GOVERNMENT SPENDING ON EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between government expenditure on education and economic growth in Nigeria using quarterly data from 1994 to 2023. Employing an ex-post-facto research design and the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL), the study examines how government spending on education, health, and defense, alongside the control variable of interest rates, influence Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The findings reveal that government expenditure on education has a significantly
positive impact on GDP in the long run, highlighting its crucial role in fostering economic growth. Similarly, investments in health and defense also show positive effects on GDP. Conversely, interest rates do not exhibit a significant influence on economic growth. Based on these results, the study proposes policy recommendations focusing on increasing investment in education and healthcare while sustaining defense expenditure to enhance economic growth in Nigeria and similar economies.