ARMAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF MILITARY BURDEN IN THE THIRD WORLD, 1965-1977 (DEFENSE SPENDING, ECONOMIC GROWTH)

This dissertation presents an empirical study of interaction between economic growth and military burden in the Third World. The main thrust of analysis is to investigate some political and socio-economic causes and consequences of militarization in developing countries. Two competing arguments have been made about the development-military spending link. The first states that utilization of resources for arms imports and domestic production of weapons is wasteful and detrimental to development potential of less-industrialized countries. The second contends that military spending, like civilian spending, promotes economic development. This study looks at military expenditures and their effects on overall economic growth, growth of civilian sectors, and several other politico-economic factors. The empirical test is presented in the form of multiple regression analysis for sixty Third World states, using cross-national data for 1965-1977 period. The body of the dissertation also contains a brief discussion of indigenous arms production facilities. The findings help explain the absence of convincing evidence against or for high levels of military expenditures of developing countries.