Technology Gap and the Role of National Innovation System in a Balance of Payments Constrained Growth Model: Empirical Evidence From Nigeria

Abstract

This study empirically seeks to connect more strongly the post-Keynesian macroeconomic idea anchored on the balance of payment (BOP) constraint with the evolutionary microeconomic idea related to the dynamics of technological gap in shaping export quality and long-run growth. It employs autoregressive distributed lag model to examine the validity of Thirlwall’s “Law” on the Nigerian economy from 1981 to 2017. The study found that new version of the model improves significantly in explaining long-run growth of the economy. Therefore, it recommends, among others, a cautious reduction of various components of imports especially final consumption, increasing the export share of commodities with high demand in the international market as well as increasing government spending on R&D to enhance export quality for a sustainable growth of the economy.