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The aim of this article is to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research on the determinants of military expenditure. Using data from an initial screening of 179 studies, 15 studies were selected for meta-analysis, contributing 20,023 observations to analyze key variables influencing defense budget allocations. By employing a random-effects meta-analysis, this study synthesizes findings across diverse geopolitical and economic contexts, addressing inconsistencies in prior research and enhancing the reliability of conclusions. Our findings indicate that war, current military expenditure, and the presence of external threats (enemies) are significant drivers of military spending, while national conditions show a significant negative correlation with military expenditure. Other variables, including GDP, population, democracy, trade, FDI, arms exports, alliances, threats, and political regime type, do not show strong correlations. By combining data from multiple studies, this methodological approach not only generalizes results and improves the precision of effect estimates but also identifies gaps to guide future defense economics research. This research provides policymakers with a broader understanding of the factors shaping defense budgets, offering insights into how traditional budgeting methods might be complemented by a data-driven approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue that increasing inequality should have an impact on public opinion which balances the impact of military spending in the United States. Using the so‐called "guns versus butter trade‐off" argument, I show that, as inequality increases between those at a lower income level and those at the upper end of income, the public may view social spending as too small and military spending as too large. In response, the public should act less favorably to expenditure on the military. An empirical test of the effect of inequality on public support (since the 1980s) of military spending, in which I employ public opinion data, confirms my expectations: widening inequality engenders a negative impact on public support for defense expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes defense burden sharing and defense cooperation in the European Union. The efforts to build a common defense framework within the EU have significantly increased since the 2000s. However, figures seem to highlight a reversal in defense cooperation trends that may potentially jeopardize the EU common defense framework. The underlying cause can be attributed to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014. In 2022, the recrudescence of war caused a disruption to which member states answered with an old-fashioned receipt, composed of higher military expenditure driven by increasing commitment in military equipment procurement, accompanied by decreasing defense cooperation. Data related to the participation in Permanent Structured Cooperation defense joint programs seem to empirically confirm this new trend, as well as the impact the conflict has had on defense burden sharing. Fragmentation thus appears to be growing and undoing the progress made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 10 years, military expenditures of NATO EU countries (according to NATO definitions and data) have increased by almost 50 %, from €145 billion in 2014 to €215 billion in 2023. In this context, it is important to assess the economic consequences that the current increase in military spending is likely to have on Europe's economies. We focus on Germany, Italy and Spain, and we concentrate on arms acquisitions. The article investigates the economic effect of military expenditure on growth and employment and compares it to the impact that could emerge from a similar expenditure for education, health and the environment. We use an input–output methodology – already adopted by several studies – to assess the relevance of imports and of demand towards different sectors providing intermediate inputs. We assess the likely impact on output and jobs of one billion euros of extra spending in arms, and compare it to the outcomes of the same amount spent in education, health and the environment. Our findings show that for all countries non-military public expenditures have a greater impact on the economy and employment than spending for arms acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the asymmetric effect of military expenditure on economic growth in Nigeria. Furthermore, it determines the threshold level of military expenditure that spurs or hinders economic growth in Nigeria. To achieve the study's objectives, the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) and dynamic threshold autoregressive (TAR) techniques are applied as estimation techniques to data from 1981 to 2020. The findings from the study show that (1) positive shocks in military expenditure negatively impact economic growth in the short run, while the effect turns positive in the long run. (2) Negative military expenditure shocks negatively influenced economic growth in Nigeria in both periods. (3) The result from the threshold regression found a threshold value of 0.579 for military expenditure. Based on these findings, policymakers must consider the inherent tendency of asymmetry and nonlinearity in military expenditure when formulating policies related to government spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents evidence on the relationship concerning military spending among Southeast Mediterranean countries (Greece – Turkey, Israel – Egypt, Israel – Turkey) over the period 1962–2020. We account for the presence of nonlinearities in the bilateral relationships of defence spending by applying Threshold Autoregressive methodologies and utilize kink regression analysis to detect the existence of a country's military spending threshold that signals a threat to another country of the region. Our empirical results show: First, there is a nonlinear strategic interaction between the countries examined, in the sense that their defence spending policy is cointegrated. Second, there is no arms race among the countries examined, but only unilateral effects. Third, there is consistent evidence of a possible military spending equilibrium, in the absence of friction between the countries involved (peace threshold). Our findings have important policy implications as they indicate, first, that each country in the region should not determine its level of military spending considering only operational factors, but also considering the signaling of its military spending on its neighboring countries and, second, that there is space for peaceful solutions regarding disputes in the Southeast Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important part of NATO's deterrence and defence role is its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance's territory, represented by the Bucharest Nine (B9). The ability of this group to fulfil its strategic mission depends on the condition of the military equipment at its disposal. The number of pieces of military equipment and their combat capability are determined by the investment in military equipment. In the context of the pledge to spend at least 20 % of total defence expenditure on military equipment, it appears that between 2004 and 2022 there is a steep increase of defence investment gap, followed by a partial absorption of the investment gap after 2014. The investment gap is reflected in the volume and condition of military equipment. Rising spending in recent years is positively reflected in the increasing volume of acquisitions for new military equipment in all B9 countries. However, due to the delay, these investments are and will only be reflected in defence capabilities in the future.

