Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Rising Cost of Some Selected Labour Inputs in Nigeria (1987-1996)

Abstract

The building construction in Nigeria is predominantly material and labour intensive, fixed with galloping inflationary tendency in the Nigerian economy; it becomes increasingly difficult to predict the cost of these two inputs particularly with the acute shortage of construction data information. An attempt was made in this study to mount an empirical examination into the possibility of using GDP to predict the likely cost of labour input. Published statistical records of the building construction components of the GDP were assembled for the period 1987-1996. Also, field tests were organized to obtain information on the price trends of skilled and unskilled labour. Using simple regression analysis as a statistical instrument, the relationship between percentage changes in the GDP (Building and Construction Section) versus percentage changes in weighted annual prices of labour was tested. The study concluded that there is a strong statistical relationship between percentage changes in GDP (Building /construction Sector) and the percentage change in the prices of some selected skilled and unskilled labour. It was before recommended that project managers, executing long term projects in the country held watch trends in percentage change in GDP in their planning strategies.