Determinants of Per Capita Military Expenditures in Developing Countries

Manchester Papers on Development, November 1986. ; Refereed Journal Article ; A large descriptive literature of the burden of military expenditures in developing countries has accumulated over the last several years. Understandably, the main thrust of most of this analysis concerns the loss in social welfare associated with increases in military expenditure per capita, i.e., that social expenditures in lieu of military expenditure would have provided more tangible improvements in the quality of life of large groups of individuals in developing countries. Without questioning this view, the analysis below attempts to determine the major factors underlying military expenditure per capita in developing countries.