IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION ON EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA
Keywords:
Agricultural employment, economic growth, economic diversification, industrial employment, employment in the services sector, sustainable economic growth.Abstract
This study examined the employment and economic growth impacts of economic
diversification in Nigeria using time series data from 1970 to 2022. The ADF unit root test for
data stationarity showed that all the variables under study were stationary. The Johansen
cointegration test showed that there was a long-run relationship among the variables. The result
of the 2SLS regression revealed that while economic diversification had a significant positive
impact on employment in Nigeria but an insignificant impact on economic growth of Nigeria.
However, the impact of economic diversification on employment in Nigeria was infinitesimal
in the level of its contribution to employment in Nigeria and its impact on economic growth
did not show desired result. The study suggests that every economic diversification project
should be matched with employment targets; that the government should intensify efforts to
increase the magnitude of diversification; that the industrial sector should be given greater
attention with respect to economic diversification for employment in Nigeria; that the federal
government should establish a National Board for Economic Diversification, to specialize and
concentrate on the modus operandi for economic diversification in Nigeria.
