Effects of Economic Growth on Poverty Reduction In Nigeria

Abstract

This paper explored the effect of economic growth on poverty reduction in Nigeria using a time series data spanning from 1980-2016. Unit Root and Johansen Cointegration tests were carried out to determine stationarity and long-run relationship among the variables respectively, while the VAR was carried out to determine the effect of Government expenditure, unemployment growth rate and Real GDP on poverty incidence. The result shows that Government expenditure is positively related to poverty incidence. This suggests that the poor are not benefitting from the economy at large, especially from total government expenditure. The GDP coefficient (a proxy for economic growth) conforms to the a-priori expectation, which depicts a negative relationship between economic growth and poverty incidence, while unemployment relates positively to poverty reduction. Therefore, the government should work more on job creations by focusing more on the labour -intensive sectors, basically, Agricultural and Industrial sectors. Also, economic growth and government spending should be directed at the pro-poor projects, mostly the Bottom-40 percent by providing the essential amenities, especially good infrastructures, financial benefits and aids to families with dependant children, and old people, also, medical aids should be available for the poor