Public Sector Education Investment and Manufacturing Output in Nigeria: Empirics and Policy Options

Abstract

Given the importance of manufacturing sector as a key driver of economic growth, this paper examines public sector education investment and manufacturing output in Nigeria. The study employed Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique to analyse the relationship between public educational spending, primary school enrolment rate, per capita income, exchange rate, foreign direct investment and manufacturing output growth. The study revealed that that public education spending has a positive but insignificant effect on manufacturing output growth in Nigeria. The study recommends among other

things, that government should target education spending in ways that favour manufacturing industry growth.

Keywords: Education spending, manufacturing output, economic development

JEL Classification: H52, I25, L6