Trade and Military Alliances: Evidence from NATO

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper we analyse the effect of multilateral defence alliances in arms trade among allies. We postulate that the access to the frontier technology weaponry enabled only to military allies will intensify arms trade. The benefits of such trade are claimed to be in security and technology diffusion. We execute an empirical analysis for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Results show that being a member or partner of NATO significantly increases arm imports coming from the alliance, and that this increase cannot be attributed to economic and additional country characteristics.