IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aop/jijoes/v12y2023i1p127-145.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fiscal Federalism and Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Emeka Nkoro

    (Department of Economics, University of Port Harcourt)

  • Godly Otto

    (Department of Economics, University of Port Harcourt)

Abstract

This study examined the impact of fiscal federalism on economic development in Nigeria over the period 1981 to 2020 using annual time series. Both revenue and expenditure decentralization were used as measures of fiscal federalism. Analytically, the study employed the autoregressive distributed lag approach. The result reveals that in the long run, revenue and expenditure decentralization have a positive and significant impact on economic development in Nigeria, and many scholars have validated this finding. This finding shows that true fiscal federalism is better captured by both subnational revenue and expenditure decentralization. Given the finding, the study suggests that more fiscal power should be devolved to state and local governments in Nigeria through appropriate legislation.

Suggested Citation

  • Emeka Nkoro & Godly Otto, 2023. "Fiscal Federalism and Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 12(1), pages 127-145, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aop:jijoes:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:127-145
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://eurrec.org/ijoes-article-117055
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://eurrec.org/ijoes-article-117055?download=7
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iimi, Atsushi, 2005. "Decentralization and economic growth revisited: an empirical note," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 449-461, May.
    2. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Roberto Ezcurra, 2011. "Is fiscal decentralization harmful for economic growth? Evidence from the OECD countries," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 619-643, July.
    3. Emeka Nkoro & Aham Kelvin Uko, 2016. "Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique: application and interpretation," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 5(4), pages 1-3.
    4. Bojanic, Antonio N., 2018. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on growth, inflation and inequality in the Americas," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    5. Qiao, Baoyun & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Xu, Yongsheng, 2008. "The tradeoff between growth and equity in decentralization policy: China's experience," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 112-128, April.
    6. Emmanuel A. Onwioduokit & Godwin Essang Esu, 2018. "Fiscal Federalism In Nigeria: Implication For Growth," West African Journal of Monetary and Economic Integration, West African Monetary Institute, vol. 18(2), pages 70-95, December.
    7. Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Government Spending in a Simple Model of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 103-126, October.
    8. Feltenstein, Andrew & Iwata, Shigeru, 2005. "Decentralization and macroeconomic performance in China: regional autonomy has its costs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 481-501, April.
    9. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    10. Xie, Danyang & Zou, Heng-fu & Davoodi, Hamid, 1999. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 228-239, March.
    11. Charles M. Tiebout, 1956. "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(5), pages 416-416.
    12. Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2005. "The saving and investment nexus for China: evidence from cointegration tests," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(17), pages 1979-1990.
    13. Akai, Nobuo & Sakata, Masayo, 2002. "Fiscal decentralization contributes to economic growth: evidence from state-level cross-section data for the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 93-108, July.
    14. Weingast, Barry R., 2009. "Second generation fiscal federalism: The implications of fiscal incentives," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 279-293, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emeka Nkoro & Godly Otto, 2023. "Fiscal Federalism and Economic Development in Nigeria: An Econometric Analysis," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 12(1), pages 144-162, May.
    2. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2014. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization and Economic Growth: Survey and Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4985, CESifo.
    3. Tristan Canare, 2021. "Decentralization and Development Outcomes: What Does the Empirical Literature Really Say?," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 237(2), pages 111-151, June.
    4. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2016. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization, And Economic Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1445-1463, July.
    5. Kayode Olaide & Beatrice D. Simo-Kengne & Josine Uwilingiye, 2022. "Sustainable Development–Fiscal Federalism Nexus: A “Beyond GDP” Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-37, May.
    6. Canavire-Bacarreza, Gustavo & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2020. "Identifying and disentangling the impact of fiscal decentralization on economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Li, Lei & Luo, Changtuo, 2023. "Does administrative decentralization promote outward foreign direct investment and productivity? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    8. K. L. Devkota, 2014. "Impact of Fiscal Decentralization on Economic Growth in the Districts of Nepal," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1420, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Alessio Mitra & Athanasios Chymis, 2022. "Federalism, but how? The impact of vertical fiscal imbalance on economic growth. Evidence from Belgium," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 322-350, July.
    10. Burret, Heiko T. & Feld, Lars P. & Schaltegger, Christoph A., 2022. "Fiscal federalism and economic performance new evidence from Switzerland," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. Soonae Park & Min-Gean Park & Kyung-Min Nam, 2019. "Growth effects of fiscal decentralization with weak economic motivation: the case of South Korea," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(3), pages 399-436, December.
    12. Septimiu-Rares SZABO, 2017. "The Empirical Relationship Between Fiscal Decentralization And Economic Growth: A Review Of Variables, Models And Results," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(2), pages 47-66, June.
    13. Whitney Buser, 2011. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on economics performance in high-income OECD nations: an institutional approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 149(1), pages 31-48, October.
    14. Umaima Arif & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2018. "A Framework For Analyzing The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization On Macroeconomic Performance, Governance And Economic Growth," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 3-39, May.
    15. Pierre Salmon, 2013. "Decentralization and growth: what if the cross-jurisdiction approach had met a dead end?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 87-107, June.
    16. Tarkan Cavusoglu & Oguzhan Dincer, 2015. "Does decentralization reduce income inequality? Only in rich states," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 285-306, July.
    17. Tarkan Cavusoglu & Oguzhan Dincer, 2015. "Does decentralization reduce income inequality? Only in rich states," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(1), pages 285-306, July.
    18. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Agnese Sacchi, 2017. "The Impact Of Fiscal Decentralization: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1095-1129, September.
    19. Floriana Cerniglia & Riccarda Longaretti, 2013. "Federalism, education-related public good and growth when agents are heterogeneous," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 271-301, July.
    20. Asatryan, Zareh & Feld, Lars P., 2015. "Revisiting the link between growth and federalism: A Bayesian model averaging approach," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 772-781.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal Federalism; Revenue Decentralization; Expenditure; Economic Development; ARDL Approach;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aop:jijoes:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:127-145. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jiri Rotschedl (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ijoes.eurrec.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.