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ECONOMIC COST OF DISEASE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A Situational Review
By Adedoyin Soyibo Olanrewaju Olaniyan, Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria and Folasade Ayonrinde, National Centre for Economic Management and Administration (NCEMA), Ibadan, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This paper reviews the economic cost of three highly burdensome diseases in Africa: malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. It identifies the different components of the economic costs of these diseases and used secondary data to demonstrate that these could be staggering. It was found that these diseases are not only taking an immense toll on human life, but they also have fundamental consequences for sustainable development. Tuberculosis and AIDS mainly kill adults in their prime, the number of children who have lost one or both parents is high; some of these orphans suffer permanent adverse consequences due to poor nutrition or withdrawal from school, while the death toll from malaria is highest in children-under-five. The implication from our findings is that a good knowledge of the magnitude of the cost of major endemic diseases in Africa will be of significant benefit to policy makers.
Natural Resource Control: A market view
By Godwin E. Akpan Department of Economics University of Uyo, Uyo Nigeria
ABSTRACT
Government ownership of land resources generates under-pricing of these productive resources. Public ownership therefore is responsible for excessive exploitation of the common property. Given the positive relationship between the level of output and environmental degradation resulting from production externalities, it is certain that common ownership is more prone to result in greater damage to the environment than private ownership. Restoration of private ownership and control of land is, in economic terms, a better choice for efficient resource allocation and environmental protection. The petroleum producers will pay for all factor inputs used in their production processing and the government is likely to gain from the new ownership regime since it will raise additional tax revenue from rent.
IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT WAGE REVIEW POLICY ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE SECTOR WAGE DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA
By Alarudeen Aminu Department of Economics University of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the extent to which the Federal Government wage review of September 1998 affected public and formal private sector wage distribution in Nigeria. It was found that prior to the introduction of the wage review, public sector wage structures for urban employees were inferior to those of the formal private sector for the same genre of employees. This can be understood as there was a wage freeze policy in the Nigerian public sector from 1993 to August 1998. It took the public sector one year to fully comply with even the minimal requirement (minimum wage) of the wage review. This was due to the lack of funds that afflicted most public sector employers after the requirements of the wage review were made mandatory. Public sector wage structures in general (for all deciles) were found to be better than those of the private sector one year after the wage review. The study also revealed that it was only in the public sector that the wage review can be said to have been fully implemented. Private sector employers failed to comply even with the minimum requirement of the wage review.
DETERMINANTS OF NON-FARM EMPLOYMENT ADOPTION DECISIONS AMONG RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
By Ernest Aiyedun Department of Economics University of Abuja
ABSTRACT
Rural non-farm employment is important in a developing economy like Nigeria because of its significance in the modernization of the farming sector, and transformation of the rural environment. The rural economy of Abuja is characterized by petty trading, carpentry, construction work for buildings, roads, etc., and community services. This paper identifies the major determinants of non-farm employment adoption decisions among rural households in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, FCT). In this study, ten explanatory variables were tried, using a binary-choice model-probit analysis. Six explanatory variables (namely: age of household head, income, the extent of commercialization, membership of cooperative credit associations, wealth situation and gender) gave significant results. The study maintains that agricultural employment will continue to be directly responsible for a substantial proportion of rural income. The promotion of rural non-farm employment should, therefore, not be made at the cost of shifting resources from the agricultural sector. Rather, it should involve the mobilization of additional investment and capacity for the development of agricultural activities, so that non-farm employment can be less lucrative.
THE EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS ON HUMAN RESOURCES IN NIGERIA
By W. O. Akerele Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research Ojoo, Ibadan
ABSTRACT
A healthy work force is essential for a productive, dynamic and prosperous nation. In Nigeria, where productive activities are labour-intensive, a healthy work force becomes sine qua non for minimizing disruption in the production process. One of the major threats to good health is the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a serious disease facing (especially) developing countries with consequences that reach beyond the health sector. Any initiative that does not take into account the education sector and the labour market in the control of this disease is bound to fail because it is the human resources that are produced in the education sector that are utilized in the labour market.
This study seeks to answer the question: What will be the effects of HIV/AIDS on Nigeria's human resources if its spread is not checked? Analysis of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria has revealed a growing trend and it is now at the concentrated stage of epidemic.
In Nigeria, the disease is spread mainly through commercial sex workers, long haulage truck drivers, itinerant female hawkers, traditional birth attendants and through the use of un-sterilised instruments. HIV/AIDS infection at the household/community level causes poor conditions of living, a diminishing labour force, an increase in the number of orphans, loss of family support and social exclusion. At the national level, it leads to high job turnover, high costs of recruitment and training, negative savings, which leads to low investment, factor immobility, negative human resource development, and negative effects on supply and demand.
The policy interventions for stemming the scourge of HIV/AIDS include: prevention of new infections, cost avoidance and/or reduction, adjustments to employment, training and benefit schemes.
A CATASTROPHE THEORY OF BANK FAILURE
By Olasupo Akano Department of Economics, University of Lagos,Lagos.Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The paper investigates the role of inter-country differences in factor accumulation and technological innovation in explaining cross-country variation in per capita income growth in 1990. The empirical results underscore the positive roles of factor accumulation and individual country-induced innovations in cross-country growth variation. The study also seems to suggest that there was a negative correlation between differences in cross-country growth and population growth rates.
THE CREDIT CRUNCH PHENOMENON IN THE NIGERIAN BANKING SYSTEM: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
By Louis N. Chete and 'Tunde Adeoye Economic Development Department NISER, Ibadan
ABSTRACT
The intermediatory role of channelling funds from surplus to deficit units of the economy is the traditional function of banks in modern economies. However, while it has been argued, on the one hand, that access to credit remains a nightmare for existing and potential producers because sectoral supply of credit by banks is grossly inadequate, it is posited that, on the other hand, the decline in the supply of credit by banks is due to agents' weak demand for loans. Also, there is anecdotal evidence that good firms may even find it difficult to obtain credit to finance their production and investment activities. Thus, this study examines the credit crunch phenomenon in the Nigerian banking sector, using a disequilibrium model to explore factors influencing the flow of credit in the system. The empirical results show that the flow of credit to the nation's economy approximates a ‘credit crunch' situation in the sense that credit supply to the domestic economy(especially the real sector) is disappointingly low. The study also reveals the wide gap between savings deposit and lending rates and recommends, among others, that monetary authorities should close this gap by fostering a more competitive financial sector through the introduction of alternative savings instruments.
THE DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE TERMS OF TRADE SHOCKS ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY:A CGE Model Analysis
By Olanrewaju Olaniyan Department of Economics and Centre for Econometric and Allied Research University of Ibadan Ibadan, Nigeria o.olaniyan@mail.ui.edu.ng
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the various impacts of external shocks on the Nigerian economy using a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with endogenous investment behaviour. The model was calibrated for a steady state run of 20 periods. The study examines the impacts of these shocks and compares situations when it was introduced at the base period and when it was introduced at a future date. The results of the analysis are broadly in line with findings from similar studies in the empirical and theoretical literature. Negative external shocks lead to a general contraction within the economy. The behaviour of the choice variables changes as they move from the short to the long run. For example, the impact of the shocks is not confined to the oil sector where the shocks originated. They have contracting effects on all the sectors of the economy and important indicators such as sectoral investment and sectoral output. In the long run, however, external debt and borrowing increase.
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