Government Expenditure and Gender Distribution of Unemployment: Evidence from Nigeria

This paper investigates the impact of government expenditure on gender unemployment in Nigeria, capturing the impact of Labour market institutions in explaining unemployment behavior from 1991 to 2018. This study employed augmented Dickey-Fuller and Philip Perron unit root tests and Engle-Granger cointegration tests. The study used the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimation technique to examine the effects of government expenditure on gender unemployment. The study revealed that macroeconomic variables of capital accumulation, capital, and recurrent expenditure sufficiently explained the behavior of gender unemployment in Nigeria. On the other hand, Labour market institutions indicators (Tax wedge & minimum wages) are not significant in explaining gender unemployment in Nigeria. The study further showed that, of the two genders, females benefited more from Government expenditure. Therefore, this study recommends that the government should invest heavily in social overhead capital (infrastructure) as this will attract more foreign and domestic investments and, in turn, reduce unemployment among both genders.