What drives military expenditure?

While the determinants of military expenditure are well documented in developing countries in general, but little is known about individual African countries. The thesis attempts to discover the major factors and influences on budgetary allocations to the military. Two main approaches were used, econometric (chapters 3 and 5) and qualitative (chapters 7 and 8). Chapter 1 and 2 present the introduction and a literature survey respectively. In Chapter 3 we investigated cross-country determinants of military expenditure in southern Africa. A political economy of military spending trends in Zimbabwe was discussed in Chapter 4. This laid a foundation for a time series estimation of determinants of military expenditure in Zimbabwe in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 reviews public choice theory and empirical military budgetary studies in Africa. Chapter 7 and 8 involve a qualitative inquiry that complements the earlier chapters on econometric studies. This part utilised data obtained from informal interviews and interactions with key informants and evidence from documentary sources. Finally, Chapter 9 summarises the main determinants of military expenditure and offers some policy proposals.