THE NEXUS BETWEEN HUMAN CAPITAL AND INCOME INEQUALITY: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

The study examines the relationship between human capital and income inequality in Nigeria from 1981 to 2019. The study made use of secondary data and the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test estimation technique to analyze the data. The variables used in the analysis include income inequality, tertiary education enrolment, secondary school enrolment, government health expenditure, inflation rate, employment rate and gdp per capita. The results of the findings showed that one-year lagged income inequality and secondary school enrolment are both significant at the 5% level. In the long run, tertiary education enrolment, secondary school enrolment, government expenditure on health and employment rate are all statistically significant at the 1% level. Thus, in the long run, all the indicators of human capital are significant drivers of income inequality in Nigeria. Notwithstanding, of all the indicators, only tertiary school enrolment is negatively related to income inequality, as expected. The implication is that, in Nigeria, it is tertiary school enrolment that significantly lowers income inequality. Sequel to the finding in respect of the importance of tertiary school enrolment, it is recommended that policy makers continually support enrolment to tertiary schools in order to continuously witness significant declines in income inequality in Nigeria

Impact of Oil and Non-oil Tax Revenue on Economic Growth in Nigeria

This study examined the impact of oil and non-oil tax revenue on economic growth in Nigeria. few works have covered oil and non-oil taxation and the relationship of petroleum profit tax (PPT), company income tax (CIT), value-added tax (VAT) and custom and excise duties tax (CED) on Real Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design, and data were drawn from the annual reports of Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Inland Revenue Services publications. Error Correction Model was employed to analyse the data collected after subjecting the series to unit root test and cointegration test. The result of the study showed that PPT with a coefficient of 31.71067 and p-value of 0.0004 and CED with a coefficient of 1.786145 and p-value if 0.0206 had a positive significant relationship with economic growth, while CIT with a coefficient of -14446.50 and p-value of 0.0066 and VAT with a coefficient of -23.33177 and p-value of 0.0001 had a negative significant relationship with economic. The study recommends that taxation be appropriately controlled to boost economic growth, lower inflation, and create jobs in the country. More attention to the channelling PPT and CED revenue collections to infrastructural developments will bring about the economic growth of the country

Financial Deepening and Agricultural Labour Productivity in ECOWAS: A Threshold Analysis

This study examines the threshold effect of financial deepening on agricultural labour productivity using a panel of 15 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We adopt a battery of econometric models including the Hansen threshold model and a polynomial model within a Feasible Generalised Least Square (FGLS) setting. The results reveal that there exists no threshold effect of financial deepening on agricultural labour productivity. Results further show that financial deepening is not a significant driver of agricultural labour productivity in ECOWAS but life expectancy at birth and agricultural gross fixed capital formation per worker are significant drivers. This implies that financial depth is not a potent strategy in boosting agricultural labour productivity. As a result, paying attention to the significant determinants is rather recommended. Keywords: Financial Deepening, Agricultural Labour Productivity, Hansen Threshold model, Polynomial Model, Feasible Generalised Least Square, ECOWA

Government sectoral spending and human development in Nigeria: Is there a link?

The continuous increase in government expenditure in the last three decades without a commensurate improvement in all known indicators of development has generated heated debates among scholars as to the justification for the persistent rise in the annual expenditure of the government. Therefore, this study examined the effects of government sectoral spending on human development in Nigeria using annual data spanning the period 1986–2021. This study contributed to the literature by examining the effects of government sectoral spending on human development using a robust human development index that captures the multifaceted state of economic development in terms of educational attainment, life expectancy and per capita income, unlike previous studies that concentrated on aggregate government spending and used the gross domestic product as an indicator of development. Surprisingly, however, results from the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model employed indicated that both in the short and long run, there is no link between government sectoral spending and human development in Nigeria. Although, outcomes from ECMs suggest that government sectoral spending may affect human development in the long run

Exchange Rate, Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth Nexus in Nigeria

The relationship among exchange rate, foreign direct investment and economic growth is explored in this study by adopting the Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) technique to examine the long-run cointegrating relationship for the period 1981-2018. A long-run relationship was confirmed among exchange rate, foreign direct investment and economic growth. From the findings, foreign direct investment contributes positively to economic growth, while the speed of adjustment is 78.46% and significant. The study recommends, among others, that the Nigerian government must create an enabling atmosphere for private businesses to prosper. The study suggested that the government pursue policies that will boost investors' confidence and enable foreign companies to invest in the country's economy. Government and private-sector agencies are encouraged to invest more in the country's education and health care infrastructure