This study investigates the relationship between political stability, military expenditure, and economic growth in Tanzania, from 2002 to 2022. The study uses the ARDL model due to its ability to handle variables with different orders of integration, its flexibility in capturing dynamic relationships, and its robustness in providing insights into both short-term and long-term interactions among variables. The ARDL bounds test has revealed the existence of cointegration, suggesting the presence of long-run relationships among variables. Moreover, the empirical results show that past GDP is positively related to current economic growth, while the effect of voice and accountability on economic growth remains statistically insignificant. Further, the effects of regulatory quality and the rule of law on economic growth exhibit mixed effects. Also, the individual effects of political stability and military expenditure on the economy remain positive and statistically significant. However, the interaction of political stability and military spending is negatively related with the current economic growth but positively correlated with economic growth in the long run. These findings underscore the imperative of political stability and strategic military expenditure as critical ingredients in generating sustainable economic growth in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the causes underlying the decline in the government expenditure multiplier after the Korean War, through the lens of a structural dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. We estimate the model using Bayesian methods and annual frequency data from 1939 to 2017. The model replicates the observed fall in the expenditure multiplier. We find that the decline is accounted for by changes in two of the model's structural parameters, namely a decline in consumption habit persistence and a higher autocorrelation of the public expenditure processes. These changes imply a stronger negative wealth effect, a lower discretion of US fiscal policy and, consequently, a multiplier of smaller magnitude. The model identifies the news shocks to military spending, yet fiscal news plays little role in the decline of the multiplier. Rather, the news shocks account for an important fraction of medium-term variances of debt and military expenditures, which justifies their inclusion in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this investigation was to empirically assess the association between military expenditure and income inequality in the 19 European member states of NATO between 2011 and 2022. To achieve this, the authors carried out multivariate statistical analysis using Kaplan-Meier life tables and survival estimation techniques. The results highlighted a trend in the countries analysed that income inequality tended to decrease when investment in the military increased during the period under consideration. The association manifested itself in the shortest time in the group of countries with the lowest military spending per capita, while emerging in the longer term in the countries with the highest. Furthermore, under high threat of war, the association tends to be shortest in relative terms in countries with the lowest military expenditure per capita. The results also revealed that the association between military spending and income inequality is more pronounced in the smallest countries by population and those with the lowest military expenditure per capita. The authors believe that this investigation will enrich scientific knowledge with new insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unquestionably, all countries prioritize maintaining peace and fostering long-term sustainable economic growth. For this purpose, this study assessed the impact of military expenditure on economic growth using a multivariate regression model based on the enhanced production function in the presence of energy consumption. The study clustered 48 Islamic countries into their income levels over the period from 1990 to 2018, and using the dynamic common corrected effects in determining the elasticities of the explanatory variables. The empirical results revealed a negative effect of military expenditure on economic growth and the elasticity of military expenditure to economic growth was lowest in upper-middle-income countries than in the other three groups. In the main panel a 1% increase in military expenditure led to a 0.101% decrease in economic growth. The results of the paired Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test revealed a bidirectional causal affiliation between economic growth and military expenditure. In addition, the empirical findings revealed that the levels of military expenditure, as a component of total government expenditure, are too high in the employed economies and need to be transferred toward more productive non-military expenditure in order to improve the economic growth performance and other growth determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper study the effects of Thailand's 2014 military coup on Thailand's economy using the control method to create synthetic Thailand, which represents hypothetical Thailand had the 2014 coup not occurred. The empirical findings reveal no statistically significant effects on key economic variables such as gross domestic product, unemployment, military expenditure, and income inequality. Contrary to previous research, military expenditures did not increase following the coup. Supporters of the coup may interpret these results as evidence that the coup had no negative effects on the economy. At the same time, critics may argue that the coup did not lead to improved economic outcomes compared with the politically unstable precoup period, thus perpetuating a state of national stagnation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between government defence expenditure and economic growth is a debated topic. This study uses UK data for the period of 1960–2012 and applies two of the most prevailing theories used within the literature, the 'Feder-Ram' and the 'augmented Solow' models, to assess this question. We utilise traditional model specifications, alongside extensively altered versions of both models, enabling a comprehensive comparison between them. The alterations to the models include re-evaluating how core variables are expressed, inclusion of measures of conflict, the impact of recession, etc. The results show that the augmented Solow model