Abstract:

Countries allocate resources for defence expenditures for various reasons, especially deterrence. In this study, the convergence hypothesis for defence spending in the Middle East and North African countries is examined. In the study, annual Defence Expenditures / GDP for the period 1993-2019 were used for the Middle East and North African countries. According to the analysis results, it was determined that there is an unconditional β convergence in defence expenditures on a panel basis in the Middle East and North African countries. According to the convergence of results by country, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey at the 10% statistical significance level, Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon at the 5% statistical significance level, and Saudi Arabia at the 1% statistical significance converges to the group average. As a result, most of the countries act according to the average trend of the country group in the region in defence expenditures due to factors such as the increase in regional security risks and / or changes in armament policies of neighbouring countries.

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