EVALUATING THE ROLE OF HUMAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY IN NIGERIA

The main objective of this research was to empirically examine the effects of human capital investment on industrial sector output in Nigeria from 1990 to 2022. Three specific objectives were examined in the study. Investment in education, investment in research and development and investment in health were used as the proxies of human capital investment (independent variable) while industrial sector gross domestic product was used as the proxy of industrial sector output (dependent variable). Annual times data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin and World Bank Development indicators were utilized. The study adopted Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) technique as the main data analysis technique. The findings of this study indicated that investment in education has a positive and significant effect on industrial sector output in Nigeria in both short run and long run, investment in research and development has a positive and significant effect on industrial sector output in Nigeria in the long run while investment in health has a positive and non-significant effect on industrial sector output in Nigeria in both short run and long run. Based on the findings, the study concluded that human capital investment plays a significant role in promoting industrial sector output in Nigeria. The study recommended among others that to boost industrial sector output, the government should foster stronger linkages between research institutions, universities, and the industrial sector. Increased investment in research and development, particularly in areas critical to industrial innovation, can lead to the development of new technologies, processes, and products