Does globalization contribute to economic growth in developing countries? Some empirical lessons from Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines empirically whether or not globalization contributes to economic growth in developing countries, drawing empirical lessons from Nigeria. The globalization – growth link, is anchored on Husain Schematic representation, Solow model, and the new growth (endogenous growth) theory. The paper adopts a multiple regression framework as its methodology with the ordinary least squares estimation technique. From the empirical results, the following empirical lessons were drawn from Nigeria: globalization does not contribute to economic growth in Nigeria, openness has a negative impact on the Nigerian economy, the Nigerian economy is still very fragile and ill prepared for the challenges of globalization, labour force as one of the channels of global integration of economies, seems to be more applicable to the Nigerian context. For globalization to contribute to economic growth, the paper proffers some policy recommendations as follows: the quest for openness and liberalization should be pursued with caution, the economy should be less import dependent and more productive and export oriented, efforts should be geared towards deepening the Nigerian capital market, among others.

Keywords: globalization, economic growth, developing countries, empirical lessons, Nigeria

Global Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 4(1&2) 2005: 37-42