Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.

Post-conflict situations face a high risk of reversion to conflict. We investigate the effect of military expenditure by the government during the first decade post-conflict on the risk of reversion. We contrast two theories as to the likely effects. In one, military spending deters conflict by redu...

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Main Authors: Collier, P, Hoeffler, A
Format: Working paper
Language:English
Published: CSAE (University of Oxford) 2004
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author Collier, P
Hoeffler, A
author_facet Collier, P
Hoeffler, A
author_sort Collier, P
collection OXFORD
description Post-conflict situations face a high risk of reversion to conflict. We investigate the effect of military expenditure by the government during the first decade post-conflict on the risk of reversion. We contrast two theories as to the likely effects. In one, military spending deters conflict by reducing the prospects of rebel success. In the other it acts as a signal to the rebels of government intentions. In the signalling model, low military spending signals that the government intends to adhere to the terms of the peace settlement and so reduces the risk of renewed rebellion. We investigate the effects of post-conflict military spending on the risk of conflict, using our existing models of military expenditure and of conflict risk. We find that, consistent with the signalling model, high military spending post-conflict significantly increases the risk of renewed conflict. This effect of military spending is distinctive to post-conflict period, and becomes progressively more pronounced over the decade.
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spelling oxford-uuid:3ad767bc-af30-4d20-9118-ea5183f087d42022-03-26T14:04:02ZMilitary expenditure in post-conflict societies.Working paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:3ad767bc-af30-4d20-9118-ea5183f087d4EnglishDepartment of Economics - ePrintsCSAE (University of Oxford)2004Collier, PHoeffler, APost-conflict situations face a high risk of reversion to conflict. We investigate the effect of military expenditure by the government during the first decade post-conflict on the risk of reversion. We contrast two theories as to the likely effects. In one, military spending deters conflict by reducing the prospects of rebel success. In the other it acts as a signal to the rebels of government intentions. In the signalling model, low military spending signals that the government intends to adhere to the terms of the peace settlement and so reduces the risk of renewed rebellion. We investigate the effects of post-conflict military spending on the risk of conflict, using our existing models of military expenditure and of conflict risk. We find that, consistent with the signalling model, high military spending post-conflict significantly increases the risk of renewed conflict. This effect of military spending is distinctive to post-conflict period, and becomes progressively more pronounced over the decade.
spellingShingle Collier, P
Hoeffler, A
Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title_full Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title_fullStr Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title_full_unstemmed Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title_short Military expenditure in post-conflict societies.
title_sort military expenditure in post conflict societies
work_keys_str_mv AT collierp militaryexpenditureinpostconflictsocieties
AT hoefflera militaryexpenditureinpostconflictsocieties