31st Annual Student Research Conference
More Money, More Problems:
The Effects of Economic Development on Militarized Interstate Dispute Onset
Makar S. Golosheykin
Dr. Michael Rudy, Faculty Mentor
How might economic development affect interstate conflict? Are developed states more peaceful, as the liberal school of thought generally suggests, or is conflict more scattered across all stages of economic development? This study looks at the effects of relative economic development between two states in a dyad and the onset of militarized interstate disputes (MIDs). Creating three dichotomous wealth dyads from national energy consumption data, this study attempts to understand the way in which developed and underdeveloped states interact amongst themselves. The results of the binary multivariate logistic regression models show that rich states are far more violent than their poor counterparts -- a finding that defies expectations and prior research. Rich-rich dyads are over ten times more likely to see militarized interstate disputes than are poor-poor dyads. Rich-poor dyads are also far more violent than poor-poor dyads, but not nearly as much as dyads with two rich states.
Keywords: Economic Development, Interstate Conflict, Militarized Interstate Disputes, Dyadic Analysis
Topic(s):Political Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 308-3
Location: VH 1010
Time: 1:30