JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND ALLIED RESEARCH
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ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: ASSESSING THE VALIDITY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE IN NIGERIA
Get PDFThe environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis explores the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality, suggesting that environmental degradation initially worsens with economic growth but improves after reaching a specific income threshold. While evidence supporting the EKC exists for some pollutants and countries, results remain mixed for Nigeria. This study therefore reexamines the EKC hypothesis for Nigeria, focusing on key environmental degradation indicators: CO2 emissions, fossil fuel consumption, resource depletion, and erosion. Specifically, it investigates whether an EKC relationship exists between these indicators and GDP growth. The study also determine Nigeria’s growththreshold, above which economic growth benefits the environment. Using time-series data from 1981 to 2023 sourced from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the study employed threshold regression analysis to evaluate the validity of EKC hypothesis. The results reveal mixed alignment with the EKC hypothesis. While some indicators of environmental degradation validate the EKC hypothesis, others refute it. This study, therefore, concludes thateconomic growth impacts only some aspects or components of environmental degradation. Accordingly, policy measures such as adoption of green technologies, promotion of renewable energy, and enforcement of stricter environmental regulations are recommended in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. Adopting these measures would reduce pollution, conserve natural resources, and mitigate climate change, fostering a balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability
HUMAN CAPITAL AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE CASE FOR HEALTH
Get PDFThis paper employs the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) technique to investigate the nexus between human capital development and inclusive growth across 20 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 2000 to 2021. The results reveal that human capital development indicators positively influence the inclusive growth index in both the short and long run, except for public health expenditure, which shows a significant negative impact. The study finds that economic adjustments toward equilibrium occur within a year, as indicated by the error correction mechanism. Policy recommendations include increasing government spending on health, improving citizen empowerment, reducing corruption, and upholding the rule of law to ensure life expectancy translates into equitable growth
COMBATING UNEMPLOYMENT AND YOUTH CRIMINALITY IN ALA IGBO USING AKURUOULO PRINCIPLE: A FOCUS ON IMO STATE OKOBI
Get PDFThis research titled “Combating Unemployment and Youth Criminality in Ala Igbo Using Akuruoulo Principle with a Focus on the One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI)” seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the One Kindred One Business Initiative (OKOBI), rooted in the Igbo Akuruoulo principle (of investing at home), in addressing youth unemployment and criminality in Southeast Nigeria’s Ala Igbo region. Using questionnaires to collate data, a survey of 54 Traditional Rulers and Youth Presidents across Imo State’s 27 Local Government Areas assessed OKOBI’s impact. Descriptive statistics and Spearman’s correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations: OKOBI reduced unemployment (r = 0.568, p = 0.001) and criminality (r = 0.681, p = 0.001). Respondents agreed (mean scores: 3.2–3.26) that OKOBI engages youths in vocational skills and community enterprises, displacing incentives for crime. The findings highlight the efficacy of culturally embedded models in fostering economic inclusion and social stability. Recommendations include scaling OKOBI through investments in vocational training, infrastructure, and mentorship while integrating the Akuruoulo principle into policy to incentivise communal wealth redistribution. Addressing structural barriers like access to capital and formalising kinship-driven businesses are critical for sustainability. This study underscores the potential of indigenous, community-centric strategies to combat systemic unemployment and crime, offering a replicable framework for similar contexts
MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS, INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN SELECTED ECOWAS COUNTRIES
Get PDF This study investigates macroeconomic shocks, instability, and economic growth in selected ECOWAS countries. Specifically, Benin, Carbo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, and the Gambia were considered for the study based on data availability and a long history of macroeconomic instability. The study adopts panel structural Vector Auto Regressive (VAR) as a methodology to conscientiously account for the responses of variables of each country to idiosyncratic and common structural shocks. This is achieved by allowing full cross-member heterogeneity of the response dynamics. The data used is a panel that comprises nine ECOWAS countries from 1992 to 2023. The results of the impulse response functions revealed evidence of insignificant shock propagation and transmission among the macroeconomic variables, such as the countries' GDP, inflation, unemployment, and exchange rates. However, the results indicated that macroeconomic instability in the countries is attributable to internal rather than external shocks. This is because the diagonal impulse response functions were more significant than the off-diagonal impulse response functions. The policy implication of these results is that macroeconomic stability is achievable when the ECOWAS countries focus more on controlling inflation and unemployment through effective monetary and fiscal policies. Doing this will not only enhance the attainment of internal balance but also assist them in mitigating the effects of the shocks and foster higher economic growth
AGRICULTURAL FINANCING AND AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT IN NIGERIA: EVIDENCE FROM VECM APPROACH
Get PDFThis study analyzes the effect of agricultural financing on agricultural output in Nigeria between 1990 and 2021. Using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), it evaluates the roles of commercial banks, microfinance banks, and the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF). Secondary time series data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria underwent unit root and cointegration testing in E-Views 10. The results confirm a long-run equilibrium relationship between agricultural financing and output. Specifically, microfinance credit and ACGSF disbursements significantly and positively influence agricultural output. In contrast, credit from commercial banks has a negative long-run impact. Short-run dynamics show limited responsiveness, with the error correction term indicating slow adjustment toward equilibrium. The study recommends strengthening microfinance institutions, reforming the ACGSF to ease collateral constraints, and restructuring commercial bank credit to address risk aversion and high interest rates
POLITICAL CYCLES IN STOCK MARKET RETURN MOVEMENTS IN NIGERIA
Get PDFThe degree to which stock market movements in emerging/developing democracies follow a political cycle, such as the presidential election cycle (PEC), is a crucial area of research in the field of how the political system affect stock markets. This relationship's rationalization accords with the Political Business Cycle Theory (PBC) claims regarding the opportunistic policy behavior of elected presidencies in democracies. It attributes its existence to the effect of a presidency's electoral tenure. The relationship has, nevertheless, been determined to be a puzzle, representing the inconsistency between the robust empirical support for the established US stock market but the lack of equivalent findings for other developed democracies or the PBC theories' implications. This study is motivated by the claim that results from stock markets with varying degrees of market efficiency are instructive to address the puzzle. Thus, the study offers insights from the developing Nigerian stock market. It employs multidimensional analysis to look into the PEC in the Nigerian stock market, utilizing regression, time domain, and frequency domain studies. The findings from the time domain analysis and the PEC model of stock returns fail to support that the years of the presidential election tenure cause the differences in average stock returns across the first and second halves of the presidential election term. The study concludes that the evidence fails to support a causal effect of the years of the presidential tenure on the stock market in Nigeria. Political cycle of the form of the PEC do not appear to exist in Nigeria. The study recommends that investors in Nigeria’s stock markets should ignore market timing strategies, such as that based on the PEC pattern in stock market returns, and employ long-term portfolio investment strategies.  
