Impact of Labour Force Dynamics on Economic Growth in Nigeria: An Empirical Analysis Using ARDL Bound Testing Approach

Abstract

This paper examined empirically the impact of labour force dynamics on economic growth in Nigeria over the period 1970–2015 using the newly developed bounds testing approach to co-integration. The results obtained revealed that both the short-run and long-run growth impacts of labour force dynamics in Nigeria are significant and positive. In particular, the results showed that for a one-percentage point increase in labour force dynamics, 1.0825 percent per capital real GDP is induced in the long-run. Having ascertained the significance of labour force dynamics in positively influencing economic growth in Nigeria, the study, thus, recommends that the government should implement a broad set of employment generating policies with the ultimate aim of fostering a sustained increase in the growth rate of real GDP.

Keywords: Labour Force Dynamics; Demographic Transition; Economic Growth.