Harrison, Mark and Wolf, Nikolaus (2011) The frequency of wars. Working Paper. Coventry, UK: Department of Economics, University of Warwick. CAGE Online Working Paper Series, Volume 2011 (Number 38).

Preview

Text (Working paper) WRAP_38.2011_harrison.pdf - Published Version Download (2285Kb) | Preview

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Wars are increasingly frequent, and the trend has been steadily upward since 1870. The
main tradition of Western political and philosophical thought suggests that extensive
economic globalization and democratization over this period should have reduced appetites
for war far below their current level. This view is clearly incomplete: at best, confounding
factors are at work. Here, we explore the capacity to wage war. Most fundamentally, the
growing number of sovereign states has been closely associated with the spread of
democracy and increasing commercial openness, as well as the number of bilateral conflicts.
Trade and democracy are traditionally thought of as goods, both in themselves, and because
they reduce the willingness to go to war, conditional on the national capacity to do so. But
the same factors may also have been increasing the capacity for war, and so its frequency.

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	War -- Economic aspects, Business and politics, Democracy -- Economic aspects, National security -- Finance, Military history, Modern
Series Name:	CAGE Online Working Paper Series
Publisher:	Department of Economics, University of Warwick
Place of Publication:	Coventry, UK
Official Date:	10 February 2011
Dates:	Date Event 10 February 2011 Published
Volume:	Volume 2011
Number:	Number 38
Number of Pages:	36
Institution:	University of Warwick
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit:	1 August 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access:	1 August 2016
Version or Related Resource:	Harrison, M. (2008). The fequency of wars. [Coventry] : University of Warwick, Economics Department. (Warwick economic research papers, no.879). http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1338
Related URLs:	http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/econom...

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Available Versions of this Item

• The frequency of wars. (deposited 03 Sep 2009 08:50)
  • The frequency of wars. (deposited 05 Nov 2013 15:33) [Currently Displayed]

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads