Fiscal Policy And Poverty In The Southern African Customs Union: The Case Of Frontier Technology Readiness Index and Skills

Opeyemi Aromolaran; Nicholas Ngepah

doi:10.36923/ijsser.v6i1.245

Open Access Article Economics

Opeyemi Aromolaran ⁽¹⁾, Nicholas Ngepah ⁽²⁾

(1) College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, South Africa,

(2) School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, South Africa

https://doi.org/10.36923/ijsser.v6i1.245

Issue
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2024): Continue

Submitted
March 4, 2024

Published
March 12, 2024

Keywords:

Fiscal policy, Frontier Technology Readiness Index, Household consumption expenditure, Poverty

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Abstract

The study examines the relationship between fiscal policy, the level of poverty, and the frontier technology readiness index (skill) in the Southern African Customs Union over the period of 2012 to 2022. The technique of pooled ordinary least squares was used to ascertain the empirical findings, while the LLC and IPS established the stationarity of the variables. The empirical findings show that government expenditure on education, indirect taxes, and the skills index directly affect household consumption expenditure significantly and, by implication, reduce poverty. However, the interaction of government expenditure on education and skills significantly reduces household final consumption expenditure. The essence of the study is that the respective government in the Southern African Customs Union should harness efforts towards integrating relevant skills into the educational system in light of the 21st-century technology revolution. It is admitted that previous studies have largely concentrated on issues such as income inequality, financial inclusion, government expenditure program in addressing the problem of poverty in developing economies, this study, while observing the crucial role of fiscal policy, evaluates the effect of a frontier technology readiness index, skills, in abating the severity of poverty in the region.

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Authors

Opeyemi Aromolaran

College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9734-0559

aromolaranopeyemi123@gmail.com (Primary Contact)

Nicholas Ngepah

School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1947-0008

Aromolaran, O., & Ngepah, N. (2024). Fiscal Policy And Poverty In The Southern African Customs Union: The Case Of Frontier Technology Readiness Index and Skills. Innovation Journal of Social Sciences and Economic Review, 6(1), 11–21. https://doi.org/10.36923/ijsser.v6i1.245

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