Life-cycle health effects of compulsory military service in the GDR

Niklas Hübner, Nuan Susanne Stahl and Karolin Süß

No 1191, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: We examine the long-term health effects of peacetime conscription in the German Democratic Republic using a regression-discontinuity design that exploits the introduction of conscription in 1962 and resulting variation in conscription between birth cohorts. Conscription eligibility increases musculoskeletal hospitalizations later in life, consistent with descriptive evidence on overuse injuries during service, and raises sick leave during draft-eligible ages and after the German reunification. These effects are not explained by education or wages but partly by occupational sorting into physically demanding jobs. Our findings highlight lasting health burdens of military service and long-term consequences of physical strain and injury.

Keywords: Conscription; Health; Authoritarian States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H56 I18 J24 P36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:334530

DOI: 10.4419/96973376

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