Military Expenditure and Economic Growth: A Bibliometric Analysis During 1921–2022

The focal point of this paper is to analyze the literature relating to military expenditure from 1921 to 1922 using quantitative methods. The literature review focused on English-language articles published in Scopus database. Applying a bibliometric method combined with an analysis of related content to describe the evolution and structure of the military expenditure. The paper also analyzed co-citations, co-authorship, and coupling of bibliography. In addition, Scopus database was used to retrieve 377 previous studies concerning military expenditure published between 1921 and 2022. Another applications used to undertake a bibliography analysis included “RStudio and VOSviewer,” which helped with the analysis of the citation patterns, relationships, the occurrence of various keywords, and conducting research. The findings of this paper suggests that the U.S. is the most relevant country in terms of military expenditure, with the University of Johannesburg topping the most relevant institutions. The more interesting, the paper identified four main topics from the content analysis: crude oil, NATO, Investment, and growth. These studies suggest that future research should identify innovative applications of military expenses that shift focus from economic growth. Finally, there is a need for future studies to focus on determinants of military expenditure needs.