Publication

Many scholars have debated the causes of the coup d’etat since the mid-twentieth century. A recent branch of theories have linked the risk of military coups with the state of the economy. This paper applies these economic theories to the case of Pakistan, which has experienced five coups since its independence. More specifically, it tests four economic variables - GDP, income per capita, defense spending, and export values - against the incidences of coups in Pakistan. It finds that low growth rates of these variables are related to the incidence of coup d’etat in Pakistan.