A theorem on the existence of zones of initiation and deterrence in Intriligator-Brito arms race models

Murray Wolfson

Public Choice, 1987, vol. 54, issue 3, 297 pages

Abstract: We should be clear what this paper has demonstrated and what it has not demonstrated. It has provided one case for a two party arms race in which a zone of deterrence does not exist and a zone of war initiation occupies the central region of the arms race plane. It has shown that the sufficient conditions for a multi-party arms race become progressively more implausible as more parties enter the race. The failure of these sufficient conditions is not a failure of necessary conditions: it has not been shown that it is impossible for zones of deterrence to exist in multi-party arms race. However, unless sufficient conditions can be satisfied it is impossible to assert that they will always exist for plausible values of the parameters. Counter examples to the existence hypothesis can readily be produced for sufficiently high counterforce efficiencies and sufficiently many participants. Copyright Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1987

Date: 1987
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DOI: 10.1007/BF00125653

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