Conscription and Crime: Evidence from the Argentine Draft Lottery

Sebastian Galiani, Martín Rossi and Ernesto Schargrodsky

No 2010.55, Working Papers from Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei

Abstract: We estimate the causal effect of mandatory participation in the military service on the involvement in criminal activities. We exploit the random assignment of young men to military service in Argentina through a draft lottery to identify this causal effect. Using a unique set of administrative data that includes draft eligibility, participation in the military service, and criminal records, we find that participation in the military service increases the likelihood of developing a criminal record in adulthood. The effects are not only significant for the cohorts that performed military service during war times, but also for those that provided service at peace times. We also find that military service has detrimental effects on future performance in the labor market.

Keywords: Military Service; Violent behavior; Crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab, nep-lam and nep-law
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Conscription and Crime: Evidence from the Argentine Draft Lottery (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fem:femwpa:2010.55

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