ROLE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN POVERTY REDUCTION IN NIGERIA
Get PDFThis study examined the effect of economic growth on poverty in Nigeria. The study was informed by the rising poverty level in the country, despite concerted efforts made by government towards poverty reduction. It explored the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria by identifying components that influence economic growth in various sectors of the economy. In order to address the problem, time series data covering the period 1990 to 2023 was used to estimate the variables in the model. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was used to estimate the regression equation. It was found that gross capital formation has negative and insignificant impact on poverty reduction. This indicates the need for continuous investment in capital formation to boost industrialization, which enhance economic growth. The study found that economic growth has negative and significant impact on poverty reduction both in the short run and long run. Based on the findings, it was recommended that poverty reduction policies that enhance economic growth through expansion of employment opportunities, agricultural productivity, raising investment and improving the living standard of households should be encouraged in the country
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY OF THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT) SERVICE IN LAGOS
Get PDFMany metropolitan cities in developing countries currently face an urban mass transit transport gap. Some transportation authorities in these cities introduced the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along the major routes to overcome this gap. Commuters’ satisfaction usually determines the success of a mass transit scheme based on assessing various satisfaction parameters. In this regard, high customer satisfaction is one of the main reasons why several cities worldwide have adopted BRT to solve the problem of mass transit. Therefore, this study, contextualized on the Ikorodu-TBS corridor in the Lagos state of Nigeria, examined the satisfaction of BRT commuters compared to that of other bus types to determine whether there are any significant differences. To test commuters' satisfaction, a Likert-scale questionnaire was distributed to 500 users of BRT and other bus types of which 472 completed the survey. Respondents were asked to identify their level of satisfaction. Responses were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis H Test. The results showed that significant differences exist. Subsequently, pairwise comparisons were performed using Dunn’s (1964) procedure with a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons which revealed that while the difference between BRT and other bus types was significant in some cases, it was not in other cases, suggesting that the state needs to work diligently to improve the areas of weakness identified by the study. By testing for the significant difference between the various satisfaction variables between BRT and other bus types, this study established that, indeed, there are. The study revealed that from the post hoc test the BRT does not yet have the desired level of satisfaction among commuters whose perceptions suggest significant differences in their transportation experience between the BRT and the other transport service operators. This implies that even though the performance of BRT is remarkable in some cases, there is a need to improve in other areas such as price in order for BRT to fulfill the primary purpose - affordability and accessibility- for which it was established
SOCIOECONOMIC CUM POLITICAL IMPACT OF ETHNIC CLEAVAGES AND VOTERS' SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES IN 2023 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
Get PDFNigeria is a pluralistic society with various ethnic and religious groups competing not just for political resources, but also for the right to assert their individual identities. This dynamic frequently plunges the country into an apparent insurmountable political quagmire, endangering the collective survival of its various groups and fueling their struggle for political dominance. In this context, the study looks at how ethnic cleavages affect voters' support for presidential candidates in Nigeria's 2023 general elections. The study employs a documentary methodology, with data mostly acquired from secondary sources and examined for substantive content. Social Identity Theory provides a theoretical framework for a thorough evaluation of the subject matter. The study finds that the bloc votes received by candidates from their respective geopolitical zones were significantly influenced by voters’ identification with specific ethnic or religious affiliations. Based on these findings, the paper makes several recommendations, including the need for political leaders to prioritize nation-building. Most importantly, national interest should take precedence over personal ambition and ethnic chauvinism
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
Get PDFPublic expenditure management plays a crucial role in shaping the economic development trajectory of nations, particularly in the context of Africa, a continent characterized by diverse economic, social, and political landscapes. This study examined the intricate relationship between public expenditure management practices and the broader goal of fostering sustainable economic development across African countries. Qualitative analysis was implored to x-ray the roles of public expenditure management in fostering sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa. The study provided a comprehensive overview of the concept of public expenditure management. It explores the key components of effective expenditure management, including fiscal discipline, transparency, accountability, and strategic allocation of resources. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of sound financial governance to mitigate corruption and ensure optimal resource utilization. Furthermore, the study explores the impact of public expenditure management on economic development outcomes. It investigates how well-managed expenditures contribute to infrastructure development, human capital formation, and poverty reduction. It also considered the role of public investment in fostering innovation, productivity, and inclusive growth within the African context. It further recommended among others enhanced fiscal discipline through the development and enforcement of transparent fiscal rules and frameworks.