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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Poverty in a Wealthy Economy: The Case of Nigeria |
Authors: | Canagarajah, Sudharshan Thomas, Saji |
Year: | 2001 |
Periodical: | Journal of African Economies |
Volume: | 10 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | August |
Pages: | 143-173 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | economic inequality poverty Economics and Trade |
External link: | https://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/2/143.full.pdf |
Abstract: | This paper describes poverty in Nigeria between 1985 and 1992. It first examines the potential wealth of Nigeria's oil economy and the impact of the economic policies pursued in the 1980s and 1990s on economic growth and welfare. It then presents a profile of poverty in both 1985 and 1992 according to different socioeconomic characteristics of the country's population. The headcount measure of poverty in Nigeria declined from 43 to 34 percent between 1985 and 1992, primarily due to a 34 percent increase in mean per capita household expenditures. The benefits of growth were not shared equally throughout the country. The bottom 18 percent of the income distribution had a lower standard of living in 1992 compared with 1985. However, all other income groups had a higher standard of living in 1992. Household expenditure growth was fastest in the southern and middle zones of the country, In addition to its overwhelmingly rural and regional characteristics, poverty in Nigeria is also strongly influenced by education, age and the nature of employment. Those without an education constitute a large fraction of the poor. Decomposing the factors causing the reduction in poverty shows that the overall decline of 8.9 percent was the net result of a 13.6 percent decline due to the growth factor and a 4.7 percent increase due to the income distribution factor. Promoting broad-based growth and targeted interventions in health, education and infrastructure need to be central strategies in the fight against poverty in Nigeria. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. (Journal abstract, edited) |