MILITARY EXPENDITURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM SYSTEM GMM ESTIMATES

The effect of military expenditure on economic growth in developing countries has been investigated by many empirical literatures. However, there is little consensus of that effect and the diversity seems to come from the use of different models and different estimators. This article applies the Augmented Solow Growth Model to examine the influence of military expenditure on economic growth for 35 developing countries over the period of 1975–2009. By using the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators, empirical results indicate that defence has a negative and significant effect on economic growth in the sample countries.     

Workplace goals and output quality: evidence from time-constrained recruiting goals in the US navy

This paper examines how workplace goals affect the quality of worker output, using data from the recruiting command of the US Navy. Recruiting stations and recruiters are assigned monthly goals for the quantity of new recruits that may create an unintended incentive to sacrifice quality, especially towards the end of the month. Using data on the universe of Navy recruits from FY1998 to 2010, we find significant reductions in the quality of recruits towards the end of the contracting month, both in terms of pre-existing quality of recruits and in medium-term outcomes that reflect the quality of the job match.     

Better is the Neighbor?

Abstract

This study applies the Sequential Panel Selection Method (SPSM), to investigate the convergence properties of the military expenditure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) during the period of 1990–2015. Compared to the traditional methods, SPSM considers fundamentally general spatial homogeneous and heterogeneous relationships with countries and examines the evolution of military expenditure. We find that four-fifths of NATO member countries have been convergent with the UK, but no country’s military expenditure is convergent with the US. This means that there is no significant linkage effect in the US for NATO military expenditure. While they are allies of the US, the majority of NATO member countries’ military expenditures are consistent with UK military expenditure. The main reasons are due to the geographical space layout and the international relationship convergence. The results indicate that more than four-fifths of NATO member countries have been coordinated with convergence theory and spillover effect.     

基于小波变换和中值滤波的无人机图像去噪算法

在无人机航拍图像的实时传输过程中,有可能会同时受到脉冲和高斯混合噪声的污染,为后续图像的识别造成很大的困难.针对这种情况,提出了一种基于中值滤波和小波变换相结合的图像去噪方法.仿真结果表明,该方法不仅能有效地滤除脉冲和高斯的混合噪声,而且可以很好地保留图像的细节信息,改善图像的视觉效果.     

积极心理学及其对军校大学生心理健康教育的启示

传统的心理健康教育过分关注心理疾病的评估与矫治,忽视了对个体积极的品质、情绪体验等的关注和培养。积极心理学的诞生,为传统的心理健康教育提供了新的视野,主张教育者用一种更加开放的、欣赏的眼光去看待学生的潜能、动机和能力。军校大学生作为一个特殊的大学生群体,除了繁重的学业、环境的适应等普通大学生面临的挑战外,紧张的军事训练、严格的日常管理、单一的校园生活使他们更容易出现心理问题。积极心理学提示我们,军校大学生的心理健康教育应从个体的积极因素入手,不断地激发、挖掘、关注个体内在的积极力量和优秀品质,注意培养和鼓励他们多用积极的应对方式解决生活中遇到的问题。     

正交小波包分析在遥感图像融合中的应用

小波变换具有优良的时频局部特性,但由于其尺度是按二进制变化的,存在“高频低分辨”这一缺陷.正交小波包分析能够将信号(图像)频带进行多层次划分,对多分辨分析没有细分的高频部分进一步分解,从而提高了频率分辨率,能有效地提取特定的频率成分.推导了小波包分析的基本原理,给出了基于正交小波包分析的遥感图像融合算法.最后,通过实例说明正交小波包分析的有效性和优越性.     

潜艇多媒体侦察系统的研究

提出了潜艇多媒体侦察系统的工作原理和设计方案,建立了一个基于QDD—10对空导航潜望镜、CCD彩色摄像机和多媒体计算机之上的侦察系统,分析了海上目标图象的退化,并提出了一套相应的图象处理算法。     

Country survey: military expenditure and defence policy in Norway 1970–2013

This article examines military expenditure and defence policy in Norway from 1970 to 2013. Until 1990 Norwegian military expenditure remained between 2.5 and 3.0 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Despite constant GDP shares, the military expenditure could not sustain a large and properly armed mobilization army. The constant nominal defence budgets of the 1990s accentuated the Norwegian Armed Forces' underlying imbalance between tasks, structure and budget. Around year 2000, large organizational reforms were effectuated, in which costs, the number of man-years, and underlying imbalances between tasks, structure and budget were reduced. Military expenditure increased in nominal terms between 2003 and 2013, while real military expenditure remained practically constant.     

Military deployment and international terrorism: do location and mission type matter?

Extant literature documents a relationship between military deployment and the risk of an international terrorist attack against citizens of the deploying country. It appears that deployment significantly increases the possibility of terrorist actions in the home country. In particular, if country A decides to send troops to nation B, then citizens of the former country are more likely to fall victim of an attack carried out by a terrorist organisation originating from the latter country. Contributing to this line of literature, we further refine this relationship by distinguishing between regions where the troops are sent as well as by introducing differences between types of deployment. Our results indicate that missions to Asia and the Middle East are more dangerous than missions to other regions as reflected by the terrorist threat in the home country. Robustness tests do however show that the significance of the location variable Asia is predominantly attributed to the mission to Afghanistan. As for types of deployment, only ad hoc missions seem to increase the risk of an attack, whereas no significant results are found for other missions such as operations under UN and NATO flag. Leaving out the missions to Iraq and Afghanistan however also increases the danger resulting from missions by fixed coalitions. Our results find however no evidence that ‘wearing a blue helmet’ increases the probability of a terrorist attack at home.     

“Effing” the military: a political misunderstanding of management

The use of commercial business management techniques is widespread in all government departments, including the Ministry of Defence. This article examines the use of popular management techniques in the Armed Forces and argues that their application is misplaced. It looks at what the “effs” – “efficiency” and “effectiveness” – mean in the business world and to the Armed Forces. It compares the definitions both in business and the Armed Forces and finds that there are few, if any, situations where the same measurements can be applied. Whilst many management techniques are suited for business, the function of the Armed Forces and its output cannot be measured in the same way, complicated by the different metrics of “efficiency” in peace and in war. This difference may not be clearly understood by some politicians, or indeed by some senior military personnel. Using examples from some of the most popular management techniques such as “Lean” and “Agile” it is possible to see that their use might actually diminish the capabilities of the Armed Forces when it comes to performing their principal role – the use of force to achieve political objectives.