Assessment of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and Employment Generation in Nigeria: an Ardl Approach

Abstract

Abstract Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SMEs) has been receiving great attention because of the tremendous impact it plays in society. This is why its development is paramount to any nation. This study assessed the SMEs and employment generation in Nigeria. the study employed time-series data from 1981 to 2021 using Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model as the method of analysis. The finding revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between Small and Medium-scale Output (SMEO), Gross Domestic Products growth rate (GDPg) and employment generation but an insignificant nexus with poverty reduction (POVR) while also revealed a negative nexus between income generation and employment generation in Nigeria. The study concluded that there is a significant relationship between SMEs and employment generation in Nigeria. It, therefore, concluded that government should create an avenue that all informal SMEs be registered so as to be able to explore them during tax collection. JEL CODE: D22, E26, and H32.