Impact of business innovation on future employment in Nigeria

Abstract

As the global economy continues to recover from COVID-19 shocks, slower growth and not enough jobs to commensurate the growing labour force are observed. In line with SGD-8, promoting decent work, sustainable economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation, this study argues that encouraging entrepreneurship for job creation is key to securing future employment. The study applied the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to carry out the impact analysis. In addition, the study employed the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to determine the linear relationship between entrepreneurship innovation and future employment. The study used the Youth Enterprise with Innovation (YouWiN) baseline survey (2019). The study engaged four innovation measures: the introduction of new products and services, access to the internet, utilisation of emails for marketing and firm's involvement in online advertisement. The PSM analysis results show that the four measures of innovation by firms have a positive and significant impact on future employment. Based on the results, the study concludes by recommending that various measures of innovation should be adopted in enterprises' activities to drive future employment.

Social entrepreneurship, technology diffusion and future employment in Nigeria

“…improvement in society at large) rather than by their ability to provide services to the group they represent (i.e. concentrating on outputs) (Osabohien et al , 2022b). For their similarity, both social entrepreneurs and for-profit entrepreneurs look for market gaps to fill with a new venture to serve an underserved market.…”

“…This is because it bridges information asymmetry in the labour market. Similarly, Osabohien et al (2022aOsabohien et al ( , 2022b found that social entrepreneurship and business innovation are significant drivers of future employment. In another study, Matthew et al (2020) found that enabling environment, infrastructure and access to ICT tools are crucial for business operations.…”

Information and communication technology adoption and unemployment in West Africa Monetary Zone

“…ICT has given people control over their home thermostats, enable them to exercise control over their heartbeats, monitor their diets, and have groceries delivered to their doorsteps (Garcia‐Murillo, 2017). ICT has also strengthened the capacities of entrepreneurship (Osabohien et al, 2022). For instance, entrepreneurs can easily monitor their sales and production, detect failures in production and of course automate many tasks that were previously undertaken manually, which has resulted in a decline in the cost of production (Osabohien et al, 2022).…”

“…ICT has also strengthened the capacities of entrepreneurship (Osabohien et al, 2022). For instance, entrepreneurs can easily monitor their sales and production, detect failures in production and of course automate many tasks that were previously undertaken manually, which has resulted in a decline in the cost of production (Osabohien et al, 2022).…”

“…A good number of these studies accepted that ICT is a key driver in the quest for economic transformation. In addition, previous studies submit that ICT positively influence economic growth, productivity and employment (Olurinola et al, 2021;Osabohien et al, 2022;Toader et al, 2018).…”