outperforms the Feder-Ram model, and we provide some explanations for this result. In addition, our results suggest that military expenditure has a positive effect on economic growth within the UK, implying that the decision to reduce defence spending may have been detrimental to the UK economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Free riding in arms exports refers to the phenomenon wherein arms-exporting countries can reduce their military spending by exporting arms and military equipment to their allies. This allows them to benefit from the positive security effects created by these countries. The main objective of this article is to analyze the occurrence of free riding in arms exports among NATO countries, which is considered the largest military treaty in the world, during the period from 1995 to 2018.Methodology: The research method used is descriptive and analytical. The description part utilizes the Document method, while the analysis part relies on econometric concepts. In order to achieve the research purpose, the impact of arms exports between NATO member countries on their military expenditure, along with other influential factors, has been modeled using static panel and dynamic panel models.Findings: Empirical results using fixed effects (FE) and generalized method of moments (GMM) estimators show that arms exports from NATO member countries to other member countries of this treaty had a significant negative effect on military expenditure. Other results also indicate that other factors affecting the military expenditures of NATO countries are significant and have the expected sign, which confirms the robustness of the results.Originality: it can be said that exporting weapons to allied military countries not only generates foreign exchange earnings but also reduces military expenditure. This reduction allows for the reallocation of these costs to other sectors that stimulate economic growth through the creation of positive security externalities effects.

Why is it that some governments ending a civil war in a negotiated settlement succeed in reducing military spending while others fail? Civil wars ending in peace agreements result in relatively low military expenditures; however, not all governments succeed in the reduction. I argue that implementing a third-party verification mechanism of peace accords helps reduce military spending in post-conflict societies because the verification mechanism facilitates the peace accord implementation by enabling reciprocal implementation and by increasing the cost of noncompliance through active information flow. Implementation of peace agreements reduces threats posed by both former and outside rebel groups. This makes the government decrease the military expenditure allocated to appease internal security threats. I tested this argument using 32 civil wars with a comprehensive peace agreement between 1992 and 2011. The results indicate that initiating a verification mechanism leads to lower military spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the rising wave of terrorism in Africa, particularly in the last decade, this study investigated the effect of terrorism on economic complexity in the region as well as the moderating role of military expenditure in the terrorism–economic complexity relationship. A panel of 34 African economies was used over the period 2010–2021. The study also used the dynamic system generalized method of moments framework. We find that the unconditional effect of terrorism on economic complexity in Africa is predominantly negative and significant, and that military expenditure in the region has been ineffective in moderating this adverse effect. This finding remained robust regardless of whether terrorism is measured by the number of terrorism incidents, fatalities, injuries, or hostages. However, our results showed that industrialization, urbanization, and governance institutional quality are potent channels for promoting economic complexity in Africa. Among others, the study emphasized the need for policymakers and leaders in Africa to collaborate at the level of the African Union to address the detrimental effects of terrorism on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assesses the importance of military expenditure in moderating the role of insecurity dynamics on tourist arrivals or international tourism in 163 countries. It is framed to assess how the future of international tourism can be improved when military expenditure is used as a tool to mitigate perceived and real security risks that potentially reduce international tourists' arrivals. The empirical evidence is based on Negative binomial regressions. The following main findings are established. Military expenditure significantly moderates violent crimes and perception of criminality to induce a favorable net impact on international tourist arrivals. The corresponding net effect is insignificant and negative for insecurity dynamics of "access to weapons" and "political instability", respectively. An extended analysis is performed to assess thresholds at which political instability can be moderated for the desired net effect. This threshold is the critical mass at which the unconditional negative impact from political instability is neutralized with military expenditure. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has been carried out to identify the relationship between military expenditures (MILEX), energy consumption (FOSSIL), financial development (FD) and environmental pollution (CAFP) for G7 countries. Panel data analysis was conducted using annual data for the 1971–2019 period. The results revealed that military expenditures, financial development and energy consumption are long-term determinants of environmental pollution. The study also found that FD had the greatest long-term impact on CAFP followed by FOSSIL and MILEX in that order, and that this impact was statistically significant and positive for FOSSIL and FD and negative for MILEX. A country-by-country evaluation showed that the country in which financial development and energy consumption have the greatest impact on the amount of carbon released into the environment is the USA, while the country in which the impact of military expenditures on the amount of carbon released into the environment is greatest in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries with different democratic levels tend to show various degrees of emphasis on military expenditure and a consensus