Human development as a factor in military expenditure

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between human development and military expenditure across a broad spectrum of developing countries. The United Nations Development Programme releases an annual report on the state of human development in the world. The report includes four composite measurements of different aspects of human development: Human Development Index, Human Poverty Index, Gender-related Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure. This study uses multiple regression to determine the existence and strength of causal relationships between the independent variables and different measurements of military expenditure. Special attention is provided to the role of gender empowerment in shaping the behavior of countries. Attention is also paid to the unique human development and military issues of the Middle East, although countries on every continent are included in the analysis. The study concludes that Military Expenditure as a proportion of central government spending is moderately influenced by human development in general and strongly influenced by gender empowerment in particular. On the other hand, human development has a more limited impact on Military Expenditure as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2010

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Sadri, Houman A.

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Degree Program

Political Science

Subjects

Arts and Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic;Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Sciences

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022621

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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