The Intergenerational Effects of the Vietnam Draft on Risky Behaviors

Monica Deza and Alvaro Mezza

Journal of Labor Economics, 2025, vol. 43, issue 1, 247 - 292

Abstract: We exploit the natural experiment provided by the Vietnam lottery draft to evaluate the intergenerational effects of fathers’ draft eligibility on children’s propensity to engage in risky behaviors during adolescence using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Draft eligibility increases measures of substance use, increases intensity of use, decreases age of initiation—particularly for marijuana—and increases measures of delinquency. We also show that draft eligibility led to changes in parenting that are conducive to these risky behaviors among children: it affects paternal parenting styles and attitudes toward the respondent, environmental aspects, and even maternal factors. Results are robust to alternative specifications and falsification diagnostics.

Date: 2025
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