The Impact of Manufacturing Output On Employment in Nigeria (Published)
Nigeria has lower manufacturing employment than other industries for several reasons, including it share to Gross domestic product. Nigeria’s manufacturing sector contributes less than 10 percent of the nation’s GDP. This suggests that the sector’s overall economic production is weak, which may restrict its ability to provide job opportunities to the teeming populace. This study investigates the impact of manufacturing output on employment in Nigeria. The Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) estimation technique was used to establish the long run relationship among the variables. It was revealed that long run relationship exists among the variables in the estimated model. The results of the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) within the framework of the ARDL shows that the development of the manufacturing sector is one of the key strategies for the creation of employment opportunities in Nigeria. The study recommends; the development and diversification of the manufacturing sector as one of its top long-term policy strategies for the creation of employment for Nigerians. It also suggests that policies aimed at attracting foreign investment in this sector could positively impact on employment generation. This can be accomplished by providing incentives to the operators of the manufacturing sector, such as import waivers on essential imported inputs, providing and guaranteeing large commercial trading businesses to enter the manufacturing of their products through licensing, facilitating and acting as surety in franchise agreements with foreign manufacturers, and any other incentive to help lower the manufacturing sector’s cost of production. Hence, the government must prioritize the development of the manufacturing sector by providing necessary support and incentives to attract more investors and increase local production, which will lead to job creation and economic growth for Nigerians.
Keywords: ARDL, Employment, GDP, Nigeria, manufacturing output
Acute Skills Deficiency Syndrome “And Employment Creation in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case Of Cross River State, Nigeria (Published)
Since 1999, successive Governments of Cross River State (CRS), Nigeria have successfully transformed the State to a preferred destination for business and leisure. But notwithstanding the impressive macroeconomic performance, youth inactivity has remained very high, and it is believed that Crossriverians suffer from acute skills deficiency syndrome (ASDS), which is not having the required skills to secure good jobs or start and run viable businesses. The paper notes that occupational structure in the new economy is increasingly bipolar, characterized by the juxtaposition of two main groups of workers: high skilled professionals on the one hand; and low skilled workers on the other hand. If more Crossriverians belong to the second group of employees, it is a possibility that they do suffer from ASDS. Using secondary data collected from CRS, the paper confirms among other things that 65.7 percent of employees of CRS origin were employed in low skill services areas, and fewer Crossriverians were employed in dynamic sectors/activities like manufacturing, mining, and electricity. The paper notes that dealing with ASDS in Nigeria and elsewhere calls for implementation of a comprehensive social reorientation programme that aims at inculcating the entrepreneurial mindset among youths particularly, and given the powerful impact the media, career counselling programmes should be streamed on the radio, television, and the Internet in a manner that will capture the attention and interest of young people.
Keywords: ASDS, Educational Institutions, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge Economy, business startups, technical and vocational skills
Employment and Production of Handicrafts in Jammu and Kashmir- An Economic Analysis (Published)
Handicraft has emerged as an important and one of the important contributors to the state’s economy. There are various handicrafts of Jammu and Kashmir which are famous not in domestic level but both in national and international markets. From the good old day handicraft had been the major economic activity of the state. In order to make our handicraft sector on the right track on which more and more production and employment is generated government should have to take care of this sector
Keywords: Employment, Production, economic activity, handicraft