Effect of Unemployment on the Economic Development of Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the effect of unemployment on the economic development in Nigeria
- To ascertain the causes of unemployment in Nigeria
- To ascertain the relationship between unemployment and economic development in Nigeria
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The Marxist theory noted that unemployment is as a result of unstable capitalist system via which unemployment rate perpetuates causing labourers to settle for fair wages. They argued that to eliminate unemployment completely, capitalism must be abolished completely, replacing it with socialism. The Keynesian economist holds that increased unemployment is as a result of fall in the aggregate demand in an economy. Phillips (1958) in his study on unemployment and rate of money wage in the British economy noted that increase in unemployment in the economy causes inflation to drop which he referred to as a trade-off between the variables. He concluded that as employment level increases, inflation rises, but as unemployment increases, inflation falls as the purchasing power of the economy becomes weaker. Okun (1962) propounded that as unemployment falls by 1%, gross domestic product increase by 3%, but this was criticized because it holds for the United States only. Terry (1998) noted in his theory “Search Theory of Unemployment” that as an individual is searching for job, firms are also searching to fill a vacant space. He concluded that wages therefore decides for both the individual and the firm. Bhattarai (2016) examined the relationship between inflation and unemployment in 35OECD countries using a panel VAR model to analyse the quarterly data used from 1990:1 to 2014:4. He submitted that the Phillip’s curve is still significant in 28 out 35 OECD countries and the coefficients of Okun curve for growth on unemployment were significant only in 13 of these countries. He concluded that as the natural rate of unemployment results from the balance between job creation and destruction processes, reductions in unemployment rates require complementing macro stimulations by microeconomic structural and institutional reforms. Sadiku, Ibraimi & Sadiku (2015) empirically examined unemployment relation with growth in FYR Macedonia using VAR approach with a quarterly based data from 2000-2012. It was observed that no negative relationship between unemployment and economic growth as propounded by Okun’s Law and also no direction of causality between unemployment and economic growth. Abdul-Khaliq, Soufan, & Shihab (2014) investigated the relationship between economic growth and unemployment rate in Arab countries between 1994 and 2010 adopting the Pooled EGLS (Cross-section SUR).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to effect of unemployment on the economic development of Nigeria.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain effect of unemployment on the economic development of Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of unemployment on the economic development of Nigeria
Summary
This study was on effect of unemployment on the economic development of Nigeria. Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the effect of unemployment on the economic development in Nigeria, to ascertain the causes of unemployment in Nigeria, to ascertain the relationship between unemployment and economic development in Nigeria. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected banks, Abuja. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made male entrepreneur, female entrepreneur, male student and female student were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Unemployment has far reaching consequences on the Nigerian economy. From our study, employment generation has been seen as a means of alleviating poverty, increasing the level of economic activities which translate into economic growth. The situation of unemployment in Nigeria has been on the increase which has resulted in increase in social vices, human capacity under-utilization; increased poverty amongst the citizenry, social alienation and weak purchasing power among other negativity. Although the Nigerian Government in previous times had put in place policies and programmes which are meant to combat this menace, but up till now these programmes have not made much impact. It can be noted therefore that most of the programs established in Nigeria during the course of the fight against unemployment in the system could not achieve their expected results. This is due to lack of adequate commitment to the course of the programs, lack of transparency; absence of enabling environment; inadequate funding resulting mainly from mismanagement among other reasons. As a consequence therefore, rather than reducing unemployment phenomenon, the country has witnessed an alarming increase in unemployment incidence
Recommendation
The study recommends that the agricultural sector as a medium of reducing unemployment in Nigeria should be harnessed and advises that Government and all relevant stakeholders continue in their quest towards reducing unemployment, as well as give their support in ensuring that the agricultural sector is not downtrodden but embraced in this task.
REFERENCES
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