.65 indicating random distribution, the Rn value for Akungba was 1.88, which is dispersed but tending towards regularity. The Rn value for Iboropa is 1.5 which is clearly random. However, the application of t-test to compare the distributional patterns of formal and informal enterprises revealed that there is no significant difference in the distributional patterns of the two classes of industries since t = 0.043 and (P>0.05). The application of factor analysis revealed that nearness to sources of raw materials, power, market and access to land were the most important factors in the location of small enterprises since eigen values of these locational factors (1.95, 1.15, 1.07 and 1.06) were more than 1.00. The study also established the overriding dominance of males as factory owners (74.50%), as workers (64%) and as distributors (53.2%). Moreover, the study revealed significant backward and forward linkages (84%) but low vertical linkage (27%) among small enterprises.
The study concluded by establishing the indispensability of small scale industrial enterprises as a tool of comprehensive regional development.
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Small scale industrial enterprises, Enterprises in Ikare