Trade liberalization and economic performance in Nigeria: Evidence from agricultural and manufacturing sectors

This study examines the impact of trade liberalization on performance in the  Nigerian economy, with special reference to agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Simultaneous models were developed to capture the joint effects of trade  liberalization on the two sectors. The Generalized Method of Moment technique was used to estimate the role of trade liberalization on the performance of the selected sectors. The study shows a significant positive impact of trade liberalization on the output of agricultural sector while a negative but significant relationship exists  between measures of trade liberalization and manufacturing output in Nigeria. The study also reveals that exchange rate exerts a positive but insignificant impact on agricultural output while the effect of inflation on agricultural output is positive and significant within the study period. Unlike the agricultural output, both exchange rate and inflation have negative impact on manufacturing sector’s output. Moreover,  finding from the study also confirmed the possibility of substantial economic linkage between the two sectors, as their magnitudes were positive and significant which suggests some significant level of interdependence between them in the Nigerian economy. The study concludes that government should embark on programmes that promote local production to fully harness the opportunity presents by trade liberalization.Keywords: Trade liberalization, agriculture, manufacturing, Generalized Method of Moment and Nigeria

Does Insurance Sector Matter for Economic Complexity?

The study examines the impact of the insurance market on economic complexity in 28 OECD nations within a period of 1995–2020. The study also examines whether the impact of life insurance on economic complexity would be different from that of the non-life insurance sector within the insurance market. The results based on pooled mean group (PMG) estimators reveal that the insurance sector influences economic complexity positively. This finding is further substantiated after employing panel co-integrating regression and method of moment quantile regression (MM-QR). The study concludes that the insurance sector is a key instrument in upgrading the economic complexity of an economy. Since the distributional impact of economic complexity also depends on economic and financial risk, the insurance sector can assist in mitigating the risks and uphold the productive knowledge structure needed to enhance national product sophistication

Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Nigeria: Evidence from Agricultural and Manufacturing sectors

This study examines the impact of trade liberalization on performance in the Nigerian economy, with special reference to agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Simultaneous models were developed to capture the joint effects of trade liberalization on the two sectors. The Generalized Method of Moment technique was used to estimate the role of trade liberalization on the performance of the selected sectors. The study shows a significant positive impact of trade liberalization on the output of agricultural sector while a negative but significant relationship exists between measures of trade liberalization and manufacturing output in Nigeria. The study also reveals that exchange rate exerts a positive but insignificant impact on agricultural output while the effect of inflation on agricultural output is positive and significant within the study period. Unlike the agricultural output, both exchange rate and inflation have negative impact on manufacturing sector’s output. Moreover, finding from the study also confirmed the possibility of substantial economic linkage between the two sectors, as their magnitudes were positive and significant which suggests some significant level of interdependence between them in the Nigerian economy. The study concludes that government should embark on programmes that promote local production to fully harness the opportunity presents by trade liberalization

Does Urbanization Matter For Poverty Reduction in Nigeria: An Empirical Evidence From Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Estimation

Urbanization has been argued to be having an impact on several other development challenges. To this end, this paper aims to contribute to the empirical literature by exploring the effect of urbanization and its' magnitude on poverty, both in the short run and long run in Nigeria. The macroeconomic analysis was conducted using data from 1982 to 2017 which was obtained from the World Bank. Bound Test and autoregressive distributed-lag (ARDL) estimation techniques were used to test the existence of a cointegration relationship and to estimate the short and long-run effect of urbanization and other variables on poverty reduction. Results from the study and an economic standpoint, provide strong evidence that urbanization remains an important factor in poverty reduction in Nigeria. The analysis further shows that while international remittances have a positive and significant effect, foreign aid and government expenditure have significant negative effects on poverty reduction in the long-term period. While findings from this study suggest that urbanization remains a valid tool in the fight against poverty, the need for sustainable urbanization policies and efforts by the Nigerian government is highly imperative