Bussecon Review of Social Sciences

This paper investigated this disparity in the literature using Nigeria data from 1980 to 2016. In doing this, energy consumption was disaggregated, and their impacts on economic growth investigated using a modified Ordinary Least Square technique which allows for time gaps in the model. It was observed that only renewable energy impacted on economic growth in the long-run whereas non-renewable energy component impacted on economic growth in the short-run. Therefore, the study sees the impact of energy consumption on economic growth to be indistinct in Nigeria within the period under review. This further buttresses the need for improvement in electricity production and distribution in Nigeria. Given the importance of energy consumption on productivity, the study, therefore, suggests policies/measures that will bring about increasing the supply or improvement of energy production in the country.

This research analyzed the insurance industry and economic growth in Nigeria between 1980 and 2015. Secondary data ranging from real gross domestic product, the premium of the insurance business, claim expenditure of insurance industry and inflation rate were utilized and sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple regression techniques, Descriptive statistics, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test of stationarity and ARDL Bound Test Co-Integration were adopted for the model in the Study. The findings revealed that the premium of the insurance industry (PMI) impacts negatively on economic growth both in the extended and short run period. The claim expenditure of the insurance industry (CEX) revealed a progressive relationship with economic growth in the long run and a negative relation with growth in the short run. We therefore conclude following the Keynesian theory of aggregate demand which states that, ‘’if we will have to wait till the long run, we will all be dead’’, that insurance industry in Nigeria has not impacted positively on economic growth of Nigeria within the period under review and its operations and investment have not been prominent and contributory to the growth and development of Nigeria. Based on these outcomes, we recommend amongst others, that more investment ought to be made towards the insurance industry in Nigeria especially in terms of proper policy formulation by the government that would channel funds and encourage competition among the players in the industry and invariably contribute to the growth of the economy.

Agriculture is the bedrock for combating poverty and developing rural areas. This motivated government policies on agriculture. This paper evaluated the performance of Fadama III in addressing food productivity and rural development in Rivers State. A critical review of secondary materials from Rivers State National Fadama III Development Programme Coordinating Office Report on implementation of National Fadama III projects in Rivers State formed the methodology for the study. It revealed the concept, approaches and implementation process of economic interest groups and government financial commitments to various farming activities in the local government areas. There were remarkable improvements in rural development in the participated local government areas. The assessment further revealed committed efforts by officers and management of the program which ensured effective implementation of rural infrastructure in participated communities. It is recommended that expenditure control measures adopted by the management of fadama program in Rivers State should be applied in future agricultural projects to ensure quality deliverables. The government should pursue only rural development-oriented agricultural policies, and finance projects that have certified Local Development Plans. Seemingly bottleneck criterion that would delay the release of funds should be relaxed for agricultural program managers to be proactive to beneficiaries’ requests and function effectively. Finally, the fadama program should be extended to increase communities’ dual opportunities of experiencing both agricultural and rural development.

The issue of leadership influences the performance in many areas and although the area has been researched the relationship between the style that leaders adopt and its impact on performance is not well known. This is because employees respond differently to every style and if you combine whole style it emerges that some styles yield better in certain sectors and poorly in certain areas. This is why this study sought to examine how leaders who adopt passive styles influence performance in the county government.

This study aimed at exploring the impact of procedural justice on work engagement, trust in leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Data were collected from 100  employees working in manufacturing and analyzed by using Partial Least Square. The results of this study suggested that procedural justice is positively related to work engagement,  trust in leader and work engagement is positively related to OCB. Trust on leadership doesn’t mediating the relationship procedural justice to  OCB,  but work engagement is partially mediating the relationship procedural justice to OCB. This study resulted that work engagement has a contribution to building OCB.

This paper investigated this disparity in the literature using Nigeria data from 1980 to 2016. In doing this, energy consumption was disaggregated, and their impacts on economic growth investigated using a modified Ordinary Least Square technique which allows for time gaps in the model. It was observed that only renewable energy impacted on economic growth in the long-run whereas non-renewable energy component impacted on economic growth in the short-run. Therefore, the study sees the impact of energy consumption on economic growth to be indistinct in Nigeria within the period under review. This further buttresses the need for improvement in electricity production and distribution in Nigeria. Given the importance of energy consumption on productivity, the study, therefore, suggests policies/measures that will bring about increasing the supply or improvement of energy production in the country.

The issue of leadership influences the performance in many areas and although the area has been researched the relationship between the style that leaders adopt and its impact on performance is not well known. This is because employees respond differently to every style and if you combine whole style it emerges that some styles yield better in certain sectors and poorly in certain areas. This is why this study sought to examine how leaders who adopt passive styles influence performance in the county government.

This study aimed at exploring the impact of procedural justice on work engagement, trust in leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Data were collected from 100  employees working in manufacturing and analyzed by using Partial Least Square. The results of this study suggested that procedural justice is positively related to work engagement,  trust in leader and work engagement is positively related to OCB. Trust on leadership doesn’t mediating the relationship procedural justice to  OCB,  but work engagement is partially mediating the relationship procedural justice to OCB. This study resulted that work engagement has a contribution to building OCB.

The primary objective of this paper is to test the hypothesis that the population age structure could contribute to carbon dioxide emission levels (environmental degradation) in Nigeria. Real income (Gross Domestic Product) was used as another determinant of CO2 emissions to test the EKC hypothesis in this study. Also, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) econometric technique was applied in this paper to annual time series data from 1970 to 2018. The results show that age structure’s influence on the environment is significant. As expected, young adults (LOGYONG, i.e., ages 15-64) and children (LOGCHIL, i.e., ages 0-14) are environmentally intensive (due to energy-intensive goods consumed). But the older age group (LOGOLD i.e., ages 65 and above) exert a negative effect. The results of long-term estimation for the population structure-induced EKC hypothesis show that none of the coefficients of economic growth were statistically significant at any of the conventional levels. In other words, this finding did not prove the existence of EKC hypothesis. However, appropriate macroeconomic policies, technological innovations, and institutional developments are very important in maintaining a sound environment in Nigeria. 

“Prevention is better than cure” is a proverb commonly used to highlight how it is better to avoid a problem from the start rather than fixing the damage afterwards. When considering this concept to our approach to the environment, we encounter two schools of thought; Ecocentrism and Technocentrism. Ecocentrism places the ecosystem at the center and stress that we need to limit our natural resource exploitation, so that we can conserve the environment and prevent its destruction. Technocentrism, on the other hand, focuses on technology and science as a way to repair any damage done to the environment rather than changing ethical perspectives on environmental issues. This paper seeks to explore the two ideologies by comparing between Finland and Bhutan; two countries that seem to resemble the two approaches. Finland is considered one of the highly technologically advanced countries, in addition to its reputation for environmental protection. Bhutan is a Himalayan Kingdom that is known for its strong environment conservation and their intriguing approach to sustainable development. The paper compares between the two countries sustainable development approach, environment, and health. It was concluded that, in terms of the environment; Bhutan is doing much better than Finland. Finland’s carbon emissions reduction was mainly because they produce goods in other countries which increase the other countries emissions not Finland. Additionally, high consumption levels in Finland are a major threat to the environment. As for health, there is no extreme difference; however, Bhutan’s health care system is still improving. Yet, the two countries are facing serious issues regarding mental health. Ultimately, the ecocentric approach appears to be much better; especially, in this day and age as many downsides of technology keep unfolding.