Do freedoms and institutional factors affect countries' defense expenditures?: Panel analysis

There have been many studies on defense expenditures until today. The fundamental objective of this study is to analyze the impact of freedom and institutional factorson defense expenditures. Freedom indicators; the empowerment rights index, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of speech, self-determination in elections, freedom of religion, workers' rights, women's economic rights, women's political rights, women's social rights and independence of the judiciary have been included in the study. Nine different variables have been used as indicator of institutional factor. These variables which are voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence/terrorism, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption, military intervention in law and politics, gender ınequality, legal system and property rights. In this study, the effects of freedoms and institutional factors on defense expenditures were studied for 151 countries between 1990 and 2017, and empirically unbalanced panel data set has been used. It was concluded that there is a negative and statistically significant relationshipbetween institutional factors and defense expenditures. Nevertheless, it was determined that there is a positive and statistically significant relationshipbetween the control of corruption and defense expenditures, which is a variable of institutional factor. It has been attained that there is a negative and statistically significant relationship for all variables and that all results are in line with expectations.