DOES INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY MATTER IN PUBLIC SECTOR EFFICIENCY IN NIGERIA?

Abstract

This paper examined whether ICT matters in Public Sector Efficiency in Nigeria using secondary data from 2000 and 2019. The objective of the study is to determine whether or not ICT is relevant in improving public sector efficiency in Nigeria. The paper also employed the co-integration regression technique to analyze the results. Relevant theories and literature were reviewed to give relevance to the study area. The result suggests that ICT had a significant positive relationship with Public Sector Efficiency in Nigeria. It further revealed that ICT and efficiency are co-integrated suggesting the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship in the public sector of Nigeria. The coefficient of ICT is inelastic suggesting that an increase or decrease in ICT contribution to GDP will increase or reduce the efficiency of the Public Sector in Nigeria. The relationship between ICT and efficiency extends to the long run. Government policies on ICTs influence efficiency in the public sector of the economy especially when there are ICT investment and ICT use. There are also evidences that capital stock, labour, educational output, foreign direct investments and corruption perception index scores were significant in determining public sector efficiency in Nigeria. The paper concludes that the ICT sector has not been fully utilized given its potentials in the country. The government could perform better with the suggestions of this paper.