Government Expenditure and Economic Growth in Nigeria, 1981–2011

This paper aims at investigating the impact of various components of government expenditure on economic growth. We employed an econometric approach rooted in co-integration and error correction method. The results reveal that government expenditure on administration (ADM) and transfer payments (TP) have a statistically positive significant impact on economic growth. Whereas that of government expenditure on social community services (SCS) and economic services (ES) are also positive but insignificant. The author's recommended that, government should ensure that economic services (Agriculture, Construction, and Transportation etc.) and social community services (Health and Education etc.) should be encourage through increase funding as well as ensuring that resources are properly managed and used for the development of Agriculture, Education, Health, Construction and Transportation services in Nigeria. Secondly, government should increase its funding of anti-graft or anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) in order to arrest and penalize those who divert and embezzle public funds.