IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/defpea/v20y2009i6p499-508.html

Military Spending And Economic Growth In Sri Lanka: A Time Series Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Albert Wijeweera
  • Matthew Webb

Abstract

In this paper, we employ a VAR analysis to examine the nexus between military spending and economic growth in Sri Lanka which, due to the civil war there, has witnessed a significant increase in military spending over the last three decades while also recording healthy economic growth. The study finds that, compared with non-military spending, military spending exerts only a minimal positive impact on real GDP. Over a 10-year period, a 1% increase in non-military spending increases GDP by 1.6%. In contrast, military spending only increases GDP by 0.05%, suggesting that the economic benefits for Sri Lanka from a sustained peace may be considerable.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Wijeweera & Matthew Webb, 2009. "Military Spending And Economic Growth In Sri Lanka: A Time Series Analysis," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 499-508.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:defpea:v:20:y:2009:i:6:p:499-508
    DOI: 10.1080/10242690902868301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10242690902868301
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10242690902868301?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arunatilake, Nisha & Jayasuriya, Sisira & Kelegama, Saman, 2001. "The Economic Cost of the War in Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1483-1500, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:qeh:qehwps:qehwps99 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Yiping Huang & Jian Chang & Prema-Chandra Athukorala & Sisira Jayasuriya, 2013. "Economic Policy Shifts in Sri Lanka: The Post-Conflict Development Challenge," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 12(2), pages 1-28, Summer.
    3. Indra Tudawe, 2009. "Chronic Poverty and Development Policy in Sri Lanka: Overview Study," Working Papers id:2213, eSocialSciences.
    4. Deeptha Wijerathna & Jayatilleke S. Bandara & Christine Smith & Athula Naranpanawa, 2014. "Regional disparities in Sri Lanka: an empirical analysis," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 21(2), pages 77-102, December.
    5. Joseph Mawejje & Patrick McSharry, 2021. "The economic cost of conflict: Evidence from South Sudan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 1969-1990, November.
    6. Mandon, Pierre Jean-Claude & Nossek, Vincent Remi & Sandjong Tomi, Diderot Guy D Estaing, 2023. "Stuck in a Conflict Trap : The Case of the Central African Republic Civil War," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10624, The World Bank.
    7. Benedikt Korf, 2006. "Dining with Devils? Ethnographic Enquiries into the Conflict-Development Nexus in Sri Lanka," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 47-64.
    8. Rafiuddin Najam & Harry Anthony Patrinos & Raja Bentaouet Kattan, 2026. "The mis-education of women in Afghanistan: from wage premiums to economic losses," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 1-31, June.
    9. Gardeazabal, Javier, 2010. "Methods for Measuring Aggregate Costs of Conflict," DFAEII Working Papers 1988-088X, University of the Basque Country - Department of Foundations of Economic Analysis II.
    10. İbrahim Sezer Belliler, 2023. "Convergence of Military Expenditures in MENA Countries: Evidences from a Fourier Panel Unit Root Test with Multiple Breaks," EKOIST Journal of Econometrics and Statistics, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 0(39), pages 183-199, December.
    11. Dawit Bezabih & Mehretie Belay & Simachew Bantigegn, 2025. "Household Livelihood Strategies and Outcomes in Conflict‐Affected Areas of Northeastern Ethiopia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 801-819, April.
    12. Abdul Rasheed Sithy Jesmy & Mohd Zaini Abd Karim & Shri Dewi Applanaidu, 2016. "Do Military Expenditure and Conflict Affect Economic Growth in Sri Lanka? Evidence from the ARDL Bounds Test Approach," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(3), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Aleksandar Kešeljević & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Estimating the effects of Syrian civil war," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 671-703, February.
    14. Mr. Nicholas Staines, 2004. "Economic Performance Over the Conflict Cycle," IMF Working Papers 2004/095, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Mundle, Sudipto, 2018. "Development of Education and Health Services in Asia and the Role of the State," Working Papers 18/239, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    16. Bandara, Yapa M.W.Y. & Karunaratne, Neil D., 2010. "An empirical analysis of Sri Lanka's Manufacturing Productivity slow-down," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 391-403, August.
    17. Gupta, Sanjeev & Clements, Benedict & Bhattacharya, Rina & Chakravarti, Shamit, 2004. "Fiscal consequences of armed conflict and terrorism in low- and middle-income countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 403-421, June.
    18. World Bank, 2007. "Sri Lanka - Poverty Assessment : Engendering Growth with Equity, Opportunities and Challenges," World Bank Publications - Reports 8050, The World Bank Group.
    19. Hönig, Tillman, 2017. "The Impact of Peace: Evidence from Nigeria," MPRA Paper 83302, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Saman Kelegama, 2005. "Transforming Conflict with an Economic Dividend: the Sri Lankan Experience," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-48, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Bruno Frey, 2012. "Well-being and war," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 59(4), pages 363-375, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:defpea:v:20:y:2009:i:6:p:499-508. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/GDPE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.