Convergence of Military Expenditure per Capita in NATO Countries: Evidence from Nahar-Inder Convergence Tests

Abstract

It is seen that the burden sharing debates between NATO member countries have come to the fore at various periods and with different intensities, depending on the changes in the international arena, from the post-cold war era to the present. In this context, studies investigating the convergence behavior for military spending levels of NATO member countries occupy an important place in the relevant empirical literature. In this study, the existence of stochastic convergence in terms of military expenditures per capita in NATO countries in the period covering the years 1960-2020 is investigated using the Nahar-Inder (2002) convergence test approach. Nahar and Inder (2002) convergence test is expressed as a polynomial type test that allows to determine countries that act differently in a sample with the same behavior in general. Nahar-Inder (2002) convergence test also shows that output differences may exhibit convergence behavior even if the series under consideration are not stationary. In this study, the findings obtained by using the Nahar-Inder (2002) test, which is based on time series analysis, which allows to decompose intra-sample mobility, show that 13 countries in the sample, except Belgium, Portugal and Norway, converge towards the sample mean.

Keywords

• Military Expenditure
• Convergence Hypothesis
• Nahar-Inder Convergence Test

NATO Ülkelerinde Kişi Başı Askeri Harcama Yakınsaması: Nahar-Inder Yakınsama Testinden Kanıtlar

Öz

NATO üyesi ülkeler arasındaki yük paylaşımı tartışmalarının, soğuk savaş sonrası dönemden günümüze kadar gelen süreçte, uluslararası konjonktürdeki değişikliklere bağlı olarak, çeşitli dönemlerde ve farklı yoğunluklarda gündeme geldiği görülmektedir. Bu çerçevede ilgili ampirik literatürde, özellikle NATO üyesi ülkelerin askeri harcama düzeyleri için yakınsama davranışının araştırıldığı çalışmalar önemli bir yer kaplamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, 1960-2020 yıllarını kapsayan dönemde NATO ülkelerinde kişi başı askeri harcamaları açısından stokastik yakınsamanın varlığı, Nahar-Inder(2002) yakınsama testi yaklaşımı ile araştırılmaktadır. Nahar ve Inder (2002) yakınsama testi, genel olarak aynı davranış biçimine sahip örneklem içerisinde, farklı hareket eden ülkeleri belirlemeye imkan sağlayan polinom tipi bir test olarak ifade edilmektedir. Nahar ve Inder (2002) yakınsama testi ayrıca, incelenen serilerin durağan olmaması durumunda bile çıktı farklılıklarının yakınsama davranışı sergileyebileceğini göstermektedir. Çalışmada, örneklem içi hareketliliği ayrıştırmayı sağlayan zaman serisi analizine dayalı Nahar-Inder (2002) testi kullanılarak elde edilen bulgular, inceleme döneminde örneklemde bulunan Belçika, Portekiz ve Norveç hariç diğer 13 ülkenin örneklem ortalamasına doğru yakınsama davranışı içerisinde olduğunu göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Askeri Harcama
• Yakınsama Hipotezi
• Nahar-Inder Yakınsama Testi

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