Burden sharing: income, inequality and willingness to fight

Anderson, Christopher Johannes ORCID: 0000-0003-3198-4172, Getmansky, Anna ORCID: 0000-0002-0978-7095 and Hirsch-Hoefler, Sivan (2020) Burden sharing: income, inequality and willingness to fight. British Journal of Political Science, 50 (1). 363 - 379. ISSN 0007-1234

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Abstract

What explains citizens’ willingness to fight for their country in times of war? Using six waves of the World Values Survey, this study finds that individual willingness to fight is negatively related with country-level income inequality. When income inequality is high, the rich are less willing to fight than the poor. When inequality is low, the poor and rich differ little in their willingness to fight. This change in the willingness to fight between low and high inequality countries is greater among the rich than among the poor. This article explores several explanations for these findings. The data are consistent with the argument that high inequality makes it more attractive for the rich to buy themselves out of military service.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-jo...
Additional Information:	© 2018 Cambridge University Press
Divisions:	European Institute International Relations
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited:	10 Jul 2018 10:28
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2024 05:10
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/89170

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