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paper 51

The Economics of Small Arms Demand:
Polarization and Rent-seeking in Haiti and Latin America

by Christopher Fitzpatrick

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Table of contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: The economics of small arms demand

The means and motivations of small arms demand
Defining economic motivations:
Polarization and rent-seeking
Polarization and rent-seeking in a theory of small arms demand

Part II: Small arms demand in Haiti and Latin America

Haiti’s long history of polarization and rent-seeking in short
Haitian small arms demand and demanders
The failure of disarmament in Haiti
The ‘means’ of small arms demand in Latin America
The measurement of polarization and rent-seeking
The ‘means and motivations’ of small arms demand in Latin America
Development for depolarization and disarmament

Summary and conclusion

Appendices

Appendix I: Data for regression variables
Appendix II: Cross-correlation matrix for regression variables

References

Boxes and Figures

Box 1: Poverty and small arms demand
Box 2: Urbanization and polarization
Figure 1: Polarization and rent-seeking in a theory of small arms demand
Figure 2: Small arms demand in Latin America
Figure 3: The relationship between small arms demand and income
Figure 4: The relationship between small arms demand and poverty and urbanization
Figure 5: Urbanization in Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua
Figure 6: Ethnic polarization by race, religion and language
Figure 7: GNI per capita over time for Haiti and selected countries
Figure 8: The cost of starting a business
Figure 9: Explanatory variables for small arms demand in Latin America
Figure 10: Multivariate regression results for small arms demand
Figure 11: The relationship between small arms demand and poverty, urbanization, ethic polarization and the cost of starting a business
Figure 12: Scenario analysis of Haitian small arms demand