Petter Lundborg
Professor
The Opportunity Costs of Mandatory Military Service : Evidence from a Draft Lottery
Författare
Summary, in English
Conscription forces young men to serve in the military, irrespective of their opportunity costs. Using random assignment in the Danish draft lottery, we find a negative average effect of peacetime military service on earnings, an effect varying by ability, with high-ability men facing a $23,000 lifetime earnings penalty but with low-ability men facing none. This gradient is robust to different measures of labor market prospects. Educational disruption is an important mechanism, while service has little effect on health or criminal activity. The opportunity costs of conscription are borne by men with the best labor market prospects.
Avdelning/ar
- Nationalekonomiska institutionen
- Centrum för ekonomisk demografi
Publiceringsår
2020-01
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
39-66
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Journal of Labor Economics
Volym
38
Issue
1
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
University of Chicago Press
Ämne
- Economics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1537-5307