Orthodox economics models defense as a public good provided by a central nation state. This approach abstracts away from the diverse institutions and processes individuals use to provide defense in the actual world. This paper frames defense as a polycentric system whereby dispersed groups of...

In 2018, the total strength of the Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation did not change. Early in February 2018, the President of the Russian Federation increased by 200 persons to 10,740 persons the ultimate staff number of the Central Office of the Ministry of Defense (without the...

This paper models how a nation's military manpower procurement system affects popular support for war and political choices regarding war. When citizens have idiosyncratic benefits from war and costs from serving, I characterize when a volunteer military maximizes support, and when a mixture of...

An arms race exists when a country’s propensity to acquire arms is influenced by a potential adversary’s military spending. When evaluating the impact of economic policies towards the developing world, e.g., foreign assistance programs, it is important to identify if an arms race exist...

Defense spending accounts for a larger share of national output in most countries than many of the other allocative decisions, both public and private, which the majority of economic research aims at explaining. Yet with notable exceptions, most economists have ignored this topic and relegated...

This article analyzes the two-stage problem a country faces in first choosing the optimal amount of arms to acquire and then deciding whether it can improve upon the allocation that emerges after the first stage by engaging in a military conflict. A model is introduced based on the concept of...

This study investigates the causality relationship between defense expenditures and Non Oil economic growth in Saudi Arabia over the period 1970-2012. Using Unit root tests, Johansen’s co-integration test and Granger Causality test. In this paper we found the existence of bi-directional...

This paper deals with the causal relation between military spending and economic growth of a state. There are three schools of thought on this issue: military spending promotes economic growth; it retards economic growth; and there exists no causal relations between the two. Pakistan’s...

This paper deals with Russia’s military policy and with a wide range of issues related to funding the defense program. The accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation in March 2014 was not favored by the global community and resulted in Western economic sanctions against...

This paper brings together studies of civil war consequences and literature on military spending, introducing a novel mechanism for how civil wars adversely affect neighbors – through neighbors’ increased military spending. Military expenditures are important because they often inhibit...