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A study on the military alliance of South Korea–United States with the existence of threat from North Korea: a public good demand approach

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Abstract

The military alliance between South Korea and the USA is examined in the context of the North Korean threat. The findings are as follows: First, South Korea is more sensitive to the North Korean threat than the USA. Second, defense goods are affected more by national income and own price than by the North Korean threat. Third, the spill-in elasticity of demand for defense goods in South Korea is increasing in absolute value. The policy implications are that South Korea needs to strengthen the military alliance with the USA and to put emphasis on national income growth in defense budget planning.

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Correspondence to Young-Wan Goo.

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We would like to thank two anonymous referees for their helpful comments. This research was supported by Korea National Defense University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.

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Goo, YW., Kim, SN. A study on the military alliance of South Korea–United States with the existence of threat from North Korea: a public good demand approach. Empir Econ 36, 597–610 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-008-0213-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-008-0213-2

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