DEMOCRACY AND MILITARY EXPENDITURES: A CROSS-COUNTRY ANALYSIS

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Resumen

This paper analyses the provision of defense by governments. The main concern is to investigate whether political regimes affect military budgets. To do so, we perform a cross-section estimation of a military expenditures equation with data of 159 countries. We find a negative and significant relationship between democracy level and defense expenditures. As long as military activity crowds-out the resources available for non-military consumption, this result reinforces the desirability of democratic institutions.

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2013-08-28

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