Oluwalayomi David Awolola

The advent of globalization has spurred the level of foreign direct investment (FDI), which has increased the employment level and economic growth in countries around the world. This scenario has also been debated in the extant literature. It is on this backdrop that this study was inspired to examine the relationship between FDI and the level of employment in Nigeria. The article uses the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and the Johansen co-integration econometric approach on the data, which were sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin. The investigation period covered thirty-two years (1985–2017). Also, the authors adopted the theory of absorptive capacity as the baseline for the model. Results obtained from the study showed that foreign direct investment is statistically significant and positively related to the employment level in Nigeria. These findings imply that a 1 unit increase in the inflow of foreign direct investment to the Nigerian economy is capable of increasing the level of employment by about 0.97 units. Therefore, based on findings, the study is concluded by recommendations that the Nigerian economy should become viable through effective trade policies and programs, which are capable of attracting foreign direct investment into the Nigerian economy for employment creation.

Acknowledgment(s)
The publication support received from Covenant University Centre for Research, Innovation and Discovery (CUCRID) is appreciated