Are Migration Remittances and Development Assistances Pathways to Improve Nigeria Health Outcomes?

The impacts of migrant remittances and official development assistances (ODAs) on health outcomes in Nigeria between 2000 and 2024, were investigated. Despite increasing remittances and ODAs inflows in Nigeria, its developmental impact remain uncertain among researchers. Anchored on the Grossman health capital model and the two-gap theory, the study employs Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) techniques to assess the impacts of remittances, health-specific and non-health-specific ODAs, environmental conditions, and institutional quality on Nigeria’s health outcomes. The findings reveal that remittances and ODAs do not significantly improves health outcomes, even after accounting for institutional quality. It then concluded that remittances and ODAs are ineffective pathways for improving health outcomes in Nigeria and recommends prioritizing education and technical aids on targeted health programmes, such as community health base insurances, doctor without boarders’ initiatives for health improvement in Nigeria.

Nigeria Health outcomes, Official-Development-Assistance, Remittances JEL Code

1. Acharya, R., & Leon-Gonzalez, R. (2012). Remittances and health outcomes in developing countries. Journal of Development Studies, 48(10), 1305–1321. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Adebanji, A. O., Aluko, M. A. O., & Adedokun, A. O. (2020). The impact of development assistance on infant mortality in Nigeria. African Journal of Economic Policy, 27(1), 101–121. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. African Union. (2020). Migration policy framework for Africa and plan of action (2018–2030). AU Commission. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Aime, K. B. (2010). Is aid effective in improving health outcomes in developing countries? A critical review. Health Policy and Planning, 25(2), 67–75. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Akinlo, A. E., & Sulola, A. O. (2019). The role of maternal education and household income on underfive mortality in Nigeria. International Journal of Health Economics, 8(3), 22–34. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Andersen, R. M. (1989). Revisiting the behavioral model and access to medical care: Does it matter? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36(1), 1–10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Asiedu, E., Jin, Y., & Nandwa, B. (2012). Foreign aid, education, and human capital. Review of Development Economics, 16(3), 381–402. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Barro, R. J. (2013). Health and economic growth. Annals of Economics and Finance, 14(2), 305–342. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Chen, Q., & Qi, J. (2023). How much should we trust R² and adjusted R²: Evidence from regressions in top economics journals and Monte Carlo simulations. Journal of Applied Economics, 26(1), 22–44. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. https://doi.org/10.1080/15140326.2023.2207326 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Health outcomes and performance measures. CDC. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Depken, C. A., Stephens, H. M., & Goel, R. K. (2021). Migrant remittances and economic performance in developing countries. Review of Development Economics, 25(1), 84–101. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Djeunankan, R., & Tekam, S. (2022). Migrant remittances and life expectancy: A panel data analysis for developing countries. Journal of Health Economics and Management, 7(1), 35–50. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Eggoh, J., Houeninvo, H., & Sossou, G. A. (2015). Education, health, and economic growth in African countries. Journal of Economic Development, 40(1), 93–111. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Eze, S. N., Okpara, G. C., & Madichie, N. O. (2020). Disaggregated foreign aid and development in Nigeria: An empirical analysis. Journal of African Development, 22(2), 45–61. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Frost, J. (2020, March 3). Overfitting regression models: Problems, detection, and avoidance. Statistics [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. By Jim. https://statisticsbyjim.com/regression/overfitting-regression-models (statisticsbyjim.com in Bing) [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Grossman, M. (1972). On the concept of health capital and the demand for health. Journal of Political Economy, 80(2), 223–255. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Hao, Y., Tang, X., & Wang, L. (2023). Migrant remittances and child health in sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of African Economies, 32(1), 1–25. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. International Organization for Migration. (2023). World migration report. IOM. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Jeetoo, C. C., & Jaunky, V. C. (2023). Household energy and health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. Energy Policy, 172, 113270. