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The peace dividend : military spending cuts and economic growth

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  • Knight, Malcolm
  • Loayza, Norman
  • Villanueva, Delano

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests that reducing military spending may improve a country's economic growth, but empirical studies have produced ambiguous results on this point. Extending a standard growth model, the authors exploit both cross-section and time-series dimensions of available data to get consistent estimates of the growth-retarding effects of military spending. Military spending is growth-retarding because of its adverse impact on capital formation and resourceallocation. Model simulation results suggest a substantial long-term peace dividend - in the form of higher capacity output per capita - that may result from: 1) markedly lower military spending in most regions in the late 1980s; and 2) future cuts in military spending if global peace is secured.

Suggested Citation

  • Knight, Malcolm & Loayza, Norman & Villanueva, Delano, 1996. "The peace dividend : military spending cuts and economic growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1577, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1577
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Biswas, Basudeb & Ram, Rati, 1986. "Military Expenditures and Economic Growth in Less Developed Countries: An Augmented Model and Further Evidence," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 361-372, January.
    2. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Is public expenditure productive?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 177-200, March.
    3. Landau, Daniel, 1993. "The economic impact of military expenditures," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1138, The World Bank.
    4. De Gregorio, Jose, 1993. "Inflation, taxation, and long-run growth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 271-298, June.
    5. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    6. Jong-Wha Lee, 1993. "International Trade, Distortions, and Long-Run Economic Growth," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 40(2), pages 299-328, June.
    7. Chamberlain, Gary, 1982. "Multivariate regression models for panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 5-46, January.
    8. Robert J. Barro & Jong-Wha Lee, 1993. "Losers and Winners in Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 4341, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Swan, Trevor W, 2002. "Economic Growth," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 78(243), pages 375-380, December.
    10. Malcolm Knight & Norman Loayza & Delano Villanueva, 1993. "Testing the Neoclassical Theory of Economic Growth: A Panel Data Approach," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 40(3), pages 512-541, September.
    11. Thompson, Earl A, 1974. "Taxation and National Defense," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(4), pages 755-782, July/Aug..
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Legal Products; Peace&Peacekeeping; Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Decentralization; Peace&Peacekeeping; Achieving Shared Growth; Inequality; Economic Theory&Research; Legal Products;

    JEL classification:

    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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