Human Capital Investment and Economic Growth in Nigeria: the Role of Education and Health

This study looked at Human Capital Investment and Economic Growth in Nigeria – the Role of Education. Even though there are different perspectives to economic growth, there is a general consensus that growth will lead to a good change manifested in increased capacity of people to have control over material assets, intellectual resources and ideology, and obtain physical necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, employment, e.t.c. This is why some people have argued that the purpose of growth is to improve peoples’ lives by expanding their choices, freedom and dignity. The belief in human capital as a necessity for growth started in Nigeria during the implementation of the 1955-60 Development Plan and today, with the importance of knowledge in the economy, human capital has increasingly attracted both academic and public interest. This study made use of the Unit Root and Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) tests and found out that a positive relationship exists between government expenditure on education and economic growth while a negative relationship exists between government expenditure on health and economic growth. Therefore, based on these findings, the study recommended that the Government should increase not just the amount of expenditure made on the education and health sectors, but also the percentage of its total expenditure accorded to these sectors. The ten percent benchmark proffered by the present national plan should be adopte

The Impact of Liberalized Financial System on Savings, Investment and Growth in Nigeria

For the past twenty years, an enhanced financial sectoral deregulation has been a major economic tool in the agenda of most less developed economies and Nigeria is no exception. The discouraging level of growth with reference to the savings and investment culture of the people and government involvement in these economies has call to question whether financial sector liberalization have an impact on savings and investment in the economy and by extension on the level of growth and development of such economies. This study attempted to take a cursory look at the issue by examining the impact of financial system liberalization on savings and investment and by extension growth and development in Nigeria between 1997 and 2008. Some of the policy recommendations centred on the government creating an enabling environment for private investment to thrive. This will go a long way in helping to promote private investment with significant benefits in the long run for growth and development to the advantage of the citizenry and the economy at larg

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INEQUALITY IN INCOME AND JOB SATISFACTION IN TWO SELECTED ORGANISATIONS

The labour market over the years has been an important source that offers explanation for earnings and income inequality. The structure of the labour market has a significant consequence on employment status and it serves as an important determinant of household income and welfare. The Nigerian labour market is characterised by differences in income and job satisfaction among employees of various organisations. Therefore, this study was carried out to report on the results of a questionnaire which was designed to determine the link between income and job satisfaction of employees of two selected organisations in Nigeria. The results show that education has a lot to do with differences in income. Also, the differences in the level of profitability of these organisations is another factor necessitating wage differences. It also revealed that there is a close link between the incomes earned and the level of job satisfaction of employees in the two organisations studied. This accounts for the differences in the level of productivity of the employees in these organisations. These findings are important to personnel managers responsible for developing recruitment strategies directed at getting the best out of every employee to ensure that the remuneration can meet the needs of the employee

Nigerian Stock Exchange and Economic Development

The need to critically analyze the efficiency of capital market on the Nigerian economy for the period between 1979 and 2008 as a reference point for developing economies is the bedrock of this work. The results indicate that the stock market indeed contributes to economic growth as all variables conformed to expectation. The Nigerian Stock Exchange has not been having the best of times as an aftermath of the global financial crisis after an unprecedented surge in returns on investment which has resulted in a continuous downturn in market capitalization. Multiple regression method of econometric analysis was used for the work. The major findings revealed a negative relationship between the market capitalization and the Gross Domestic Product as well as a negative relationship between the turnover ratio and the Gross Domestic Product while a positive relationship was observed between the all-share index and the Gross Domestic Product. These findings led to some policy formulations aimed at an improved and developed market for potential gain to the benefit of rational investors even across national borders

Trade Openness, Institutions and Economic Growth in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA)

A major discourse in literature is that one of the causes of the limited growth effects of trade liberalization is the weakness of institutions. The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of trade openness and institutions on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Institutions are crafted by man to create a peaceful habitation and reduce uncertainty in the exchange of values; and they play key roles in the management of economies in recent years. The study is significant considering the fact that trade and institutions have been found to exert some measure of influence on the growth of countries. However, evidence has shown that not much has been done in relating institutions to trade in SSA. The study employed econometric analyses involving the Panel Unit Root, Least Square Dummy Variables (LSDV) and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) techniques for the period 1985-2012 on thirty selected SSA countries. Secondary data were used for the estimations. The major findings of the study revealed that institutions had a significant positive impact on economic growth but trade openness only had a little significance on growth in the selected SSA countries. Therefore, the study recommended that the SSA countries should ensure that funds be channeled appropriately to projects of economic importance so as to further develop their institutions to have meaningful impact on economic growth. These SSA countries should also create conducive economic and political environments that will engender free international trade between them and other countries of the world

