Les dépenses militaires, moteur de la croissance économique japonaise ?. Une analyse cliométrique : 1868-1940

This paper is a study of the nature and importance of possible links between the structural dynamics of military expenditure and that of the socio-economic system in Japan before World War 2. A triple database containing original information drawn from the work of Ohkawa et al., of Taeuber and of Diebolt was used to determine the pattern of the relation of causality, if such exists, between the two systems. Although the results show that all the expenditure had an impact on Japanese economic growth, military expenditure played a more central role at both the economic and social levels and, like expenditure on education, can be considered as one of the driving forces of the economic growth of the country.Classification JEL : C32, H50, N15, O53.