Power, Wealth, and War: How Economic, Financial, and Military Forces Shape Global Resource Control

Jimmy Teng ()
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Jimmy Teng: KIMEP University, Department of Political Science and International Relations, College of Social Sciences

A chapter in Business and Sustainable Development in a Globalized and Digitalized Era, 2026, pp 108-125 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This study models international resource competition as an infinitely repeated rent-seeking game, using the Tullock–Hirshleifer contest success function to explore how economic, financial, and military efficiencies shape state power. In steady-state equilibrium, resource shares and effort levels stabilise, driven by production efficiency, discount rates (financial efficiency), military capability, and economies of scale. Findings show: (1) states with higher efficiency gain larger resource shares; (2) scale advantages amplify dominance, marginalising weaker states; and (3) higher scale economies and discount rates push more output toward military spending—especially for disadvantaged states. Historical cases—nomadic-settled conflicts, gunpowder revolutions, industrialisation, and financial innovations such as joint-stock firms and central banks—validate the model. Results illuminate how efficiency and scale reshape global power, offering a foundation for future rent-seeking research in international relations.

Keywords: Repeated contest; Scale economies; Mass factor; Discount factor; Rent seeking; International politics; Resource allocation; Production efficiency; Military efficiency; Financial efficiency; Kazakhstan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:prbchp:978-3-032-29346-6_6

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-29346-6_6

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