EDUCATION, LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examines the role of education and labour productivity on income inequality in Nigeria by considering both educational attainment and productivity growth over a period of time. A dynamic structure is devised for the analysis using data for the period 1981 to 2013. The cointegration and error correction methodology is adopted in the empirical analysis. It is shown that productivity has a stronger impact on inequality reduction than education. This implies that any policy that promotes education without the productive capacity of labour would not lead to reduction in inequality. It also suggests that policies of reducing income inequality in Nigeria should invariably incorporate productivity growth measures for such policies to be sustainable.

Keywords

• Education
• workers’ productivity
• income inequality
• income distribution
• Nigeria