can hardly be reached on the economic effect of democracy and military expenditure. By applying a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) approach, this article examines the potential dynamic and endogenous relationships among democracy, military expenditure and economic growth of 126 countries from 1990 to 2020. Furthermore, the k-means clustering algorithm is employed to account for the heterogeneous interaction between democracy and military expenditure in different countries. The empirical results reveal that the strong positive impact of democracy and the negative effect of military spending on economic growth exists in the full sample and the cluster of countries with low democratic levels and a high military burden. For democratic countries with low military expenditure, there is a more significant and negative impact both of military expenditure on democracy and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of armed conflicts on the fiscal capacity of African governments. It made use of a data set covering 1997–2021 for 50 countries, as well as the system dynamic generalized method of moment estimation technique. The results show that, in the short run, conflicts undermine tax revenue, mount pressure on military expenditure, and force governments to rely more on mineral resource rents for their fiscal needs. As conflicts persist, this fiscal feature changes to a pattern that reflects a decline in mineral resource earnings and an increase in tax revenue. The impact on public health expenditure also changes from an increasing to a decreasing pattern, whereas the positive impact on military expenditure and external borrowing persists over time. The findings suggest that African countries in conflict can address their fiscal challenges by observing these patterns and putting in place policies that protect public resources (e.g., the adoption of digital financial technology protocols to facilitate remote revenue collection and strategic protection of mineral resource‐endowed zones from insurgents' control). Overall, enhancing government effectiveness and strengthening the institutions of governance is important to facilitate a quick return to normalcy in the event of conflict and to prevent future conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is concerned with the relationship between military expenditure and unemployment. The purpose of the paper is to discover the relationship between military expenditure and the unemployment rate using NATO economies as examples and to analyse possible stabilizing effects of military expenditure by means of the ARDL model. The empirical results reveal a negative correlation between military expenditure and the unemployment rate indicating possible important influence of the armed forces as an employer on the labour market in Albania, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania. However, the model results do not confirm that military expenditure could have a stabilizing effect on the state economic policy across NATO member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a theoretical model of conflict between two parties in a two-sector economy. In a 'contested' sector, they struggle to appropriate the maximum possible fraction of a contestable output. In an 'uncontested' sector, they hold secure property rights over the production of some goods. Parties split their resource endowment between 'butter' and 'guns' (in the contested sector) and 'ice cream' (in the uncontested sector). The model predicts that the optimal level of 'guns' depends positively on the price of 'butter' and negatively on the price of 'ice cream'. Theoretical results are tested by means of a panel analysis of sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1980–2017. The results show that international prices of manufactures (interpreted as the uncontested ice cream sector) are negatively associated with arms imports and military expenditure, so confirming the theoretical prediction. In addition, world prices of some commodities are positively associated with arms imports and military expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across African countries, terrorism has become a major challenge to socioeconomic development. While there are studies that have examined the influence of terrorism on economic growth, this study adds to the existing literature by investigating the role of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and economic growth in Africa. The study utilised a dataset comprising 24 African countries for which terrorism activities have increased substantially in the last decades. Utilising an instrumental variable Fixed Effects model with standard errors that account for cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation and group-wise heteroskedasticity, the study revealed that, (1) terrorism has a detrimental effect on economic growth in the selected African countries, (2) the interactive effect of military expenditure and terrorism on economic growth is significantly positive, (3) the net effect of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and economic growth is positive when the number of terrorism incidents act as a proxy for terrorism but negative when the number of terrorism fatalities acts as a proxy for terrorism. However, this negative effect is substantially lower when compared to the unconditional effect of terrorism on economic growth in Africa. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the fiscal policy strategies used by the government to strengthen the economy and national security is military expenditure. There are many inconsistencies in the results of research examining the influence of military expenditure on economic growth, and it is still rare to find research that validates the influence of military expenditure on the exchange rate. Through time series data in Indonesia during the 1999-2021 period, this research validates the relationship between these three variables using Two-stage Least Square (2SLS) Regression Analysis. The estimation results using econometric models provide empirical evidence of the strength of military expenditure in influencing economic growth and the exchange rate, although the level of influence on economic growth is much higher than the exchange rate. It is recommended that further research carry out a Granger causality test and a Johansen cointegration test to determine the term of the causal relationship between the three variables studied.

