IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/agd/wpaper/24-006.html

Does Public Debt Matter for Human Capital Development? Evidence from Nigeria

Author

Listed:
  • Ebele S. Nwokoye

    (Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria)

  • Stephen K. Dimnwobi

    (Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria)

  • Favour C. Onuoha

    (Evangel University Akaeze, Nigeria)

  • Chekwube V. Madichie

    (University of York, United Kingdom)

Abstract

An inquiry into the impact of external and domestic borrowings is considered timely for Nigeria, given the growing public debt profile amid deteriorating human capital development. Using data from 1990 to 2021, the study estimates the effects of domestic and external debts on Nigeria’s human capital development. The study employed the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and canonical cointegration regression (CCR) as the main estimation technique and the robustness check respectively. The study discovered that domestic and external debt, economic growth and debt servicing exert positive and significant influence on human capital development in Nigeria while environmental pollution has an inverse and significant impact on human capital development in Nigeria. Premised on the outcomes, policy suggestions aimed at enhancing human capital development in Nigeria have been put forward.

Suggested Citation

  • Ebele S. Nwokoye & Stephen K. Dimnwobi & Favour C. Onuoha & Chekwube V. Madichie, 2024. "Does Public Debt Matter for Human Capital Development? Evidence from Nigeria," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 24/006, African Governance and Development Institute..
    • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:24/006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Does-Public-Debt-Matter-for-Human-Capital-Development-Evidence-from-Nigeria.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2024
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sadia Shabbir & Hafiz M. Yasin, 2015. "Implications of Public External Debt for Social Spending: A Case Study of Selected Asian Developing Countries," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 71-103, Jan-June.
    2. Chukwuebuka Bernard Azolibe & Stephen Kelechi Dimnwobi & Chidiebube Peace Uzochukwu-Obi, 2022. "The Determinants of Unemployment Rate in Developing Economies: Does Banking System Credit Matter?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 22/044, African Governance and Development Institute..
    3. Mohammed Shuaibu & Popoola Timothy Oladayo, 2016. "Determinants Of Human Capital Development In Africa: A Panel Data Analysis," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 7(4), pages 523-549, December.
    4. repec:lje:journl:v:20:y:2015:i:1:p:71-103 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Ebele S. Nwokoye & Stephen K. Dimnwobi & Favour C. Onuoha & Chekwube V. Madichie, 2024. "Does Public Debt Matter for Human Capital Development? Evidence from Nigeria," Working Papers 24/006, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    2. repec:afa:wpaper:aesri-2021-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Bagrat Yerznkyan & Lily Gassner & Anna Kara, 2017. "Culture, Institutions, and Economic Performance," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 13(2), pages 71-80.
    4. Emon Kalyan Chowdhury & Rupam Chowdhury, 2024. "Role of Financial Inclusion in Human Development: Evidence from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3329-3354, March.
    5. Shuaibu, Mohammed & Ohams, Sandra Uju, 2024. "The Nexus Between Trade Openness, Gender Gaps and Unemployment in Nigeria," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 12(3), September.
    6. Chengjuan Xia & Md. Qamruzzaman & Anass Hamadelneel Adow, 2022. "An Asymmetric Nexus: Remittance-Led Human Capital Development in the Top 10 Remittance-Receiving Countries: Are FDI and Gross Capital Formation Critical for a Road to Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Musakwa Mercy T. & Odhiambo Nicholas M., 2022. "Energy Consumption and Human Development in South Africa: Empirical Evidence from Disaggregated Data," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 32(2), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Jamiu Adetola Odugbesan & Husam Rjoub, 2019. "Relationship among HIV/AIDS Prevalence, Human Capital, Good Governance, and Sustainable Development: Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Onyenwife Kingsley C. & Ezeanyeji Clement I. & Ekesiobi Chukwunonso, 2023. "Public Debt and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Consideration of New Evidence," Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 16(1), pages 1-24.
    10. Adewale Samuel Hassan & Daniel Francois Meyer & Sebastian Kot, 2019. "Effect of Institutional Quality and Wealth from Oil Revenue on Economic Growth in Oil-Exporting Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-14, July.
    11. repec:afa:wpaper:aesriwp12 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Uju Regina Ezenekwe & Eze A. Eze & Geraldine Ejiaka Nzeribe & Maria Chinecherem Uzonwanne, 2023. "Winning the Environmental Sustainability Crusade: Do Agricultural Development and Public Debt Mitigate Environmental Pollution in Nigeria?," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(9), pages 1481-1497, September.
    13. Kunofiwa Tsaurai, 2020. "Determinants of Human Capital Development in Africa," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 377-391.
    14. Musakwa, Mercy T & Odhiambo, Nicholas M, 2021. "Energy consumption and human development in South Africa: Empirical evidence from disaggregated data," Working Papers 28233, University of South Africa, Department of Economics.
    15. Gladys Muhanga & Euston Kapotwe, 2025. "Examining the Risks Associated with Corporate Borrowing on Business Growth: The Case for Manufacturing Companies in Lusaka, Zambia," African Journal of Commercial Studies, African Journal of Commercial Studies, vol. 6(6).
    16. Ebenezer Megbowon & Mulatu Zerihun, 2025. "Sectoral labour productivity and unemployment in South Africa," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 7(1), pages 131-141, January.
    17. Hummerly Dhoba & Primrose Mutema & Adedamola Temitope Akinlade & Elvis Madondo, 2025. "Population growth and unemployment in South Africa: A 24-Year analysis," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 7(3), pages 313-321, June.
    18. Hassan Tasleem, 2021. "Impact of Public Debt on Health and Education in SAARC Countries," Journal of Education and Social Studies, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 2(2), pages 52-58.
    19. AIYEDOGBON John O & OLOGUNLA Emmanuel Sunday & SHAGI Zabwari Abdu, 2024. "Impact of Taxation on Human Capital Development in Nigeria: 1994-2022," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(7), pages 1624-1637, July.
    20. Alani, Jimmy, 2020. "Intertemporal Government Budget Constraint: Debts and Economic Growth in Ethiopia, 1990–2018," MPRA Paper 103180, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 May 2020.
    21. Anna Busłowska & Beata Wiśniewska, 2017. "The Bialystok Functional Area Competency Center as an example of development of human capital," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 16(4), pages 371-385, December.
    22. Margarita Marija Lietuvnikė & Aidas Vasilis Vasiliauskas & Virgilija Vasilienė-Vasiliauskienė & Jolanta Sabaitytė, 2018. "Peculiarities of illegal immigrant’s intrusions into road freight transport units in the France - UK corridor," Post-Print hal-01829616, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt
    • H68 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Forecasts of Budgets, Deficits, and Debt
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:agd:wpaper:24/006. 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: Asongu Simplice (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agdiycm.html .

    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.