AN ENDOGENOUS GROWTH MODEL OF CAPITAL AND ARMS ACCUMULATION

This paper attempts to examine the effect of an anticipated foreign military threat on the steady-state growth rate and the transitional behavior of the economy. The modeling strategy follows the Sandler and Hartley (1995) and Dunne et al. (2005) viewpoints to emphasize the role of national defense in affecting growth from the perspective of both the demand and the supply sides. We thus combine the public capital version of endogenous growth with a framework of competitive arms accumulation. It is found that the key factor determining the steady state and the transitional effects of a rise in the foreign military threat on the home weapon-capital ratio, the consumption-capital ratio, and the rate of economic growth, is the degree of relative risk aversion.