The Effects of Combat Deployments on Veterans’ Outcomes

Jesse Bruhn, Kyle Greenberg, Matthew Gudgeon, Evan K. Rose and Yotam Shem-Tov

Journal of Political Economy, 2024, vol. 132, issue 8, 2830 - 2879

Abstract: As millions of soldiers deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, Veteran Affairs Disability Compensation payments quadrupled and the veteran suicide rate rose rapidly. We estimate the causal contribution of combat deployments to declining veteran well-being. Deployments increase injuries, combat deaths, and disability compensation, but we find limited effects on suicide, deaths of despair, financial health, incarceration, or education. Our estimates suggest that deployment cannot explain either the recent rise in disability payments, which is more likely driven by policy changes, or the surge in noncombat deaths, which is better explained by shifts in observable characteristics of soldiers.

Date: 2024
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Working Paper: The Effects of Combat Deployments on Veterans' Outcomes (2022)
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