Book review

La Conversion économique du secteur militaire, J. FONTANEL, Economica, Paris, 1994, pp. 112. Paperback. ISBN 2–7178–2650–5.     

MILITARY EXPENDITURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES: A DYNAMIC PANEL DATA ANALYSIS

Defence expenditures have both costs and benefits to the economy. The costs of defence expenditures are mainly emphasized as opportunity costs. On the other hand, defence spending may have growth‐promoting potential benefits: a rise in defence spending may result in a higher aggregate demand, production and employment. This paper examines empirically the effects of military expenditures on economic growth for Middle Eastern countries and Turkey, for the time‐period 1989–1999. The relationship between military expenditure and economic growth is investigated by using cross‐section and dynamic panel estimation techniques. Empirical analysis indicates that military expenditure enhances economic growth in the Middle Eastern countries and Turkey as a whole.     

Determinants of military expenditure and the role of globalisation in a cross-country analysis

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence offers conflicting views on the impact of globalisation on military expenditure. We contribute to the existing literature by investigating the effect of globalisation on military expenditure in 82 countries for the period, 1989–2012. After introducing economic and strategic variables into the model, we utilise the dynamic panel generalised method of moments system to estimate the relationship in the variables. The empirical findings reveal that globalisation reduces both military burden and real military expenditure. The findings are consistent, irrespective of the globalisation indicator adopted. The policy implications of the results are explained.     

The impact of defense and non‐defense public spending on growth in Asia and Latin America∗

For a three‐sector Feder‐Ram framework, we present time‐series, cross‐sectional estimates for two cohorts, consisting of Asian and Latin American countries. The estimates indicate that private investment, and defense and non‐defense public spending are growth promoting for alternative error components representations. For the best error components representation, greater growth enhancement is associated with the two forms of public spending in Asia than in Latin America, while the opposite comparison characterizes private investment. Although defense is growth promoting, an opportunity cost exists insofar as non‐defense spending, financed by defense spending, appears to give a small net boost to growth in Latin America.     

Military Expenditure,Endogeneity and Economic Growth

Abstract

While not always a concern for the general economic growth literature, the debate over the effects of military spending on growth continues to develop, with no consensus, but a deepening understanding of the limitations of previous work. One important issue that has not been adequately dealt with is the endogeneity of military spending in the growth equation, mainly because of the difficulty of finding any variables that would make adequate instruments. This paper considers this issue, using an endogenous growth model estimated on a large sample of 109 non-high-income countries for the period 1998–2012. The empirical analysis is framed within an instrumental variable setting that exploits the increase in military spending that occurs when unrest in a country escalates to turmoil. The estimation results show that endogeneity arising from reverse causality is a crucial issue, with the instrumental variable estimates providing a larger significant negative effect of military spending on growth than OLS would. This result is found to be robust to different sources of heterogeneity and different time periods.     

Nuclear Fusion Power for Weapons Purposes

Fusion reactors have the potential to be used for military purposes. This article provides quantitative estimates about weapon-relevant materials produced in future commercial fusion reactors and discusses how suitable such materials are for use in nuclear weapons. Whether states will consider such use in the future will depend on specific regulatory, political, economic, and technical boundary conditions. Based on expert interviews and the political science literature, we identify three of these conditions that could determine whether fusion power will have a military dimension in the second half of this century: first, the technological trajectory of global energy policies; second, the management of a peaceful power transition between rising and declining powers; and third, the overall acceptance of the nuclear normative order. Finally, the article discusses a few regulatory options that could be implemented by the time fusion reactors reach technological maturity and become commercially available; such research on fusion reactor safeguards should start as early as possible and accompany the current research on experimental fusion reactors.     

基于XML的武器装备作战需求核心数据管理方法

武器装备作战需求核心数据管理是作战需求分析的基础。针对目前作战需求缺乏统一的底层数据管理标准的现状,制定了基于XML的核心数据存储、抽取和一致性检验策略,实现了作战需求核心数据的管理。实践应用表明,该方法能够为需求论证工程化提供有效的底层数据支撑。     

多源文本数据真值发现方法

针对传统真值发现算法无法直接应用于文本数据的问题,提出基于深度神经网络面向多源文本数据的真值发现算法(NN_Truth)。根据文本答案多因素性、词语使用多样性以及文本数据稀疏性等特点,将“数据源-答案”向量作为网络输入,识别答案真值向量作为网络输出,依据真值发现的一般假设,无监督学习各数据源答案向量间关联关系,并最终获得答案真值。实验结果表明,该算法适用于文本数据真值发现场景,较基于检索的方法及传统真值发现算法效果更优。     

实弹射击弹着点定位算法研究

弹着点定位是实弹射击中实现自动报靶的关键。利用弹头撞击钢质靶板产生的振动波到达四个顶点上的振动传感器的时间差,来实现弹着点的定位。弹着点的位置定位算法,利用两次加权的方法,消除噪声等因素产生的误差,最后经过实验测试,分别对一次、二次加权的结果进行仿真以及数据的拟合。结果证明,该算法对弹着点的位置估计随着加权次数的增加,也会更加接近实际值。     

捷联导引头视线转率估计的交互式多模型样条滤波算法

针对捷联导引头测量信息的弹目惯性视线转率估计,提出了一种基于交互式多模型算法的样条滤波方法(IMM-SF)。基于体视线和惯性视线的映射关系解算惯性视线角,将其作为虚拟观测量进行滤波,设置多个过程噪声模型,每个模型分别采用样条滤波器进行滤波,IMM-SF滤波器的估值结果为各滤波器估值的加权综合。该方法不必对目标的未知机动建模,应用更加方便,并且可在交互式多模型算法的框架下自适应地调整滤波器的噪声。Monte-Carlo仿真结果表明该方法可有效估计视线转率,并可提高估值精度。