Speaker:
Christopher Sprecher, Visiting Professor, UCSB

Professor Sprecher examines the impact that nuclear testing has on a state's economic interactions. Conventional neorealistic Talk Flier for Professor Sprecher's talk.logic asserts that nuclear weapons acquisition and testing should have a deterrent effect. He argues that in addition to the deterrent impact of testing, such tests also send a signal of technological skill. In the aftermath of nuclear tests, states experience an increase in their total exports, both military and consumer goods. Professor Sprecher maintains that this is due to a spillover effect, in which technological prowess in one arena (nuclear weapons development) leads to increased trade in other sectors due to the perception that a state's ability to manufacture nuclear weapons demonstrates their skills in other arenas. Through an analysis of all states from 1950-2007, he finds that nuclear testing does increase a state's exports in the years following the initial test.