Private military industry analysis: private and public companies

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, the Private Military Industry has skyrocketed. This study gathers, compiles and examines demographic and financial information on 585 private and public companies that operate in the Private Military Industry. The demographic analysis reveals that an overwhelming majority of firms are privately held and offered no financial information. Firm inception dates are closely correlated with past and current world events. Majority of the private firms founders have military or government backgrounds and are located in the United States and United Kingdom. Using Singer's and Avant's classification of the Private Military Industry, the study determines that most firms are not restricted to one classification as they operate in more then one arena. The analysis of public firms reveals that revenues and profits have been increasing steadily since 2003 as well as operating expenses, shrinking profit margins. The public firm analysis presents the financial relationships between the Initial Public Offerings, locations, and employee numbers to the success of the companies. Overall this study and the analysis of the Private Military Firms offer insight into the prevalence of the Private Military Industry in the business world and how financially rewarding it can be.