DOES CORRUPTION MATTER FOR UNEMPLOYMENT? INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF BRIBERY, FAVOURITISM AND NEPOTISM CORRUPT PRACTICES IN EMPLOYMENT, EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Abstract

Purpose: Is corruption a source of unemployment in Nigeria? Do corrupt practices such as bribery, favouritism and nepotism play a role in employment in Nigeria? Through the aforementioned questions, the objective of this study was to propose good policies that can enable policy makers to reduce the high unemployment rate in Nigeria. Methodology: Through Johansen co-integration, Granger causality and impulse response, our empirical result used time series data collected from Central Bank of Nigeria (2019) statistical bulletin and Bureau of Statistics (2019) covering the period of 1980-2018 reveal that corruption is a source of unemployment. Findings: Specifically, corruption is positively related to unemployment, corruption granger cause unemployment, and unemployment positively responds to corruption respectively. In other words, through our logistic regression model our empirical investigation reveals that bribery, favouritism and nepotism play significant role in employment in Nigeria. Unique Contribution to Practice and Policy: To reduce the high rate of unemployment, setting up an independent anti-corruption body to reduce corruption should be the priority of political and economic decision makers. This will also reduce the rate of bribery, favouritism and nepotism in public places.