The role of culture and economic variables in wars and coups

The increasing number of local and regional conflicts around the world in the past several decades has led us to investigate the causes of war and coups. We used economic, cultural and demographic differences as explanatory variables in elucidating the causes of coups and wars between countries. We found that as the culture in a country becomes more individualistic and less collectivistic, the number of coups declines. However, as the uncertainty avoidance increases, the probability of coups also increases. When the standard of living in a country high, the probability of coups is lower. In relation to wars, we found that as the cultural differences between countries are greater, the likelihood of war is higher, and that the probability of war is also higher when the size (economic and demographic) differences are greater.