IMPACT OF HEALTH EXPENDITUREON UNDER FIVE MORTALITY IN NIGERIA: AN ARDL APPROACH
Ruth John Chenbap , Mike Duru, Mustapha Mukhtar , A.A.Alexander , Alfa Yakubu and Ayodeji Salihu
Volume 9 Issue 1
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between health expenditure and under five mortality contingent on control of corruption in Nigeria spanning the period 2000 - 2020. The study used time series data generated from world bank indicators. The ARDL model was adopted here. The Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test revealed that some of the variables were integrated at order one while the rest are stationary at levels at 5% confidence levels. The result also shows that the variables are cointegratedsincethe computed F-statistic (5.97) falls above the upper bound of the critical values at 1%, 5%, 2.5% and 10% significance level, indicating that there is a long-run association between the explanatory variables GXIM, PHYS,OOPE and CCP and the dependent variable, Under five mortality rate (U5MR) within the period under investigation.However, the result of the ARDL model reveals that the coefficient of the Error Correction Term (ECM (-1)) is negative (-1.19) which implies that there is adjustment of 1.19 percent from short-run to long-run equilibrium among the variables of the study.The ARDL model further showed that, Government expenditure on immunization (GXIM) and physicians density (PHYS) have negative impact on the Under-five mortality rate while Out of pocket expenses (OOPE) and Control of Corruption have positive impact on Under-five mortality rate in Nigeria. The variables are however jointlystatistically significant. The study therefore recommends that the government should effectively fight corruption in the Health Sector by effectively taking proactive steps in ensuring corruptindividuals in the system are rooted out to reduce corrupt practices and improve child mortality rate.
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