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Kotsadam, A., Rød, J. K., & Tjøtta, S. (2018). Development aid and infant mortality: A study of aid effectiveness. World Development, 105, 96–104. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Lange, S., & Vollmer, S. (2017). The effect of foreign aid on economic growth: A systematic review. Review of Development Economics, 21(4), 1–31. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Limazie, G., & Woni, E. (2024). Governance quality and health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of African Development Studies, 16(1), 55–74. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Maju, M., Hamman, B., & Umar, A. (2019). Foreign aid, remittances and health sector development in Nigeria. Journal of African Economics and Health, 12(1), 20–34. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Mustapha, S., Zakari, H. B., & Olaitan, A. (2021). Public health financing and health outcomes in West Africa. African Journal of Public Policy, 8(2), 65–79. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. National Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Nigeria statistical bulletin. NBS. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Niyonkuru, F. (2016). Failure of foreign aid in developing countries: A quest for alternatives. Business and Economics Journal, 7(3), 1–9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Nwokolo, C., Meyer, L., & Ahia, C. (2023). Environmental degradation and human well-being in West Africa. Journal of Environmental Policy, 12(4), 78–91. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Nwude, E. C., Uduji, J. I., & Okwo, I. M. (2020). Health expenditure and human development in ECOWAS. International Journal of Social Economics, 47(10), 1305–1321. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. OECD. (2022). Health at a glance 2022: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Odjesa, J., & Ighodaro, C. A. (2021). Institutional quality, public health expenditure and health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of African Development, 23(2), 85–108. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Okonjo, O., & Adeyemi, T. (2018). Development aid and infant mortality at the subnational level in Nigeria. Journal of Development Policy, 19(4), 88–104. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Oladosu, A. O., Chanimbe, T. A., & Anaduaka, U. S. (2022). Institutional quality, technological capacity, and health outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Development Review, 34(3), 412–430. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Olatunde, A., Adeyemi, S., & Bello, T. (2019). Institutional quality and healthcare delivery in Nigeria. African Journal of Economic Policy, 26(2), 1–23. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. J. (2001). Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 16(3), 289–326. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Pu, Y., Zeng, S., & Luo, X. (2021). Development assistance, governance and health: Evidence from panel data. Journal of Global Health Policy, 5(2), 100–116. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. Ramkissoon, A., & Deonanan, R. (2023). Remittances and infant mortality in developing countries: A dynamic panel approach. Journal of Health Economics and Development, 9(2), 77–93. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. Shin, Y., Yu, B., & Greenwood-Nimmo, M. (2014). Modelling asymmetric cointegration and dynamic multipliers in a nonlinear ARDL framework. In R. C. Sickles & W. C. Horrace (Eds.), Festschrift in honor of Peter Schmidt: Econometric methods and applications (pp. 281–314). Springer. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. Todaro, M. P., & Smith, S. C. (2012). Economic development (11th ed.). Pearson Education. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. United Nations. (2021). World population prospects. United Nations. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

42. United Nations Development Programme. (2019). Migration and development: A regional perspective. UNDP. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

43. United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. (2018). Global HIV & AIDS statistics. UNAIDS. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

44. World Bank. (2022). Nigeria development update. World Bank. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

45. World Health Organization. (2023). World health statistics. WHO. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

46. Yadeta, D., & Hunegnaw, M. T. (2022). Do remittances enhance economic resilience? African Economic Review, 30(2), 88–107. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

47. Zulu, L. C., & Richardson, R. B. (2013). Charcoal, livelihoods, and poverty reduction: Evidence from subSaharan Africa. Energy for Sustainable Development, 17(2), 127–137. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Cost Analysis of Delivering Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Among Adolescents and Young People in Zambia: Results from the Yathu Yathu Trial
• Effect of External Remittance on Health Outcome in Kenya
• Empowerment and Nutrition: Analyzing Women’s Food Consumption through Socio-Economic Lenses Using NFHS 5 Data