Suchergebnisse

Education is seen as a veritable tool for the socio-political and economic emancipation of any country from the shackles of ignorance, poverty, unemployment and low economic growth. But despite the enormous increase in education expenditure and literacy rate in Nigeria in the past two decades, noninclusive growth and high poverty rate still permeate all facets of human endeavour. In this light, the paper examines the interrelationships among education, economic growth and poverty in Nigeria. The study adopts econometrics methodology as the analytical tool using secondary data from 1980-2012. Evidence from the study suggests that though a long-run relationship exists among education, economic growth and poverty rate in Nigeria, but neither total education expenditure nor literacy rate cause changes in poverty rate in Nigeria. While government expenditure on education was found to have a positive and significant impact on economic growth (both in the short-run and in the long-run), literacy rate has positive but insignificant impact on growth. This could be due to high rate of unemployed school leavers, weak institutional mechanism, obsolete school curricula, shortage of critical infrastructure, and brain drain syndrome which characterize the country. The paper therefore recommended an increase in budgetary allocation to education as well as a review of the school curricula with a view to making the educational system more responsive to growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria. Government should also create the enabling environment for the creation of jobs through the provision of critical infrastructure which accelerate the development of small scale enterprises. This will provide gainful employment for school leavers and make them contribute more to inclusive growth and poverty reduction in Nigeria.

The paper examines the impact of money market on economic growth in Nigeria using data for the period 1980-2012. Econometrics techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares Method, Johanson's Co-integration Test and Vector Error Correction Model were used to examine both the long-run and short-run relationship. Evidence from the study suggest that though a long-run relationship exists between money market and economic growth, but the present state of the Nigerian money market is significantly and negatively related to economic growth. The link between the money market and the real sector of the economy remains very weak. This implies that the market is not yet developed enough to produce the needed growth that will propel the Nigerian economy because of several challenges. It was therefore recommended that government should create the appropriate macroeconomic policies, legal framework and sustain the present reforms with a view to developing the market so as to promote productive activities, investments, and ultimately economic growth.

The paper examines the impact of money market on economic growth in Nigeria using data for the period 1980-2012. Econometrics techniques such as Ordinary Least Squares Method, Johanson's Co-integration Test and Vector Error Correction Model were used to examine both the long-run and short-run relationship. Evidence from the study suggest that though a long-run relationship exists between money market and economic growth, but the present state of the Nigerian money market is significantly and negatively related to economic growth. The link between the money market and the real sector of the economy remains very weak. This implies that the market is not yet developed enough to produce the needed growth that will propel the Nigerian economy because of several challenges. It was therefore recommended that government should create the appropriate macroeconomic policies, legal framework and sustain the present reforms with a view to developing the market so as to promote productive activities, investments, and ultimately economic growth.

The paper examines the place of financial markets in the development process in Nigeria. The paper used descriptive approach and discovered that financial markets play fundamental role in the development process. However, the overall performance of the Nigeria's financial market despite some expansion in recent times has been below its potential. In particular, as propellers of economic development, the markets have not been able to meet their goals such as accelerating industrial development, promoting the rate of investment, generating employment opportunities, providing services that help accelerate poverty reduction, promoting human capital development, and accelerating agricultural productivity. Some of the challenges confronting the Nigeria's financial markets include; dearth of instruments and lack of market breadth and depth, the oligopolistic structure of the markets, dependence on government, slow growth of the secondary market and information gap and asymmetry. It was therefore recommended that the financial markets should be reformed and effectively harnessed as tools of economic development, and policy makers should create the enabling environment for financial markets to thrive to propel Nigeria to the path of development with a view to achieving Vision 20:2020.

The performance of the capital budget has been a subject of debate between the legislative and executive arms of the Nigerian government since 1999. Available statistics suggest that the annual budget has not been able to improve the lives of Nigerians over the past several years because of the weak link between capital budget implementation and poverty reduction, as indicated by the prevailing low index of capture in public expenditures. Using descriptive analysis, this paper examines the capital budget implementation in Nigeria by focusing on the 2012 Federal Government Budget. The findings indicate that only 51% of the total appropriated funds for capital expenditures were utilized as of December 31st, 2012. The observed level of performance is insufficient to foster rapid economic development and reduce poverty. Some of the challenges that are responsible for the low performance include poor conceptualization of the budget, the inadequacy of implementation plans, the non-release or late release of budgeted funds, the lack of budget performance monitoring, the lack of technical capacity among MDAs, and delays in budget passage and enactment. The paper recommends that Nigerian government formulate a realistic and credible budget, release appropriated funds early to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and strengthen MDAs' technical capacity to utilize capital expenditures in order to improve the index of capture in public expenditures.

The recent vote by Britain to quit European Union (EU) and the political pressures in some member countries to exit EU necessitates a critical evaluation of the long-run economic benefits of economic integration or union to member countries. Consequently, this paper examines recent empirical studies on the nexus between economic integration and economic growth in developed and developing countries. It also investigates the literature on the impact of financial integration on economic growth. Evidence from the study shows that though other views exist, but there are overwhelming supports for growth-enhancing effects of economic integration, albeit common currency adoption has insignificant effect on growth. The channels through which economic integration exerts its influence on growth include, capital accumulation, productivity growth, trade and financial integration. However, the study shows that the impact of financial integration on economic growth is inconclusive. Based on the findings, the study draws some implications and policy options.

The recent vote by Britain to quit European Union (EU) and the political pressures in some member countries to exit EU necessitates a critical evaluation of the long-run economic benefits of economic integration or union to member countries. Consequently, this paper examines recent empirical studies on the nexus between economic integration and economic growth in developed and developing countries. It also investigates the literature on the impact of financial integration on economic growth. Evidence from the study shows that though other views exist, but there are overwhelming supports for growth-enhancing effects of economic integration, albeit common currency adoption has insignificant effect on growth. The channels through which economic integration exerts its influence on growth include, capital accumulation, productivity growth, trade and financial integration. However, the study shows that the impact of financial integration on economic growth is inconclusive. Based on the findings, the study draws some implications and policy options.