Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes

Patrick Puhani, Margret K. Sterrenberg () and Margret K. Sterrenberg ()
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Margret K. Sterrenberg: Leibniz Universität Hannover
Margret K. Sterrenberg: Leibniz Universität Hannover

No 2117, RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series from Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM)

Abstract: In this paper, we estimate the effects of mandatory military service by exploiting the post-cold war decrease in the need for soldiers causing a substantial number of potential conscripts not to be drafted into the German military. Specifically, using previously unavailable information on degree of fitness in the military’s medical exam as a control variable, we test for the effects of mandatory military service on wages; employment; marriage/partnership status; and satisfaction with work, financial situation, health, family life, friends, and life in general. We find almost no statistically significant effects of this 6 to 9 month career interruption for young German men, with the exception of hourly wage, which shows a negative point estimate of -15 percent with a large confidence interval of between -30 and -0.2 percent. This interval estimate is consistent with previous findings for the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

Keywords: career breaks; conscription; wages; employment; life satisfaction; natural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J24 J47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Related works:
Working Paper: Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes (2021)
Working Paper: Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes (2021)
Working Paper: Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes (2021)
Working Paper: Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:2117

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