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Military spending and democracy

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  • Jennifer Brauner

Abstract

This paper examines empirically whether democracies allocate fewer resources to the military than dictatorships. It employs a panel of up to 112 countries over the period 1960-2000 to estimate a standard demand for military spending model. While papers on the determinants of military spending generally include democracy as a control variable, with a few exceptions, it is not the focus of their enquiry. This paper addresses resulting problems in the existing literature concerning data quality and the appropriate measurement of key variables, as well as the question of causality between military spending and democracy. It finds that democracies spend less on the military as a percentage of GDP than autocracies do and that causality runs from regime type to military spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Brauner, 2015. "Military spending and democracy," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 409-423, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:defpea:v:26:y:2015:i:4:p:409-423
    DOI: 10.1080/10242694.2014.960245
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    Cited by:

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    2. J. Paul Dunne & Nan Tian, 2019. "Military Expenditures and Economic Growth," School of Economics Macroeconomic Discussion Paper Series 2019-05, School of Economics, University of Cape Town.
    3. Johannes Blum, 2021. "Democracy’s third wave and national defense spending," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 189(1), pages 183-212, October.
    4. Xinyi Wang & Na Hou & Bo Chen, 2023. "Democracy, military expenditure and economic growth: A heterogeneous perspective," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(8), pages 1039-1070, November.
    5. Elisa Cavatorta & Ron P. Smith, 2017. "Factor Models in Panels with Cross-sectional Dependence: An Application to the Extended SIPRI Military Expenditure Data," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 437-456, July.
    6. Johannes Blum, 2020. "Democracy’s Third Wave and National Defense Spending," ifo Working Paper Series 339, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Kerstin Unfried & Krisztina Kis-Katos, 2023. "The heterogeneous effects of conflict on education: A spatial analysis in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(6), pages 968-984, November.
    8. Rafał Woźniak & Jacek Lewkowicz, 2023. "Can We Have More Butter and Guns Simultaneously? An Endogeneity Perspective," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 28-46.
    9. Sajjad F. Dizaji & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2023. "Democracy and Militarization in Developing Countries: A Panel Vector Autoregressive Analysis," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 272-292, April.
    10. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Sherif Khalifa, 2021. "African Junta and Defence Spending: A Capture Effect or Self-preservation? [A Theory of Military Dictatorships]," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 30(3), pages 285-300.
    11. Sea Jin Kim & Woo-Kyun Lee & Jun Young Ahn & Wona Lee & Soo Jeong Lee, 2021. "Analysis of Developmental Chronology of South Korean Compressed Growth as a Reference from Sustainable Development Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-22, February.
    12. Jakub Odehnal & Jiří Neubauer, 2020. "Economic, Security, and Political Determinants of Military Spending in NATO Countries," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 517-531, July.

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