Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure

This study investigates the effectiveness of government expenditure in combating the incidence of poverty in Nigeria from 1981 to 2022, employing a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework. The research analyzes the relationship between poverty incidence and key variables including government...

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Main Author: Temitope Adebayo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Government and Economics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667319325000059
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author Temitope Adebayo
author_facet Temitope Adebayo
author_sort Temitope Adebayo
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates the effectiveness of government expenditure in combating the incidence of poverty in Nigeria from 1981 to 2022, employing a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework. The research analyzes the relationship between poverty incidence and key variables including government expenditure, GDP per capita, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), and gross enrollment ratio in secondary education. Using time series data and cointegration analysis, the study reveals a significant long-run relationship between government expenditure and poverty reduction, with a 1 % increase corresponding to a 0.05 percentage point reduction in poverty incidence. However, the error correction mechanism indicates a notably slow adjustment process (-0.000376), suggesting structural impediments to poverty reduction efforts. While government expenditure demonstrates significant poverty-reducing effects in the long run, the analysis reveals weak short-run dynamics and limited effectiveness of other policy instruments. The study finds evidence of a self-reinforcing poverty cycle, with past poverty levels significantly influencing current poverty rates. These findings underscore the need for more comprehensive and sustained policy interventions, particularly in addressing structural barriers to poverty reduction and improving the efficiency of government expenditure allocation in Nigeria's socioeconomic development initiatives.
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spelling doaj-art-5a798f02bdae4a42aaa0b899de7a23c02025-08-20T02:29:19ZengElsevierJournal of Government and Economics2667-31932025-01-011710013710.1016/j.jge.2025.100137Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditureTemitope Adebayo0Corresponding author at: Ekiti State University, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Economics Department, Ekiti State. NG 362103.; Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, NigeriaThis study investigates the effectiveness of government expenditure in combating the incidence of poverty in Nigeria from 1981 to 2022, employing a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework. The research analyzes the relationship between poverty incidence and key variables including government expenditure, GDP per capita, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), and gross enrollment ratio in secondary education. Using time series data and cointegration analysis, the study reveals a significant long-run relationship between government expenditure and poverty reduction, with a 1 % increase corresponding to a 0.05 percentage point reduction in poverty incidence. However, the error correction mechanism indicates a notably slow adjustment process (-0.000376), suggesting structural impediments to poverty reduction efforts. While government expenditure demonstrates significant poverty-reducing effects in the long run, the analysis reveals weak short-run dynamics and limited effectiveness of other policy instruments. The study finds evidence of a self-reinforcing poverty cycle, with past poverty levels significantly influencing current poverty rates. These findings underscore the need for more comprehensive and sustained policy interventions, particularly in addressing structural barriers to poverty reduction and improving the efficiency of government expenditure allocation in Nigeria's socioeconomic development initiatives.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667319325000059Poverty incidenceGovernment expenditureDevelopment economicsVECMDeveloping Economies
spellingShingle Temitope Adebayo
Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
Journal of Government and Economics
Poverty incidence
Government expenditure
Development economics
VECM
Developing Economies
title Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
title_full Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
title_fullStr Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
title_full_unstemmed Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
title_short Funding the future: Nigeria's battle against poverty through government expenditure
title_sort funding the future nigeria s battle against poverty through government expenditure
topic Poverty incidence
Government expenditure
Development economics
VECM
Developing Economies
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667319325000059
work_keys_str_mv AT temitopeadebayo fundingthefuturenigeriasbattleagainstpovertythroughgovernmentexpenditure