Government Expenditure in Nigeria : An Examination of Tri-Theoretical Mantras

The role of the government in an economy cannot be overemphasised. This is with regards to fostering the development process. Government expenditure is presumed to be a veritable tool for economic growth and development leaning on the Keynesian doctrine. This study, therefore, analysed the behaviour of government expenditure in Nigeria and formulated an econometric model, which was estimated with vector autoregressive technique, among others. From three theoretical frameworks, the study found evidence that government expenditure in Nigeria responds largely to fiscal decentralisation and political instability than economic growth. This suggests that the government expenditure behaviour in Nigeria can be explained much more by the Leviathan and Peacock-Wiseman Displacement theories than the Wagner's theory. Some recommendations were suggested for policy actions in the study