Title: Social Protection Expenditure And Human Capital Development In Nigeria
Authors: Omeje, Danjuma and Ebikabowei Biedomo Aduku
Volume: 9
Issue: 5
Pages: 446-454
Publication Date: 2025/05/28
Abstract:
This study examines the effect of social protection expenditure on human capital development in Nigeria from 1981 to 2021 using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique. Empirical results showed that in the long and short runs, social protection expenditure had a positive and significant effect on human capital development. Also, real GDP growth had positive and significant effect on human capital development both in the long run and short run. The findings also showed that the effect of domestic investment on human capital development in the long run was positive and significant, and positive and insignificant effect on human capital development in the short run. It was also found that in the long and short runs, population growth had negative and insignificant effect on human capital development. The expansion of social assistance programmes is recommended to accommodate more beneficiaries especial the poor and the less privileged.