Investigating Long-Run Co-Movements betweenłdots 1 INVESTIGATING LONG-RUN CO-MOVEMENTS BETWEEN EMERGING AND DEVELOPED STOCK MARKETS

Stock markets are increasingly becoming more interdependent due to internationalization and the ever increasing level of financial globalization. The aim of the study is to empirically investigate if there is a long-run relationship between the Nigerian Exchange Limited and some emerging and developed economies using the Johansen cointegration technique. Major market indexes were selected to represent each market. A significant long-run relationship was found between most of the markets in the West African region and their global counterpart. Meanwhile an insignificant long-run relationship was found among the West African stock markets. The findings imply that diversification opportunities exist more amongst equity markets in the West African region than with major global equity markets. The study recommends that the formal stock market integration process should be fostered while more efforts should be made to make the markets more resilient against negative global equity flows

Petroleum subsidy withdrawal, fuel price hikes and the Nigerian Economy

The study investigated petroleum subsidy withdrawal, fuel price hikes and the Nigerian Economy. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which the removals of petroleum subsidies stimulate hikes in fuel prices and increases in the prices of products of other sectors in the Nigerian economy. It employed input-output model to determine the value added per sector from the computed table of flow of goods. Subsequently, the impacts of reductions in petroleum subsidies (10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%) on the prices of products from the other sectors were computed. Results showed that reduction in petroleum subsidies stimulate increases in prices of petroleum products and such increases trigger increases in transport fares; increases in transport fares subsequently lead to increases in prices of other products owing to the degree of interdependency among the various sectors. The need for policy makers to be mindful of the economic implications of subsidy removal was suggested, among other

Macroeconomic Policies and Agricultural Development in Developing Countries: Lessons from Emerging Economies

This paper brings to the fore the macroeconomic policy issues in emerging and developing countries with respect to agricultural development. By exploring theoretical and empirical evidences, it describes the macroeconomic tools that have been deployed by various governments of selected emerging and developing nations especially between 2000 and 2010. The major findings are that emerging countries like Brazil, China and India have systematically manipulated macroeconomic tools in either jumpstarting or fast-tracking their economic development. It recommends that in order to foster development, developing countries need to learn to manipulate macroeconomic policies relating to taxation, trade, government expenditure and exchange rate. Key Words: Macroeconomic policies; Agricultural development; Descriptive; Developing countries; Emerging economie

Nigeria’s oil rent can still count: Lessons from Kuwait

Nigeria and Kuwait were former British colonies, both having oil-based economies with exports of over 2.4 million barrels of oil per day and oil exports accounting for a clear majority of their export earnings. But funnily enough, the standards of living of the citizens of these two are poles apart as Kuwait’s oil rent has been successfully used to benefit its citizens while Nigerians still grapple with low living standards in the midst of plenty. This study employs a comparative approach in assessing the nexus between oil rents and living standards for both countries and seeks to draw the attention of Nigeria to the oil rent distribution channels of Kuwait. The conclusion of the study is that Nigeria can still change the fortunes of her citizenry by tapping into the wealth of knowledge from Kuwait’s oil rent distribution channels

Stock Market Volatility Spillover in West Africa: Regional and Global Perspectives

This study examines volatility spillover between stock markets in the West African region, and with the United States of America (US) and United Kingdom (UK) stock markets using the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (E-GARCH). Daily stock market index returns from 2008-2016 were analysed considering two sub-sample periods representing periods of turbulence and tranquil. Findings from the study reveal that there is the presence of significant volatility spillover effects between stock markets in the West African region and also with major global markets of US and UK. Significant changes are also observed in the direction, magnitude and sign of impact during the period of crises and in the post crises period. The results of this study is important to local, regional and international investors, market participants and regulatory bodies as it implicates on portfolio diversification strategies, capital controls policies and efforts towards regional stock market integration

Financing agriculture in Nigeria through the agricultural extension services of agricultural development programmes

The ADPs were designed in response to a fall in agricultural productivity and hence a concern to sustain domestic food supplies. The study examined “Financing Agriculture in Nigeria through Agricultural Extension Services of Agricultural Development Programmes.” It sought to ascertain the extent to which agricultural extension services of the agricultural development programmes have impacted the financing of agriculture in six selected local government areas in Edo South senatorial district, Nigeria using a sample of 120 respondents. Stratified random sampling was used to select the respondents. Interview schedule served as the research instrument. The research data were analyzed using t-test and Pearson correlation, which served as the inferential statistics. The research findings showed that the extension services of ADP have impacted significantly on crop development in the selected communities but have not had significant impact on employment creation and the development of infrastructural facilities. The study also revealed that there was no significant difference between the implementation of the projects in the selected communities, as revealed by the correlation test. On the basis of the research findings, the need for a complete redesign of the project to ensure that it achieves its stated goals as well as ensure proper monitoring of its implementation were suggested, among other