Terrorism has become an alarming issue in Africa due to its potential negative impact on the economy. The escalation of terrorist activities in the region has the capacity to discourage tourists from visiting Africa. This has led to the government increasing military expenditure for counterterrorism with the objective of combating the adverse effects of terrorism on the tourism industry and other sectors of the economy. The purpose of this research is to explore the effectiveness of military spending in offsetting the negative impact of terrorism on tourism in Africa. The study utilized data from 24 African countries between 2001 and 2018 and employed Prais-Winsten regression and Driscoll and Kraay-type Fixed Effects models. Both estimation strategies account for cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation, and heteroskedasticity. The Fixed effect model also accounts for unobserved heterogeneity, which can cause estimation bias when not accounted for. The study also utilizes the first lag of the explanatory variables as instruments for the endogenous variables in the Fixed Effects model to cushion the effect of simultaneity or reverse causality in the modeling. The findings show that both the number of terrorist incidents and the number of terrorist fatalities have negative effects on the number of tourist arrivals into Africa in the absence of military expenditure and when unobservable heterogeneity is considered. Further findings reveal that military expenditure is effective in offsetting the negative impact of the fatalities that arise from terrorism on the number of tourist arrivals in Africa, as revealed by both the interactive and net effects. Additionally, the analysis is expanded using disaggregated tourist data, and the results show that European tourists are more responsive to the use of military expenditure in offsetting the negative impact of terrorism than tourists from America, East Asia, and the Pacific. The policy implication of this study is that African countries must increase military expenditure if they are to effectively offset the negative effect of terrorism on the tourism industry. However, it is also crucial that essential expenditures on education and health are not foregone due to their long run influence on economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although possible asymmetries for univariate and multivariate dynamics have been the focus of interest in many areas of economic explorations, it seems that most of the research on military expenditure - economic growth nexus has tended to assume linear relationships. This paper aims to examine possible nonlinearities in military expenditure-economic growth nexus employing data for a sample of 103 countries covering the 1988-2019 period. For this purpose, Panel Smooth Transition Regression, PSTR, models are estimated not only for all countries' sample but also for low income, middle income, and high-income countries' subsamples to reveal possible distinct asymmetric relationships for country groups with different income levels. Empirical results for the whole sample, low income and middle income groups indicate that military expenditure not only governs the regime change, but also low and high levels of military expenditure have distinctive and rising negative effects on economic growth with dissimilar threshold effects. Moreover, empirical findings also indicate that net arms exports govern regime change for high income countries, and as net arms exports rise, the negative impacts of military expenditure on economic growth become deeper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of military expenditure, final consumption expenditure, gross national expenditure, net income, broad money, and total reserves on Pakistan's economic growth. The nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) and robust regressions methods are used to examine the relationship among variables. The outcomes revealed that total reserves positively impacted the economic growth during positive and negative short- and long-run shocks. Final consumption expenditure and gross national expenditure negatively influenced the economic growth. Similarly, military expenditure and net income positively and negatively impacted the economic growth, while broad money has adverse and positive relation to economic growth. The results of the robust least squares and stepwise least squares approaches showed that all variables except military expenditure and reserves have positive impact on economic development. This study suggests that government should carefully monitor defence-related investment to maintain economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to identify the dependence of military expenditures and selected economic determinants on the example of the V4 countries in the years 1999-2020. The following are selected as economic determinants: the size of the gross domestic product, the rate of inflation, the debt and deficit of the government sector and unemployment. Correlation analysis proved the expected relationship between the gross domestic product and the military expenditure of Hungary and especially Poland. The relationship between military spending and unemployment was confirmed for Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, the expected relationship between military spending and government debt for the Czech Republic. The linear regression model confirmed the positive effect of the gross domestic product on military expenditure in the case of Poland, the effect of the increase in military expenditure due to rising inflation in Hungary and the negative effect of increasing state indebtedness in the case of the Czech Republic. At the same time, the results did not confirm the uniformity of the factors affecting the size of the military factors in the analyzed V4 countries.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of military expenditure on unemployment in Bangladesh, examining the cointegration among unemployment, military expenditure, and foreign direct investment. It also sheds light on the short and longrun dynamics of the variables under consideration. The study employs the ARDL bounds testing approach to investigate the cointegration among the variables using time series annual data from the period of 1990-2018. The dependant variable is unemployment and military expenditure and FDI are the independent variables. Thisresearch found a long run relationship among the variables. An increase in military expenditure significantly reduces unemployment in the short run, however, no significant long-run relationship is found. The higher FDI, the higher unemployment in the long run. This study contributes to fill the research gap regarding theimpact of military expenditure and FDI on unemployment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship among unemployment, military expenditure and FDI in Bangladesh using ARDL bounds testing approach with time series annual data.

