Title: Institutional approach to debt determination: the Nigerian case

Authors: David O. Fadiran; Olusegun A. Akanbi

Addresses: Department of Economics, University of South Africa, Hazelwood, Pretoria, South Africa ' Department of Economics, University of South Africa, Hazelwood, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract: This paper examines institutions as a determinant of external debt. We employ a recently constructed data set on institutions for Nigeria, which is constructed using a different methodology from the oft used polity series and also unbundles institutions into several sub-categories. The results show that specific institutional categories such as 'the extent of arbitrary executive powers' and 'government secrecy' play a significant role in limiting debt levels. Furthermore, when we consider the composite institutions' measure that captures the totality of civil and political liberties, the empirical analysis suggests that it plays a significant role in limiting the levels of long-term external debt, as well as public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) external debt, in the long-run.

Keywords: political institutions; external debt; arbitrary executive powers; government secrecy; debt determination; sustainable economy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSE.2018.088623

International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2018 Vol.10 No.1, pp.41 - 60

Received: 31 Jan 2017
Accepted: 13 Apr 2017
Published online: 13 Dec 2017 *

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