Title: Positive and negative impacts of natural gas consumption on economic growth in Nigeria: a nonlinear ARDL approach
Authors: Mukhtar Danladi Galadima; Abubakar Wambai Aminu
Addresses: Department of Economics and Development Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Federal University Dutse, P.M.B. 7156, Jigawa State, Nigeria ' Department of Economics, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Bayero University Kano, P.M.B. 3011, Kano State, Nigeria
Abstract: The paper has examined positive and negative effects of natural gas on economic growth in Nigeria using nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The findings revealed that the negative and positive impacts of natural gas consumption on economic growth are asymmetric in the long run whereas in the short run such evidence has not been found. However, in the long run, the positive impact is 0.15% per 1% increase while the negative impact is insignificant. The implication of the results is that an increase in natural gas consumption can stimulate growth in the long run and, energy efficiency/energy saving policies is not a limiting factor to growth, thus, it does not engender a fall in the rate of economic growth. Therefore, the paper recommends that authorities of the Nigeria's economy boost the domestic demand for natural gas and chart out energy efficiency strategies such as using a light-emitting diode (LED) light bulb or a compact florescent light (CFL) bulb that requires less energy than an incandescent light bulb and water booster heaters. This way, sustainable economic growth, curbing the issue of global warming and, minimising costs of energy consumption can be achieved.
Keywords: nonlinear ARDL; natural gas consumption; economic growth; Nigeria.
DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2019.103549
African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, 2019 Vol.7 No.2, pp.138 - 160
Received: 18 Apr 2018
Accepted: 03 Jan 2019
Published online: 11 Nov 2019 *