Analysis of the impact of reproductive health outcome on women labour force participation and earnings in Nigeria

This study undertakes an empirical economic analysis of women reproductive health and labour force participation in Nigeria.  Specifically, the study analyzed the impact of reproductive health outcome on women labour force participation and earnings in  Nigeria. The study used mixed research methodology to study the research problem across the entire country. First, it uses a national representative quantitative data from the National Demographic Health Survey reports for 2003, 2008 and 2013 respectively. Secondly, cross-sectional micro- data were also collected from two study areas comprising one urban and one rural to test the validity of the hypothesis raised in this study. A questionnaire design, focus group discussions and key-informants interview were used to elicit information from respondents. The study used multi-stage sampling technique to select 400 women of reproductive age in the study areas. Various analytical tools such as chi-square, crosstabulations, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data collected. The study found that women’s reproductive health outcomes such as total fertility rate, child spacing and contraceptive prevalence rate have negatively impacted women’s labour force participation and earnings in the study areas. Hence, the negative reproductive health outcome has not given women the ample opportunity to develop the necessary capacities to engage in labour force  participation. From the cross sectional survey, it was found that only 6.54% of the respondents practice family planning which is below the national benchmark of 64.34%. About 92.92% of the respondents had birth interval of less than two years which is against the government’s policy of two years child spacing. About 95.58% of the respondents married at less than 18 years which is against the  government policy of 18 years age of marriage for women. Meanwhile, about 85% of the respondents have between 7 to 10 children and above per woman which is against the government’s policy of 4 children per woman. In addition, only 25.47% of the respondents have formal education while 30.86% are in active formal employment which is 100% against government’s policy of women literacy and formal employment rates in Nigeria. Therefore, the study concludes that reproductive health outcome does not have significant impact on women labour force participation and earnings in Nigeria. To this end, this study recommends that, there is need for government, key stakeholders in the private sector and non-governmental organizations to organize sensitization workshops for all religious leaders and household heads on the economic and health benefits of family planning and child spacing, in order to regulate the reproductive health behaviour’s of women so as to ensure their labour force participation in order to increase their lifetime earnings. Keywords: reproductive health outcome, women labour force participation and earnings, logistic regression mode

Deficit financing, private sector saving and investment in Nigeria

The study set out to investigate the relationship between public sector borrowing and deficit financing on the one hand, and private sector saving and investment on the other, in the Nigerian economy.Statistics on these variables were sourced from appropriate Nigerian data banks. Econometric approaches were enlisted for data analysis and results formed basis forconclusion

Impact of Credit Risk Pricing on Commercial Banks’ Loan Performance in Nigeria

The impact of credit risk pricing on commercial banks’ loan performance was investigated to find out whether credit risk pricing of commercial banks can be used to achieve stability of loan performance in Nigeria. Variables like interest rate (maximum and prime lending rates), total loan and advances (TL/A), the ratio of loan and advances to total deposit (LA/TD), non-performing loan ratio (NPLR), risk premium (RP), gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate (INFR) proxy by consumer price index, and exchange rate (EXR), were estimated using VAR model with lag one period as the optimum lag length. Generally, the result for cointegration shows the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. The VECM was also estimated for short run analysis and the result shows that the past values of RP and FXR have positive and significant impact in explaining the current/future path of NPLR in the short run in Nigeria while the past value of MLR have negative and significant impact in explaining NPLR in the current period at 5% level of significance. However, the VAR model result for bank specific factors show that only the past period NPLR is positive and statistically significant in explaining the current/future path of commercial banks’ loan performance proxy by NPLR at the 10% level of significance. Whereas for macroeconomic factors, the result of the VAR model shows that the value of FXR is negative and that of NPLR is positive and statistically significant in the past periods in explaining the current/future path of NPLR in Nigeria at 5% and 10% level of significance respectively. This may perhaps imply that commercial banks in Nigeria at the time of lending to their clients play down on these variables in building up their price for credit (interest rate). This may be as a result of the existence of relationship banking and compliance failure by banks in performing their astute functions. Hence, the variables can be used to determine the impact of credit risk pricing on commercial banks’ loan performance in Nigeria. The paper recommends that the risk premium should not be made only to capture market expectations but also the volatility and asymmetry involved in their hidden activities of relationship banking which have taken a central stage in Nigeria’s banking business. The CBN should also develop a more robust and practical risk pricing model peculiar to the Nigerian environment aside the template existing

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON NIGERIAN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR CROP PRODUCTION

This study examined the impact climate change have on Nigerian agricultural sector crop production within the period of 1990 to 2020.  This study employed the Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) Model. NARDL is appropriateness because the unit root test results revealed a mixed order of I(0) and I(1) and Wald test which established the existence of non-linearity. This study established the existence of long-run relationship and also found that in the short run, lag of increase in rainfall index has a positive and statistically significant impact on crop output. the past value of decrease in rainfall has a positive and statistically significant impact on crop output. Decrease in temperature has a positive impact on crop production at both the current and lagged value but only the lag is statistically significant. In the long-run both increase and decrease in rainfall as well as increase in temperature indices have negative impact on crop production why reduction in temperature is beneficial to crop production. This study, this study recommends the provision of irrigation facilities such as dam, pumping machines, hose, wells and boreholes to farmers as this will help ameliorate shortages of water caused by climate change

Economic commodity or environmental crisis? An interdisciplinary approach to analysing the bushmeat trade in central and west Africa

Bushmeat is a large but largely invisible contributor to the economies of west and central African countries. Yet the trade is currently unsustainable. Hunting is reducing wildlife populations, driving more vulnerable species to local and regional extinction, and threatening biodiversity. This paper uses a commodity chain approach to explore the bushmeat trade and to demonstrate why an interdisciplinary approach is required if the trade is to be sustainable in the future