An Empirical Assessment of Banking Sector Reform and Unemployment in Nigeria
Abiodun Edward Adelegan, Victor E Oriavwote

Abstract
Since the attainment of full employment is a desirable economic goal which has proved difficult for African countries, Nigeria inclusive, the objective of this research is on modeling banking sector reform and unemployment in Nigeria. The co-integration approach was used to assess the data that covered the period between 1980 and 2011. Both the result of the static long run model and the short run dynamic model indicate that the banking sector reform in Nigeria has actually increased the level of unemployment in Nigeria. This has cast some doubts on the overall effectiveness of the banking sector reforms in Nigeria. The ECM result showed a satisfactory speed of adjustment. The results thus recommend that banking sector reform should be tailored towards workers welfare and interest rate policy should encourage aggregate investment which will reduce the level of unemployment.

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