The Agricultural Sector and Economic Development: The Nigerian Experience

Agriculture constitutes the predominant activity in most of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, the percentage of persons engaged in the agricultural sector ranges between 24.4 and 85.1 per cent across zones in Nigeria. With respect to states, the activity ranges between 2.4 and 91.7 per cent, majority of states having over 50 percent. Food is one of the basic necessities of life hence the need to encourage agriculture. It is in this vein that, this study examines the role of the Agricultural sector in Economic Development. The empirical data used in this study was from 1970 to 2008, the Johansen Co-integration technique of regression was used to analyze the data. The results show that, there is no significant impact of the agricultural sector on economic development in Nigeria. The study recommends that research and technology would drive agricultural development and increase agricultural productivity and that the Govenm1ent should establish agricultural fund to finance and facilitate medium/large scale agricultural production, to enhance employment, production for local consumption and for export. Therefore, the study concludes that any policy thrust that addresses poverty would inevitably focus on agriculture, by increasing rural opportunities that could generate agricultural induced development. Hence, the development of agriculture is a sine qua non for the alleviation of poverty and achievement of sustainable development

An Analysis of the Effect of Oil Price Shock and Exchange Rate Instability on Economic Growth in Nigeria

This paper seeks to assess the impact of oil price shock and real exchange rate instability on real economic growth in Nigeria on the basis of quarterly data from 1986 to 2012. Time series data was used to examine the nature of causality among the variables. The Johansen VAR-based cointegration technique is applied to examine the sensitivity of real economic growth to changes in oil prices and real exchange rate volatility in the long-run while the short run dynamics was checked using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Results from ADF and PP tests show evidence of unit root in the data and Granger pairwise causality test revealed unidirectional causality from oil prices to real Gross Domestic Product (GOP). The findings of the study shows that oil price shock and appreciation in the level of exchange rate exert positive impact on real economic growth in Nigeria. It recommends greater diversification of the economy through investment in key productive sectors of the economy to guard against the vicissitude of oil price shock and exchange rate volatility

Trade Liberalisation and the Formal-Informal Sector Dichotomy in Nigeria

This study assesses the role of trade liberalization on the formal-informal sector of Nigeria It looks at whether or not the trade liberalization process have any effect on both the reduction in the wage differential between registered and non-registered roughly formal and informal workers and the fall in the proportion of registered workers The study uses both secondary and primary data via the administration of questionnaires to discuss the channels through which trade liberalization could affect these two variables and put forward an empirical approach to test the existence of any correlation between them The results suggest that the fall in the wage gap between registered and non-registered workers in the manufacturing sector was affected by trade-related variables particularly by the import penetration ratio However we do not find robust evidence that trade liberalization had a substantial effect on the fall in the proportion of registered worker

Africa 's Economic Growth in a Globalized World: Restructuring Nigeria 's Trade and Industrial Policy for Nigerian Growth

Globalization has both cost and benefits, but experience have shown that the costs of globalization for Nigeria seem to have outweighed its benefits. Therefore, this study sets out to assess the impact of a globalised world as regards Nigeria's trade and industrial policy on the country 's level of economic growth. The study utilized secondary data from the annual reports and accounts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 1970-2012. The data obtained were analyzed using the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) and the Error Correction Mechanism. The findings of the study show that "free-trade " which came as a result of globalization has not had a positive impact on the Nigerian economy and hence concludes that globalization has done more harm than good to Nigeria. Thus, the study recommends that Nigeria should put in place an industrial policy which should create enabling business environment within the country by providing incentives to manufacturers, ensuring regular and uninterrupted power supply as well as promoting agriculture

Community Stakeholders' Perspectives on Poverty Alleviation in a University Town

Poverty is pervasive in Nigerian communities and is entrenched in both rural and urban centres. Nigerians see hope in the locating of institutions as means of improving livelihood. The paper studies the stakeholders I approach to poverty alleviation in a town where a private mission university is sited. Using the technique of correlation supported with bootstrapping, stakeholders' responses indicate that education is a key factor in poverty alleviation as it is a cause and solution. Public sector investment is required in the areas of road and energy. and youth participation is required for programmes to succeed. Stakeholders' perspective is also affected by the kind of education they have received and management of intervention programmes must be by agreement and understanding between them. The paper recommends the increase in the opportunities to be made available for the indigent indigenes to be empowered by formal or vocational education. There is also a need for transparency in stakeholders I management of intervention programmes to ensure complete success