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Status or Security: The Case of the Middle East and North Africa Region

Author

Listed:
  • Douch Mohamed

    (Politics and Economics Department, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada)

  • Solomon Binyam

    (Carleton University, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Ottawa, Canada)

Abstract

This paper takes advantage of the new extended military expenditures dataset from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) to estimate demand for military expenditures model for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The extended dataset affords us to adopt robust dynamic panel estimation techniques along with a set of threat and strategic interaction proxies. Our analysis indicates that status seeking (“peer pressure”) explains the bulk of the demand for military spending in the region. We also note a significant trade-off between military and social spending, somewhat mitigating the arms race implied by status. “Resource Curse” is not a significant determinant of military spending in the region especially when applying a robust dynamic specification. We find negative and weak response to local and regional threats suggesting the need for more sophistication in the design of threat proxies.

Suggested Citation

  • Douch Mohamed & Solomon Binyam, 2018. "Status or Security: The Case of the Middle East and North Africa Region," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 24(3), pages 1-12, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:pepspp:v:24:y:2018:i:3:p:12:n:2
    DOI: 10.1515/peps-2017-0047
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    threat; nuclear arsenal; demand for military expenditure; economic determinants; Middle East North Africa; dynamic panel data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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