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Military Expenditures, Inequality, and Welfare and Political Regimes: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Unal Tongur

    (Department of Economics, METU)

  • Adem Yavuz Elveren

    (Department of Economics, METU and Sutcu Imam University)

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to investigate the relationship between type of welfare regimes and military expenditures. There is a sizeable empirical literature on the development of the welfare state and on the typology of the welfare regimes. There appear to be, however, no empirical studies that examine welfare regimes with special attention to military spending. This study aims at providing a comprehensive analysis on the topic by considering several different welfare regime typologies. To do so, we use dynamic panel data analysis for 37 countries for the period of 1988-2003 by considering a wide range of control variables such as type of political regimes, inequality measures, number of terrorist events, and size of the armed forces. Our findings, in line with the literature, show that there is a positive relationship between income inequality and share of military expenditures in the central government budget, and that the number of terrorist events is a significant factor that affects both the level of military expenditure and inequality. Also, the paper reveals a significant negative relationship between social democratic welfare regimes and military expenditures.

Suggested Citation

  • Unal Tongur & Adem Yavuz Elveren, 2012. "Military Expenditures, Inequality, and Welfare and Political Regimes: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," ERC Working Papers 1210, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Dec 2012.
    • Handle: RePEc:met:wpaper:1210
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Arshian Sharif & Sahar Afshan, 2018. "Does Military Spending Impede Income Inequality? A Comparative Study of Pakistan and India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 19(2), pages 257-279, April.
    2. Antonella Biscione & Raul Caruso, 2021. "Military Expenditures and Income Inequality Evidence from a Panel of Transition Countries (1990-2015)," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 46-67, January.
    3. Unal Tongur & Sara Hsu & Adem Yavuz Elveren, 2013. "Military Expenditures and Political Regimes: An Analysis Using Global Data, 1963-2001," ERC Working Papers 1307, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Jul 2013.
    4. Natalia Utrero-González & Jana Hromcová & Francisco J. Callado-Muñoz, 2019. "Defence Spending, Institutional Environment and Economic Growth: Case of NATO," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(5), pages 525-548, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Military spending; welfare regimes; political regimes; income inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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