Economic progress and economic crimes in Nigeria: An empirical investigation
AshEse Journal of Economics
Vol. 2(1), pp. 074-082, January, 2016
ISSN 2396-8966
© 2016 AshEse Visionary Limited
Review
Uche Collins Nwogwugwu1* and Benedict Ikemefuna Uzoechina2
1Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
2Department of Economics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received June 2015; Accepted December, 2015.
Abstract
Many theoretical and empirical studies have tried to establish the relationship between economic crime rates and economic growth with uni-directional causality. However, there has been dearth of studies on the relationship between economic growth and economic crimes. Dearth of data and adequate proxy for economic crimes has been the major challenge especially for Nigeria in estimating relationships involving crime. This present study is an attempt to bridge this identified gap in literature and so provide empirical evidence on the impact of economic growth on economic crimes in Nigeria. The study adopted OLS estimation technique while also exploring the long run and short run relationships between economic growth and economic crime in Nigeria within the period of 1970 to 2012. Findings show that the size of the economy (RGDP), per capita income, poverty rate and openness of an economy significantly affect the level of economic crime in the long run. However, in the short run, it was found that only per capita income, consumer price index, agricultural output and poverty rate significantly affect the level of economic crime in Nigeria. Therefore, although, economic progress increases economic opportunities and wellbeing, it is capable of increasing economic crime rates if left uncoordinated. The study recommends, amongst others, rapid infrastructural development (power, road etc) as the precursor of industrial growth. This will boost income, employment and the standard of living of the people as well as ensure effective reduction of economic crimes.
Key words: Nigeria, Economic Growth, Poverty, Economic Crimes, Illicit Financial Outflows.