Economic openness, institutional quality and per capita income: Evidence from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The controversy surrounding the actual impact of institutional quality and economic openness on economic growth is among the motivating factors for this study. The study seeks to investi- gate this relationship in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by using the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) test with annual series covering the period from 2000 to 2020. Findings indicate that in the short-run, regulatory quality and FDI outflows had an adverse impact on the economic performance of the ECOWAS bloc. Furthermore, the long-run results show that trade openness, political stability and FDI outflows had an adverse impact on the economy of the bloc, while regulatory quality positively affected the economy. Consequently, the paper recommends that member countries in the ECOWAS bloc should put in place effective regulatory framework in the short and medium term to attract FDI inflows, while building a strong and stable political environment in the long term

DRIVERS OF ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: DO INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY AND FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION MATTER? EVIDENCE FROM SANE AND ASIAN TIGERS

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of financial liberalization and institutional quality on the economic performance of the Asian Tigers and the SANE countries. The study used annual series that spanned the period from 1996-2020 under the framework of FMOLS. Findings of the study revealed that in the Asian Tigers, FDI inflows, FDI outflows, capital account openness and governance effectiveness had a positive and significant impact on the GDP per capita, but the impact of political stability was negative and significant. Results for the SANE countries indicated that both FDI inflows and trade openness impacted positively and significantly on the GDP per capita, while the impact of capital account openness was negative and significant. Consequently, the study is of the view that while it will be necessary for the SANE countries to upgrade their institutions in order to reap the benefits of financial openness, the Asian Tigers should stabilize their polity to improve their economy. Keywords: Institutional quality, FDI, GDP per capita, Financial development, Trade openness, Asian Tigers. JEL Classification: E02, F21, F4

IMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19 FOR AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY, AND POVERTY IN NIGERIA

Covid-19 pandemic appeared to have permanently changed the mode of life, whereby covid-19 mitigating measures have become a unifying world order. All spheres of human life are greatly affected and adversely too. In Nigeria unfortunately, the food chain has become the worst hit resulting from the crushing effects of the pandemic on agriculture. There has been a consistent increase in prices of agricultural products since the February 2020 national lockdown in Nigeria. While Nigeria continues to witness a persistent fall in agricultural output, including food, the prices of food and other agricultural produce keep hitting the roof. The abysmal government interventions riddled with corruption and effectively excluding the mass poor farmers further exacerbated their poor living conditions, while more Nigerians are pushed into poverty. The study involved an exploratory analysis of the immediate impacts of covid-19 mitigation measures and interventions on agriculture, food security, and poverty in Nigeria. The major objective of this study is to better understand the implications of the covid-19 pandemic for agriculture, food security, and poverty in Nigeria

IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ON THE ECONOMIC GROWTH RATE OF NIGERIA

Public expenditure strives to provide amenities for the general public as well as distribute resources among its citizens. Government spending can be divided into three main categories: consumption, transfers, and interest payments. Capital and recurrent expenditure make up the majority of government spending in Nigeria. These are further divided into administration, social and community services, economic services, and transfers. Recurrent spending, in contrast to capital spending, does not result in the creation of assets for the future or the reduction of any government liabilities. Recurrent expenses include payments for pensions, interest on prior debt, subsidies, and employee salaries. This study attempts to scientifically examine the effects of government capital expenditure in its disaggregated form (administration, social and community service, economic services, transfers, and government deficit) on Nigeria's economic growth rate from 1981 to 2021 in addition to evaluating how well government expenditure performed in the years following the pandemic in 2021. Secondary data sourced from the CBN statistical bulletin, 2021, were used in the analysis. Because the variables have a mixed order of integration, the study used the autoregressive distributed lag model. The bounds test showed a longrun association between the studied variables. The error correction model showed a strong and positive association between administrative and economic services and the rate of economic growth in Nigeria