[Display omitted] • Macroeconomic determinants of ecological footprint in top nuclear energy nations. • Nuclear energy, military expenditure and human capital help to reduce the environmental decay. • The N shaped EKC hypothesis is valid for the top nuclear energy nations. Regardless of the ongoing debate, the shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis plays a critical role in determining the dynamic relationship between environmental sustainability and economic activities across different nations of the world. It is widely accepted that with cleaner fuel options (i.e., nuclear and renewables), economic amelioration will have the least negative environmental externalities. Banking on this matter, it is anticipated that the top nuclear energy-producing nations might have obtained environmental sustainability amid the eye-catching incessant economic amelioration. In other words, we expect that there exists an inverted U-shaped EKC among these nuclear energy-rich nations. However, the hypothesis that an N-shaped EKC does not exist among these nations is yet to be scrutinized. To address this research gap, we have deployed annual time-series data from 1990 to 2018 and adopted the novel Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Approach. The results unearth that the N-shaped EKC hypothesis is valid in the case of the top nuclear energy-producing nations, revealing that the energy sector that is fueling the economic growth among these nations is still highly dependent on fossil-based sources. We also noted that nuclear energy generation ameliorates environmental quality among the designated countries. Additionally, the empirical results further delineate that military spending and human capital are negatively associated with ecological footprint among the selected nations, revealing that national security and education can help reshape, rebound and restore the biocapacity surplus among the designated countries. We propose that the chosen nations develop a more biased energy mix structure with more nuclear and renewable energy sources in the basket to keep the growth process untapped. By doing this, the N-shaped EKC can be avoided. Further policy insights have been made in the relevant section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the impact of military expenditure on external debt in Armenia using time series for 1994-2020. The purpose of this study was to verify the initial hypothesis that the main factor in the rise of Armenia's external debt is the increase in military spending directed at paying for the import of military products. The study was conducted using Johansen's cointegration and Granger's causality tests. The results of Johansen's cointegration test showed that there are long-term interdependencies between military expenditure and external debt, as well as between trade balance and external debt; meanwhile the long-term interdependence between non-military expenditures and external debt was not found. The results of Granger's causality test showed that the military expenditure caused an increase in external debt with a two-year time lag, and a similar causal relationship was also found between the current account balance and external debt. But more remarkable is the fact that the current account balance also caused a change in military expenditure, while the reverse causality has not been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used secondary data from World Development Indicators to examine the implication of the Russia-Ukraine war on Trade relations and Foreign Direct Investment flows into other parts of the world. Data from 85 countries between 2012 and 2021 were analyzed using the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique. Findings revealed that the coefficients of export goods, international trade represented by external trade, food exports and fuel exports had positive and significant results from both panels and all the sub-regions, except for Europe, which revealed a mixed result. Conversely, results from food imports, military expenditure, fuel imports and fossil energy consumption revealed negative but significant results, except food imports in Europe showed an insignificant result. Conclusively, the findings of this study revealed that the current war has increased military expenditure, which has caused a significant setback to FDI and trade relations. This has undermined both bilateral and multilateral trade relations and cut off supply chains, markets, and value chains that have long existed before the crisis amongst countries across the globe. Therefore, world leaders should do everything possible to restore peace between these two countries because it will do the world better than their selfish desires. In addition, if the war degenerates more than this, it would not only be injurious to the global market, trade routes, economy and FDI but can lead the world to another world war. Conclusively, this study will help world countries, governments, leaders, policymakers, investors, and companies in various decision-making endeavors, including war-related decisions. World leaders with management crisis skills who can unite nations should help mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to restore peace. However, further studies are still required on this ongoing war for scholarly guidance as there are still limited empirical studies in the world literature regarding this crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role and threshold level of institutional quality in the nexus between military expenditure and economic growth for a panel of 31 African nations. The results reveal that military expenditure negatively influences growth, while institutional quality positively affects growth. The interactive term of institutional quality and military expenditure significantly positively influence economic growth. However, the threshold level of institutional quality for military expenditure to translate into economic growth in the region is found to be 4.61 on an ordinary scale of 0–10, although most countries operate below the threshold point of