Saving lives in armed conflicts: What factors matter?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15355/epsj.3.2.68Abstract
Despite the trend toward fewer armed conflicts and war deaths, dramatic variations in conflict casualties exist across countries. This article examines what factors affect casualties in civil as well as interstate wars and finds that conflict casualties are directly influenced by geography and military expenditure per soldier. The latter proxies for military capital intensity and is of concern to policymakers because it affects the level of conflict casualties. Specifically, the article finds that military expenditure per soldier lowers conflict casualties and is significantly influenced by conscription, education, per capita GDP, geography, and political and economic freedoms.References
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