Work

A Macrodynamic Model of War: Addressing Kant’s Democratic Peace Proposition

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: War and political regime are fundamentally linked. From Athen’s democratic empire in the 5th Century BCE, through the industrialization of war in the 19th and 20th centuries to today’s nuclear powers, all forms of political regimes have been involved in war. Very few macroeconomic models have accounted for the costs and benefits of war. We develop a macrodynamic model of war in order to address Kant’s notion of democratic perpetual peace. We enrich macroeconomics by introducing regime-specific sensitivity to human loss, which affects the desirability of war. Our model, based on a dynamics à la Solow, can account for multiple wars throughout history.

Source: The B E Journal of Macroeconomics

DOI: 10.1515/bejm-2025-0167

Authors: Laurent Gauthier, Antoine Parent, Vincent Touzé

Institutions: Université Paris Nanterre, Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité, Institut Rhônalpin des Systèmes Complexes, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, Université Paris 8

Language: English

Topic: Defense, Military, and Policy Studies

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,712