Historical origins of persistent inequality in Nigeria

Abstract

Horizontal inequality by ethnic group has remained remarkably persistent for wealth, education and access to certain public services in Nigeria. While there has been notable progress made towards improving access to, and reducing ethnic inequality in access to locally administered services like some sanitation services and potable water, outcomes are stickier for wealth, education and historically federally administered services like grid-based power access in the country. Populations in the Northwest and Northeast ethnic and geopolitical zones consistently report below national mean levels of wealth, education and electricity, while there have been significant gains made in closing the ethnic gap in access to water and sanitation over time. This paper explores different explanations for the patterns observed and puts forth the thesis that persistent ethnic inequality in access to federally administered services is partly driven by historical heterogeneous federal government policy towards different groups in Nigeria.

The Value of Communication for Mental Health

“…Therefore, we measure communication constraints-(un)mitigation also based on the incidence of borrowing airtime or seeking digital loans due to unexpected circumstances to connect with others. 5 Consumption expenditures are measured across food (inside and outside home), utilities, personal care, education, health, and durables (economic well-being). Mental health is measured by the incidence of mental distress (using Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)) (psychological well-being).…”

The Epidemic Effect: Epidemics, Institutions and Human Capital Development

“…First, our work is related to the economics literature on the economic burden of infectious diseases and early life shocks (Acemoglu and Johnson, 2007;Adhvaryu et al, 2019;Almond, 2006;Bleakley, 2007;Bloom and Mahal, 1997;Dupas and Robinson, 2013;Adda, 2016;Rangel and Vogl, 2019;McDonald and Roberts, 2006;Maccini and Yang, 2009;Christensen et al, 2021). These studies have demonstrated that exposure to health shocks like infectious diseases in early life can affect various future life outcomes, including school enrollment, performance and attainment (Bleakley, 2007;Archibong and Annan, 2017;Fortson, 2011), gender inequality (Archibong and Annan, 2019), and labor market outcomes (Almond, 2006;Gould, Lavy, and Paserman, 2011;Bhalotra and Venkataramani, 2015). Recent literature has explicitly focused on epidemics and examined the effects of individual and coordinated government responses to epidemics on societal well-being (Fitzpatrick et al, 2021;Maffioli, 2021;Christensen et al, 2021;Xu, 2021).…”

The epidemic effect: Epidemics, institutions and human capital development

“…First, our work is related to the economics literature on the economic burden of infectious disease and early life shocks (Acemoglu and Johnson, 2007;Adhvaryu et al, 2019;Almond, 2006;Bleakley, 2007;Bloom and Mahal, 1997;Dupas and Robinson, 2013;Adda, 2016;Rangel and Vogl, 2019;McDonald and Roberts, 2006;Maccini and Yang, 2009;Christensen et al, 2021). These studies have demonstrated that exposure to health shocks like infectious disease in early life can affect various future life outcomes, including school enrollment, performance and attainment (Bleakley, 2007;Archibong and Annan, 2017;Fortson, 2011), gender inequality (Archibong and Annan, 2019) and labor market outcomes (Almond, 2006;Gould, Lavy, and Paserman, 2011;Bhalotra and Venkataramani, 2015), among others. A more recent literature has focused explicitly on epidemics and examining the effects of individual and coordinated government responses to epidemics on societal wellbeing (Fitzpatrick et al, 2021;Maffioli, 2021;Christensen et al, 2021;Xu, 2021).…”