The Long-run Response of Under-five Mortality to Corruption: Evidence from Nigeria.

The importance of health to a nation and its citizens cannot be over-emphasised. Better health contributes to human capital development and enhances labour productivity, all of which promote economic growth. Reducing under-five mortality remains one of Nigeria's major challenges in the health sector and the country has achieved little in her fight against corruption. Despite the co-existence of corruption and high under-five mortality in Nigeria, empirical research on the connection between these two undesirables is minimal. We evaluate the longterm response of under-five mortality to corruption in Nigeria by using an Augmented ARDL (AARDL) method to analyse quarterly data for the 2000-2021 period. There is an evidence of a long-term relationship between corruption and under-five mortality alongside control variables including health expenditure, income growth and rural population, based on cointegration tests. The empirical results confirm that improving corruption control lowers long-term under-five mortality. Furthermore, greater openness to trade and higher spending on public health reduce long-term under-five mortality, while a growing rural population contributes to it. Thus, we recommend measures that lower corruption to reduce long-term under-five mortality in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]