institutional quality. The study concludes that strong institutional quality serves as important absorptive capacity for military expenditure to drive economic growth in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and investment in twenty-four African countries for the period 2001 to 2018. The study utilizes fixed effects regression with Driscoll and Kraay standard error and cushions the effect of simultaneity and reverse causality using the lags of the regressors as instruments. The empirical results reveal the negative effect of terrorism on both domestic investment and foreign direct investment (FDI). The study further reveals a negative net effect of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and investment. Furthermore, it was discovered that a threshold of 2% to 5% of military expenditure in GDP is required for military expenditure to offset the negative effect of terrorism on FDI. The study recommends that counter-terrorism initiatives be tailored more towards inclusive growth policies, increasing access to education, and improving the quality of governance.

This study examines the economic impact of terrorism in South Asia. The region is currently home to 123 active terrorist/insurgent groups and is accountable for over 27 % of recorded global terrorist attacks. The annual data from the six most-terror-affected South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) during the US-led war on terror (2001 - 2022) is used. For econometric estimation, the five models: fixed-effect, generalized least squares (GLS), generalized estimating equation (GEE), quantile regression (QR), and panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) are applied. Terror-related death (a proxy for human capital loss) and per capita income (a proxy for purchasing power) are considered to measure terrorism and its economic impact. In addition, four economic indicators (military expenditure, population, official development assistance (ODA), and USAID) and three institutional indicators (electoral democracy index, political violence index, and mobilization for autocracy index) are taken into account as control variables. The result suggests that every additional 886 terror-related human capital loss across the region significantly reduces the purchasing power of each South Asian person by at least 9.800 US dollars. Moreover, among the control variables, military expenditure, political violence, and mobilization for autocracy negatively affect per capita income, while electoral democracy, population, ODA, and USAID positively impact it. This study will also help understand the implications of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda and achieving specific targets such as SDG 8 (promoting economic growth) and SDG 16 (promoting just, peaceful, and inclusive societies) based on the most terror-affected region. • A one percent increase in terrorism (886 terror-related deaths, on average) across South Asian countries during the US-led war on terror (2001-2022) significantly reduces per capita income by at least $9.800. • Military expenditure, political violence, and mobilization for autocracy are negatively associated with per capita income in South Asian countries. • Electoral democracy, population, Official Development Aid (ODA), and USAID are positively associated with per capita income in South Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research endeavors to demonstrate how military spending contributes to increased peace, protection, security, and the safety of a nation's population. War, however, reveals dishonesty in peacetime with terrible clarity. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, accompanied by a rise in defense budgets, could offer impetus for reorganizing collaborative defense programs. The risks to Europe must be identified and articulated in order to justify increased defense spending. In retrospect, the conventional danger posed by Russia appears less formidable than previously believed, but the job of restoring depleted capabilities is tremendous. Thus, the European defense policy affords chances to spend more and more effectively - these must be properly reevaluated. The policy has garnered tremendous public interest but has yielded minimal results. It has been robust in terms of rhetoric, but weak in terms of actual military and resource commitments. This essay provides a critical economic analysis of European defense policy. It identifies the policy issue, the economics of the issue, future opportunities, and obstacles to obtaining more and improved spending. The objective is to demonstrate how economic analysis may be applied to the intricacies of European defense policy. Economic efficiency criteria indicate the role of end outputs, substitution, and competition to the design of European defense policy, although military-political considerations are more likely to affect the ultimate outcomes than economic efficiency criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have investigated the relationship between political instability and economic growth separately from the relationship between military expenditure and economic growth. Besides, they did not cover the period after 2011 (i.e. the Arab Spring and its consequences). Therefore, this paper attempts to empirically analyze the long-run and short-run impacts of both political instability and military expenditure on economic growth in Egypt. We estimate the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach using data on the Egyptian economy over the period 1982–2018. For the robustness of our results, we use the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimator. Results of the ARDL approach indicate a significant negative relationship between political instability and economic growth in both the long-run and short-run. Contrarily, military expenditure has an insignificant impact on economic growth, especially in the long-run. These results are confirmed by the FMOLS estimator. Moreover, the estimated coefficient on the one-period lagged error correction term (ECTt-1) indicates that deviations from the long-run equilibrium