Understanding why leaders vary in their commitment to collective defense requires examining the role of business experience.
This study investigates contributions to military alliances and finds that leaders with business backgrounds tend to underinvest. They do so because they're more comfortable relying on powerful allies rather than investing themselves, reflecting heightened egoism.💯
Defense Expenditure Analysis (1952-2014)︎ Leaders from 17 non-U.S. NATO members show lower contributions when led by business-experienced individuals.
Behavioral Theory Insight︎ The findings challenge the assumption that all leaders behave as rational utility maximizers, suggesting variation based on personal background.
This research underscores how individual leadership experience shapes international cooperation patterns.
| When Do Leaders Free-ride? Business Experience and Contributions to Collective Defense was authored by Matthew Fuhrmann. It was published by Wiley in AJPS in 2020. |
