How do peace dividends bring about human development and productivity?

The main purpose of this study was to explore the impact of peace dividends on global changes in national productivity. First, this study assessed changes in productivity from 2005 to 2014 in various countries at different stages of technological development by using a dynamic semiparametric variant of the Stochastic Nonparametric Envelopment of Data model. Furthermore, the logarithmic linear function established through the public choice approach model was calculated, and the peace dividend was measured for each country. Finally, this study used a panel data regression model to analyze the impact of peace dividends on national productivity. The empirical results revealed that after World War II, numerous countries reduced their defense spending through the transfer of resources and formation of peace dividends because of the global expectation of a peaceful environment. This study found that the results varied according to national characteristics and regional environmental characteristics. However, peace dividends generally had a significant impact on national productivity.