relationship are corrected within a year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to attain lower carbon dioxide emissions has become a topical issue in recent times. The effect of a number of economic variables on carbon dioxide emissions has been empirically assessed. Rising government expenditure, industrialization, and militarization have characterized many developing countries including Ghana. While it is undeniable that such situation has socio-economic importance to offer developing countries, their environmental effects have become a matter of debate among researchers. This study assesses the carbon dioxide emissions effect of industrialization, government expenditure, and militarization in Ghana. Based on the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) framework, the study models Ghana's carbon emission as a function of income, population, industrialization, government expenditure, and military expenditure. Time series data over the 1971–2018 period was used for investigation. The techniques employed to analyze the data were unit root test, cointegration test, and regression analysis. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) regression approach reveals there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and carbon emission confirming the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Also in the long run, carbon emissions are positively influenced by population, industrialization, and militarization but reduced by government expenditure. Similar outcome was obtained in the short run. The paper concludes that the level of income, industrialization, militarization, and population matters to deal with carbon dioxide emissions in Ghana. Policy implications of the findings include the urgent need for authorities to promote the use of eco-friendly production methods for military and industrial activities to sustain the economic growth without harming the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the demand for military expenditure in eighteen selected Indo-Pacific countries for the years 1993–2018. As the dominant powers, the U.S. and China characterize the geopolitical structure of the Indo-Pacific region. Sino-U.S. relations are newly quantified by measuring the number of cooperative and conflict events between China and the United States based on the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT). After incorporating Sino-U.S. relation variables into neoclassical demand models, the panel data estimating results reveal that the increasing number of confrontations from the United States toward China has lead to increases in non-U.S. allies' military expenditure while the rise in China confronting the United States has not. U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region have tended to increase military expenditure when the United States increases its pressure on China. The empirical results provide evidence that Sino-U.S. relations affect the level of military expenditure in the Indo-Pacific Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist scholars have long argued that militarism and patriarchy are linked. To date, however, the relationship between militarization and gender inequality has not been empirically tested. Using the Gender Inequality Index and the Global Militarization Index for the period of 1990–2017 for 133 countries, we put the spotlight on militarization to show how it reflects and contributes to gender inequality (in terms of health, education, political representation, and labor force participation). Our article shows that higher militarization is significantly correlated with higher gender inequality, controlling for major variables such as the military in politics, the proportion of parliamentary seats held by women, conflict, democracy level, and regime type. Among other results, we find that higher representation of women in parliament correlates with less military spending. The results are significant in the case of Muslim majority countries and MENA countries, and with respect to countries with different income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we analyze the long-run relationship between openness and military expenditure in Turkey by employing an annual data set running from 1960 to 2018 and ARDL estimation technique. We conducted our analyses by using two different measures of military expenditure to check the validity and robustness of the findings. Co-integration test results show that openness and military expenditure are co-integrated; thus, they move together in the long-run in Turkey. Long-run coefficient estimation results disclose that openness has statistically significant positive effect on military expenditure. In other words, one percent increase in openness cause to a jump in military expenditure by 1.55% and 1.18% for ARDL (1,1) and ARDL (2,1) models respectively in Turkey. On the other hand, openness has a negative influence on military expenditure in the short-run. Meanwhile diagnostic test results indicate that our models do not contain autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity, model misspecification, and parameter instability problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to reveal the short-run and long-run relationship between population and military expenditure in Turkey by employing an annual dataset covering the periods of 1960-2018 and ARDL estimation technique. Robustness of the results was checked by employing two different indicators of military expenditure. According to co-integration test results, population and military expenditure move together in the long-run. Long-run coefficient estimation findings identified a positive statistically significant association between population and military expenditure. More specifically, if population in Turkey jumps by 1% then military expenditure increases by either 3.99% or 1.91%. Also diagnostic test results show that estimated models do not contain autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity, model specification error, and parameter instability problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]