This paper analyses the demand and supply sides of the UK defence market, including the Ministry of Defence (MoD) role as a major buyer and the UK defence industrial base. It explains MoD's competitive procurement policy and evaluates its results, problems and future prospects.

For Smith, “defence” is presented as one of the three big areas requiring the “expenses of the sovereign or Commonwealth”, and therefore justifying state intervention in the economy, beside “justice” and “public works and public institutions”. Against the mercantilist thought,...

The decline in military spending that began in the mid-1980s continued through 1995, and this decline was widespread both geographically and by level of development. Cuts in military spending appear to have potentially important implications for non-military spending and fiscal adjustment. In...

The paper is about the conversion problems of the Kaliningrad region's defence industry (Russian Federation). There is information about the structure and specialisation of the regional defence industry before the start of conversion. The main strategies of conversion in the region and examples...

The Swiss approach to defence procurement has a number of distinct features. With modest levels of defence-related R&D, military acquisitions tend to be limited to proven and durable systems offering the user reliable performance over time as well as plenty of scope for future upgrades and...

The experience of Russia in the field of conversion indicates that it is a costly process, because large expenditures are needed to compensate the enterprises for the losses produced by decreases in defence production and by the maintenance of average wages and salaries, without efficient...

The literature on economic aspects of defence in Israel is critically reviewed by subject: measuring the defence burden, the determinants of defence spending, the effects of defence spending on the economy, and the military-industrial complex. An overview of the Israeli economy is provided, and...

Defence procurement deals with products that are highly differentiated and its regulation is extremely complex. The 'defence organisation' and 'industry' are the two principal parties involved in procurement transactions. Domestic sourcing of defence materiel has long been encouraged in most...

Conversion of defence industries is neither simple in concept nor execution. While many wish to paint a rosy future and extol the costless benefits, pragma-tists stress the real and nominal disincentives to converting. Regarding the process in Russia, we outline what is involved and show that...

Australia has been something of a laboratory for policy experiment aimed at developing and maintaining defence-related industry capability at an acceptable social cost. The issues that successive governments have aimed to address under the heading of 'defence self-reliance' include: public vs....