Macroeconomic and Fiscal Determinants of Living Standards: A Systematic Review of Conceptual, Theoretical, and Empirical Evidence in Nigeria

This review article provides a comprehensive and critical synthesis of the conceptual, theoretical, and empirical literature examining the determinants of the standard of living in developing economies, with specific focus on Nigeria. Historically confined to univariate income metrics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, the conceptualisation of living standards has undergone a paradigm transition towards multidimensional human welfare frameworks, prominently operationalised by the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). This survey synthesises three core theoretical pillars, Human Capital Theory, Sen's Capability Approach, and Keynesian macroeconomic doctrine to construct an integrated analytical framework linking public sectoral expenditure, labour market stability, price dynamics, and national output to living standards. Furthermore, this review systematically catalogues and evaluates empirical evidence regarding the welfare impacts of inflation, structural unemployment, public health and education financing, and economic growth in Nigeria and the broader Sub-Saharan African region. The review identifies critical empirical and methodological discordances in the extant literature: the prevalence of single-variable analyses, contradictory findings regarding public expenditure efficacy, neglect of transmission gestation lags, and the frequent reliance on datasets ending prior to recent macroeconomic shocks (including exchange-rate unification and fuel subsidy removal). The article concludes by charting vital pathways for future research and outlining policy frameworks to reconcile headline growth with tangible societal welfare.