Globalisation and Employment Generation in Nigeria’s Manufacturing Sector (1990-2006)

In this paper, we examined the effects of globalisation on employment level in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria. The manufacturing sector is considered very important as it is expected to be one of the key sectors absorbing the surplus agricultural labour as they are released from the rural sector in the development process. Given the set of reforms embarked upon since the mid-1980’s in Nigeria which are expected to lead to structural and institutional changes such as an enhanced private sector participation in the economy and higher employment generation, among others, we have designed this study to examine the employment effect of globalisation in the Nigerian manufacturing. Using time series data for the period 1990-2006, we have carried out an analysis of the impact of these reform policies, especially those related to globalisation and employment. In addition, we have formulated and estimated an employment model to examine the influence of several globalisation variables used on the employment level. The result of our analysis showed that several employment and globalisation-related variables are positively related in the Nigerian manufacturing. Based on our findings, we have proffered some recommendations that are capable of enhancing the employment level in the manufacturing sector of Nigeria