IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v61y2017i5p997-1020.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Borrowing Support for War: The Effect of War Finance on Public Attitudes toward Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Gustavo A. Flores-Macías
  • Sarah E. Kreps

Abstract

How does the way states finance wars affect public support for conflict? Most existing research has focused on costs as casualties rather than financial burdens, and arguments that do speak to the cost in treasure either minimize potential differences between the two main forms of war finance—debt and taxes—or imply that war taxes do not dent support for war among a populace rallying around the fiscal flag. Using original experiments conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom, we evaluate the relationship between war finance and support for war. We find that how states finance wars has an important effect on support for war and that the gap in support resulting from different modes of war finance holds across the main democracies engaging in conflict, regardless of the type of war or individuals’ party identification. The findings have important implications for theories of democratic accountability in wartime and the conduct of conflict, since borrowing shields the public from the direct costs of war and in turn reduces opposition to it, giving leaders greater latitude in how they carry out war.

Suggested Citation

  • Gustavo A. Flores-Macías & Sarah E. Kreps, 2017. "Borrowing Support for War: The Effect of War Finance on Public Attitudes toward Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 61(5), pages 997-1020, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:61:y:2017:i:5:p:997-1020
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002715600762
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002715600762
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002715600762?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ohanian, Lee E, 1997. "The Macroeconomic Effects of War Finance in the United States: World War II and the Korean War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 23-40, March.
    2. Olive Anderson, 1963. "Loans versus Taxes: British Financial Policy in the Crimean War," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 16(2), pages 314-327, December.
    3. Gartner, Scott Sigmund, 2008. "The Multiple Effects of Casualties on Public Support for War: An Experimental Approach," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 102(1), pages 95-106, February.
    4. Bordo, Michael D. & White, Eugene N., 1991. "A Tale of Two Currencies: British and French Finance During the Napoleonic Wars," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(2), pages 303-316, June.
    5. Flores-Macías, Gustavo A. & Kreps, Sarah E., 2013. "Political Parties at War: A Study of American War Finance, 1789–2010," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(4), pages 833-848, November.
    6. Slantchev, Branislav L., 2012. "Borrowed Power: Debt Finance and the Resort to Arms," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(4), pages 787-809, November.
    7. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    8. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521716192, January.
    9. Bilmes, Linda J., 2013. "The Financial Legacy of Iraq and Afghanistan: How Wartime Spending Decisions Will Constrain Future National Security Budgets," Working Paper Series rwp13-006, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    10. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521888158, January.
    11. Berinsky, Adam J. & Huber, Gregory A. & Lenz, Gabriel S., 2012. "Evaluating Online Labor Markets for Experimental Research: Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 351-368, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Douglas Kriner & Breanna Lechase & Rosella Cappella Zielinski, 2018. "Self-interest, partisanship, and the conditional influence of taxation on support for war in the USA," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 35(1), pages 43-64, January.
    2. Leanora Alecia Brown & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2015. "International Debt Forgiveness: Who Gets Picked and Its Effect On The Tax Effort Of Developing Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1504, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    3. Pedro L. Rodríguez, José R. Morales, Fancisco J. Monaldi, 2012. "Direct Distribution of Oil Revenues in Venezuela: A Viable Alternative?," Working Papers 306, Center for Global Development.
    4. Gabriella Y. Carolini, 2021. "Aid’s urban footprint and its implications for local inequality and governance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 389-409, March.
    5. Eydam, Ulrich & Leupold, Florian, 2024. "What is it good for? On the inflationary effects of military conflicts," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    6. Arjan de Haan & Ward Warmerdam, 2012. "The politics of aid revisited: a review of evidence on state capacity and elite commitment," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-007-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    7. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
    8. Kodjo Adandohoin, 2021. "Tax transition in developing countries: do value added tax and excises really work?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 379-424, May.
    9. Mara Redlich Revkin, 2021. "Competitive Governance and Displacement Decisions Under Rebel Rule: Evidence from the Islamic State in Iraq," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 46-80, January.
    10. Boadu Ayeboafo, 2016. "VAT Compliance Challenges in Ghana and How to Address Them," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 2(7), pages 132-139, 07-2016.
    11. Ahrens, Joachim & Schweickert, Rainer & Zenker, Juliane, 2011. "Varieties of capitalism, governance and government spending: A cross-section analysis," PFH Forschungspapiere/Research Papers 2011/01, PFH Private University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph Nnanna, 2019. "Foreign aid, instability and governance in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 19/022, African Governance and Development Institute..
    13. Cappelen, Alexander W. & Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge & Mmari, Donald & Sjursen, Ingrid Hoem & Tungodden, Bertil, 2021. "Understanding the resource curse: A large-scale experiment on corruption in Tanzania," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 129-157.
    14. Alex Reuben Kira, 2017. "An Evaluation of Governments’ Initiatives in Enhancing Small Taxpayers’ Voluntary Tax Compliance in Developing Countries," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 253-267, January.
    15. Mogues, Tewodaj & Benin, Samuel, 2012. "Do External Grants to District Governments Discourage Own Revenue Generation? A Look at Local Public Finance Dynamics in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 1054-1067.
    16. Gough, Ian & Abu Sharkh, Miriam, 2011. "Financing welfare regimes: mapping heterogeneous revenue structures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36629, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Dawson, Andrew, 2013. "The Social Determinants of the Rule of Law: A Comparison of Jamaica and Barbados," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 314-324.
    18. Lisa Chauvet & Marin Ferry, 2021. "Taxation, infrastructure, and firm performance in developing countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 455-480, June.
    19. repec:idq:ictduk:13751 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:idq:ictduk:2313 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Abel Gwaindepi, 2021. "Domestic revenue mobilisation in developing countries: An exploratory analysis of sub‐Saharan Africa and Latin America," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 396-421, March.
    22. Nouha Bougharriou & Walid Benayed & Foued Badr Gabsi, 2021. "Under Which Condition Does the Democratization of the Arab World Improve FDI?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(2), pages 224-248, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:61:y:2017:i:5:p:997-1020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.