Abstract
In 1973 Emile Benoit published a seminal study which suggested that defence spending stimulated economic growth in Third World countries. His conclusion was based on a cross-national analysis of data for 44 developing countries over five years (1960–65). Specifically, Benoit found that after controlling for the effects of investment and bilateral economic assistance, the effect of defence spending (measured as a percentage of GNP) on the growth rate of civilian GNP was positive. Despite the fact that the results from the analysis of a longer time period (1950–65) did not confirm a positive relationship, Benoit concluded that a positive relationship exists. His results, however, have been widely challenged (see Chan, 1985, for a review of Benoit’s critics).
This research was supported by grant no. SES-8911030 from the National Science Foundation.
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© 1994 Manas Chatterji, Henk Jager and Annemarie Rima
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Mintz, A., Stevenson, R.T. (1994). Armament and Development: An Empirical Assessment of the Impact of Military Spending on Economic Growth in Developing Countries. In: Chatterji, M., Jager, H., Rima, A. (eds) The Economics of International Security. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23695-4_23
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