Revisiting the Economic Growth-Welfare Linkages: Empirical Evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

This study aims at ascertaining the relationship between welfare and economic growth in Nigeria, capturing both economic and environmental welfare. Nitrous oxide emission and Carbon dioxide emission in Nigeria are used to capture environmental welfare while government education expenditure, per capita health expenditure and per capita income are used to capture economic welfare. Using quarterly data spanning 1999-2016 and employing the cointegration analysis as well as the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation technique, the study found that a long-run relationship exists between economic growth and welfare in Nigeria. It also found that both environmental and economic welfare significantly affect economic growth in Nigeria.