Militarized Conflict, Trade, and Economic Development in a Structural Equation Model With Spatial Considerations

While conflict pervades virtually every aspect of society, there have been relatively few crossovers between Regional Science and Peace Science. This paper pays tribute to Walter Isard, pioneer of peace science research, and Kieran Donaghy, who has contributed to research on arms race dynamics and macroeconomic stability. We review studies that examine the impact of (i) trade on conflict, (ii) the economy on militarized disputes, and (iii) conflict on economic development. The analysis develops a structural equation model (SEM) to test the hypotheses simultaneously using the Correlates of War project data. Consistent with the liberal proposition, we found that the pacifying effect of trade is robust across alternative SEM specifications. Controlling for standard explanatory variables, the SEM estimates reveal that the indirect impact of economic development on conflict mediated by trade is statistically significant at the 0.1-percent level. Trade is, therefore, a critical intervening variable that transforms conflict-inducing economic expansion into a pacifying influence on militarized disputes. The spatial version of the SEM confirms that democracies do not attack each other. While trade does not appear to have a local spillover effect on conflict, proximity to neighboring democracies does lead to fewer conflicts. The final hypothesis argues that conflict affects national economic performance, which Donaghy refuted in his 1995 Conflict Management and Peace Science paper. Consistent with Donaghy’s finding, the estimates reject the claim that conflict disrupts economic stability. The conclusion section discusses the implications for Kieran Donaghy’s larger body of work.