Distributional Impact of Public Expenditure on Education and Healthcare in Nigeria: A Gender Based Welfare Dominance Analysis

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Abstract
Investing in education and healthcare is one of the suggested ways the poor can escape from poverty, if properly targeted. The two sectors (education and heaathcare) in Nigeria have experienced various forms of subsidies but surprisingly, the poverty situation in Nigeria aside from deepening has been severe, pervasive and multi-dimensional with the female folk mostly affected by all counts. Based on the above argument, the study assessed how equitably public expenditure in education and healthcare have been well targeted by gender. The study employed the welfare dominance tests to determine the incidence of expenditure and how subsidy has been beneficial to men and women alike. The study found that primary education was absolutely progressive for both sexes while primary healthcare subsidies were just progressive. Interestingly, secondary education was only progressive for female while tertiary education and healthcare for both male and female were regressive and not pro poor.