Evaluating the Labor-Market Effects of Compulsory Military Service - A Regression-Discontinuity Approach

Thomas Bauer (), Stefan Bender (), Alfredo Paloyo and Christoph Schmidt

No 141, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: We identify the causal effect of compulsory military service on conscripts' subsequent labor-market outcomes by exploiting the regression-discontinuity design of the military draft in Germany during the 1950s. Unbiased estimates of military service on lifetime earnings, wages, and employment are obtained by comparing men born before July 1, 1937 (the White Cohort) who were exempted from compulsory military service to men who were born on or shortly after this threshold date and hence faced a positive probability of being drafted. We find that the putative earnings advantage and wage premium of those who served in the armed forces vanish when selection effects are taken into account.

Keywords: Causal effect; quasi-experimental estimators; conscription (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:141

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