Unisia
Vol. 43 No. 2 (2025)

Labour Welfare and Economic Output in Nigeria: An Error Correction Model Analysis of Human Capital Investment, 1990–2024

Nwankwo, Christopher (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
29 Dec 2025

Abstract

This study investigates how labour welfare influences economic output in Nigeria, aiming to clarify whether investments in workers’ well-being translate into sustained economic growth. Using annual macroeconomic data for 1990–2024, the analysis applies a human capital–based production framework and employs time series techniques, including unit root testing, cointegration analysis, and an error-correction–augmented Ordinary Least Squares model, to examine the long-run and short-run effects of labour welfare, education, health expenditure, government fixed capital formation, and recurrent expenditure on gross domestic product. The results show that labour welfare has a positive and statistically significant impact on economic output in the long run, indicating that better welfare conditions raise productivity and national income, while health expenditure also exerts a significant growth-enhancing effect. By contrast, education spending and recurrent expenditure do not significantly stimulate output, and government fixed capital formation exhibits a surprisingly negative and significant relationship with gross domestic product, suggesting inefficiencies, cost overruns, and abandoned infrastructure projects that fail to contribute to productive capacity. The error correction mechanism reveals a moderate speed of adjustment toward long-run equilibrium, and overall model diagnostics confirm a stable and well-specified relationship between labour welfare and economic output. These findings underscore that strengthening labour welfare, particularly through effective health investment, can be a powerful lever for boosting productivity and inclusive growth, but they also highlight the need to reform public investment management and reorient education and capital spending toward more efficient, growth-supporting uses.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

Unisia

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Economics, Econometrics & Finance Education Social Sciences

Description

Unisia publishes research articles devoted to social sciences and humanities. The journal publishes current research on a broad range of topics, including religion, law, political science, sociology, psychology, economics, history, language, social work, geography, international studies, and women ...