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The impact of military spending and income inequality on economic growth in Turkey

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  • Ünal Töngür
  • Adem Yavuz Elveren

Abstract

An extensive literature on the effect of military expenditures on economic growth yields conflicting results. However, a crucial issue that has not been investigated in this context is the possible effect of inequality. The impact of military expenditures on economic growth in Turkey has also received substantial attention. Yet, the majority of these studies are not constructed based on a structural model, but rather examine the causality between the variables in question. Considering these two shortcomings in the literature and the lack of consistent results, this study attempts to provide further evidence for the relationship between military expenditures and economic growth for the case of Turkey by considering income inequality within an augmented Solow growth model. Our findings for the 1963--2008 period show that while income inequality has a positive impact on economic growth, military expenditures have no significant effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Ünal Töngür & Adem Yavuz Elveren, 2016. "The impact of military spending and income inequality on economic growth in Turkey," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 433-452, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:defpea:v:27:y:2016:i:3:p:433-452
    DOI: 10.1080/10242694.2014.925324
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    4. Saba Charles Shaaba, 2022. "Defence Spending and Economic Growth in South Africa: Evidence from Cointegration and Co-Feature Analysis," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 28(1), pages 51-100, February.
    5. Khalid Zaman, 2019. "Does higher military spending affect business regulatory and growth specific measures? Evidence from the group of seven (G-7) countries," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(1), pages 323-348, April.
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    7. Elveren, Adem Yavuz & Özgür, Gökçer, 2018. "The Effect of Military Expenditures on the Profit Rates in Turkey," MPRA Paper 88848, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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