Public Expenditure and Economic Growth: A Test of Wagner’s and Keynes Hypotheses in Nigeria and Angola Economies

Abstract

This study verifies the validation of Wagner’s theory and Keynes's hypothesis between three main government expenditure components (Health expenditure, education expenditure, and capital investment expenditure) and economic growth in Nigeria and Angola. The study employs Johansen cointegration and pairwise granger causality as the estimation techniques. Findings revealed no evidence of long-run relationships with government expenditure components of health, education, and capital investment and economic growth. The study equally reveals the validation of Wagner’s theory between growth and expenditure on health in both Nigeria and Angola. Evidence that confirms both Wagner’s theory and Keynes's hypothesis between growth and expenditure on education in Angola and validation of only Keynes hypothesis in Nigeria was found. Also, the study confirms the validation of Keynes's hypothesis between government expenditure on capital investment in both Nigeria and Angola