Import Competition and Unemployment in Nigeria
Import Competition and Unemployment in Nigeria

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines the effect of import competition on unemployment in Nigeria during the period from 1981 to 2017. The ARDL (Bounds) test approach to cointegration and error correction modeling was employed for the analysis. Among other findings, the study finds negative and significant short run effect and, positive and significant long run effect of import competition on unemployment in the country. These suggest that though import competition may mitigate unemployment in the short run, yet it exacerbates the unemployment problem in the long run. Based on the empirical evidence, the study recommends inter alia efforts by the government to invest massively in the productive sectors of the economy with the potentials for job-creation, and encourage private sector participation therein (byway of development of infrastructure, favourable tax regimes and reduction of cost of doing business).These could engender increase in economic activities, expansion of product quantities and upgrade of quality of outputs which have the potentials to reduce import dependence, enhance product competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets, thereby leading to creation of more jobs.

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