Intelligence and defense spending: a cross-country evidence

Salahodjaev, Raufhon (2016): Intelligence and defense spending: a cross-country evidence.

Abstract

This paper investigates the association between intelligence and military expenditure, across 159 nations during the 1990-2013 period. The econometric results we provide are surprising. On one hand, we fail to confirm that intelligence has monotonic effect on military spending. However, the results also suggest a novel type of intelligence-military spending nexus. In particular, the regression estimates show that there is inverted U-shaped relationship between IQ and military expenditure. From a policy perspective these findings suggest that cognitive development that increases military expenditures is sustainable so long as defense sector has positive spillovers on economic and social well-being.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: military, expenditure, intelligence, cross-country, IQ
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F5 - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy > F52 - National Security ; Economic Nationalism

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