The study was aimed at exploring the effect of external debt burden on economic growth in Nigeria. For the purpose of estimating the variables under study, this uses a multiple regression (OLS) model. The data is firstly tested for stationarity using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) tests. In order to test for co-integration, the Johansen co-integration technique is used for normality test (Jarque-Bera) and serial correlations were used. The variables are made up of real GDP, money supply and external debt. The result revealed that external debt burden had a negative and insignificant effect on the Nigeria economic growth (coefficient = -1.31, p-value = 0.27). Based on the findings the study recommends alternative sources of government revenue to be utilised fully for this will minimize over dependence of government on foreign debt and therefore foster economic growth. JEL: F30, F34, F40 Article visualizations:
Economic development theories are the supporting structure of growth literature. In view of this, this paper attempts to review selected economic development theories with the aim of highlighting their relevance to the growing empirical debate on growth and development. From the front of classical theories of economic development came the modernisation theory which focuses on effecting transformation among institutional structures in less developed countries of the world through cultural changes while buttressing that political development is indispensable in ensuring progress and conducive environment for a nation's economic status. The theory, therefore, acknowledges the important role of politics in formulation and implementations of policies. As a response to criticisms of the dependency school and the theory of modernization, the world-systems and globalization theory emerged as direct outgrowth of the modernity and the dependency. The world-systems and globalization theories argue for a systemic level or unit of analyses order than a state-centric approach to social and economic progress while proposing a knowledge economy where cutting-edge technology plays major role in global industrialisation, capital accumulation. Furthermore, the theory of neoliberalism argue that free global trade can drive economic growth and large businesses can benefit more without government intervention. JEL: F63; F02; O11 Article visualizations:
This article assesses the effectiveness of bilateral concessional debts on living standards in 29 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1999-2017 using the system generalized method of moments (SGMM). The SGMM linear estimate is based on a two-step procedure, which controls for heteroscedasticity. The results provide evidence that bilateral concessional debts had positive and significant impact on living standards as proxied by the human development index (HDI) within the period. It is observed that 1% change in bilateral concessional debts is associated with about 8.4% improvement in living standards. Gross domestic savings are positively and significantly related to living standards and account for 3.1% increase in living standards. However, gross domestic investment and population growth exerted a negative influence on living standards during the period, whereas a 1% increase in gross domestic investment and population led to approximately 1.40% and 1.63% decline in living standards in the region, respectively. We therefore conclude that, although bilateral concessional debts have yielded the desired effect on living standards in the SSA, there is need for improvements in aid effectiveness. Thus, improved donor effort and collaboration with beneficiary governments in determining development needs and priorities in the region is critical.
AbstractThis paper examines the asymmetric link between carbon pricing and the comparative advantage in environmental goods exports in South Africa from 1995 to 2021. The non‐linear autoregressive distributed lag model is utilized to investigate the effects of both minor and major positive and negative fluctuations in carbon taxes, technological innovation, and energy transition on comparative advantage. The results reveal that carbon taxes have an asymmetric effect on comparative advantage in both the short and long runs, with positive shocks exerting a greater beneficial influence than negative shocks. Specifically, it is found that a 1% reduction in carbon taxes corresponds to a 1.24% decline in the response variable, whereas a 1% increase in carbon taxes is associated with a 2.72% increase in comparative advantage in environmental goods exports, which is twice as large. The study also uncovers evidence of an asymmetric relationship between low‐carbon technological innovation and comparative advantage in environmental goods exports. However, strong evidence of a long‐run asymmetric linkage between the energy transition and comparative advantage is not established. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that a positive shift in energy transition is linked with a 0.32% rise in comparative advantage in environmental goods exports, whereas a negative shift in energy transition corresponds to a 0.11% decrease. The practical policy implications are also discussed.
Although different forms of corruption exist in every region, Africa, South America, Latin America, Russia, and Asia countries, perhaps to a greater extent engage in higher levels of corruption more than other regions of the world. Applying ethics of governance and theory of "patrimonialism," this article examines governance of ethics and corruption. This article argues that corruption lays the foundation for the abridgement of citizens' rights and perpetuation of underdevelopment. Methodologically, the authors explored contents through multiple media sources, ensuring rigor and trustworthiness. The findings reveal how corruption is being perpetuated in Nigeria, prosecuted, and the challenges. This article finds a strong relationship between corruption, the absence of ethics of governance, and maladministration. Many public and political office holders engage or support corruption; there is lack of moral and ethical considerations. More so, it appears that politics is based on wealth acquisition and self-interest rather than on ideologies.
We analyzed cryptocurrency dynamics in the global U.S. dollar–denominated market and the emerging market economies (EMEs) with a view to ascertaining whether activities in these markets are predominantly shaped by reinforcement or substitution effect. Cryptocurrencies analyzed include the Bitcoins, Ethereum, Litecoin, Steller, Bitcoin Cash, and USD Tether. The results suggest that, on average, correlation between digital assets in the cryptocurrencies' ecosystem is positive. However, there is evidence of an outlier with respect to the USD Tether (USDT) in the global market, revealing that the USDT is negatively associated with all other cryptocurrencies. This is supported by the dynamic regression results that provided evidence of reinforcement effect in favor of the USDT in the global crypto market, thus confirming the status of the USDT as "Stablecoin" as it is pegged 1:1 to USD. In the global market context, the results also revealed that USDT/USD returns had identical outliers that could portend lesser chances of extreme gains or losses compared with suggestions of extreme gains or losses in the EMEs. Furthermore, USDT did not seem to have similar evolution in the EMEs where it had relatively marginal influence in the markets. The vector error correction (VEC) estimate showed mixed results between Altcoins in all the markets; moreover, our finding showed that reinforcement effects hold in favor of Steller (XLM) both in the Russian ruble and Indian rupee crypto markets, whereas the Chinese yuan crypto market was predominantly characterized by substitution effect in favor of Bitcoin.
PurposeDuring the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns, stay at home or work from home, many have argued that the westernised non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) do not provide remedial in low-income countries like Nigeria, where informal job seekers, street traders, informal labourers and artisans depend mainly on the informal economy. By applying social solidarity (SS) and community-based approach (CBA), the authors evaluate individual acts (trust, altruism and reciprocity) during the lockdown and how these practices evolve from individual approaches to collective actions.Design/methodology/approachThis study reflects on pragmatism research paradigm that enables researchers to maintain both subjectivity in their reflections and objectivity in data collection and analysis. The authors adopt a qualitative method through purposeful and convenience sampling procedure. Data were analysed thematically to identify elements of SS, individual acts, collective or community actions and perceptions.FindingsThe findings reveal that COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact (lack of food and a fall in daily income) on workers, informal job seekers, informal businesses operators and the poor households. As such, the study developed a reflective model of solidarity exhibited by individual acts and collective acts (practices of resource pooling, information sharing, women empowerment, distribution of palliatives and donations) within trusted circles that helped people cope with the lockdown experiences.Practical implicationsSolidarity represents beliefs, practices of values and norms. The SS exhibited by people through NPI would have implications on planning and monitoring the effectiveness of public health programmes during a pandemic in the future.Social implicationsThe findings of citizens and community actions have implications related to the process of building communities – coming together – and solidarity that enhances social development with implications on community health policy agenda during disasters, emergencies and health pandemic.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to analyse the relationship between trust, altruism, reciprocity, SS and CBA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it seems reasonable to clarify the concept of SS given the lack of clarity about the definitions from previous studies.
