Publication details
Defence industrial patterns in Dependent Market Economies
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | DEFENCE AND PEACE ECONOMICS |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2026.2630900 |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2026.2630900 |
| Keywords | European defence industry; industrial policy; Dependent Market Economy; East and Central Europe; defence industry |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Despite accelerated efforts to consolidate the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), Eastern and Central European (ECE) states continue struggling with cross-border integration. This presents a theoretical puzzle: while ECE states operate as Dependent Market Economies (DMEs) which are defined by extreme integration through foreign penetration in their civilian sectors, they aggressively insulate their defence industries from similar integration. This article conceptualizes this phenomenon as the ‘Inverse DME model.’ Utilizing a comparative research design, we contrast the institutional logic of defence sectors in major ECE defence producers (Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia) against a control group of Western small open economies (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden). We argue that ECE defence protectionism is a long-term rational strategy driven by sectoral developmentalism. Constrained by EU Single Market regulations in the general economy, ECE states utilize defence industrial exemptions to treat the defence sector as a developmental enclave. These findings challenge standard explanations, suggesting that lack of European defence integration with these countries is driven by a distinct, and previously unexamined, variety of defence-industrial capitalism aimed at overcoming peripheral economic dependency. |
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