This paper investigates the moderating role institutional quality plays in foreign direct investment led growth hypothesis in Nigeria from 1984 to 2018 using autoregressive distributed lag estimation technique. Specifically, the study contributes to the literature by using seven different institutional indicators to moderate the effect of foreign direct investment on economic growth. The findings reveal that foreign direct investment has no direct (positive) effect on economic growth in Nigeria. However, the interactive effect of institutional indicators with foreign direct investment has significant impact on economic growth in most of the models. This implies that institutions serve as important absorptive capacity that needs to be strengthened for the country to benefit maximally from the growth effect of foreign direct investment. This study therefore concludes that good institutional quality matters for foreign direct investment and growth in Nigeria.

本文使用自回归分布滞后估计技术，研究了1984年至2018年制度质量在尼日利亚外国直接投资主导的增长假设中的调节作用。具体而言，该研究通过使用七个不同的制度指标来缓和外国直接投资对经济增长的影响，为文献做出了贡献。调查结果表明，外国直接投资对尼日利亚的经济增长没有直接（正）影响。但是，在大多数模型中，制度指标与外国直接投资的相互作用对经济增长具有重大影响。这意味着制度是重要的吸收能力，需要加强，国家才能最大程度地受益于外国直接投资的增长效应。