TITLE:
Budget Trends, Poverty Reduction and COVID-19: United States of America and Nigeria as Case Studies
AUTHORS:
Adebisi Arewa
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Impact of Governance, Budgetary Appropriation, Disparity in Impact of COVID-19, Public Expenditure and Performance, Public Health Crisis, Levels of Poverty, Effective Response to COVID-19, Growth in Budgeted Expenditure. United States of America, Federal Republic of Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.5,
May
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to determine the impact
of governance through budgetary
appropriation (legislation) on poverty reduction in the United States of
America and Nigeria in the context of the disparity in the impact of COVID-19
on the vulnerable segment of society. This study is based on both quantitative and qualitative analysis of
primary and secondary sources of
data. Analysis of expenditure trends and budgetary processes draws on secondary analysis of government activities and
processes in the United States of America and Nigeria. There has been considerable
growth in budgeted expenditure in
both nations albeit without concomitant inclusive reduction in levels of
poverty; which results in the disparity in the impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on
vulnerable discrete groups in the two nations. By conducting a historical
examination of public expenditure and performance, in relation to measures of
poverty and other social indicators, the study determines how public
spending in the United States and Nigeria have been pro-poor and shored up capacity for effective response to COVID-19. The
inequities characterizing the resource allocation process in both nations
undermine the delivery of social services such as health, education and shelter resulting in
high vulnerability and untoward and adverse
health outcomes during public health
crises of pandemic proportions such as COVID-19.