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Did military service during World War I affect the economic status of American veterans?

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  • Tan, Hui Ren

Abstract

I exploit discontinuous changes in the likelihood of military service induced by the transition between different registration regimes under the World War I draft to determine if wartime service affected economic outcomes. A new 1900–1930 linked sample is constructed to study the short-term effects, while the 1960 census is used for the long-term analysis. Implementing a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and a difference-in-discontinuities approach, I find little evidence of a causal relationship between wartime service and economic status. This may be due to America’s relatively short involvement in the war, coupled with comparatively less-generous benefits thereafter.

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  • Tan, Hui Ren, 2020. "Did military service during World War I affect the economic status of American veterans?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:75:y:2020:i:c:s001449831730133x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2019.101301
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    1. Zhang, Kexin, 2023. "The long-term impact of higher education: Evidence from the Gaokao reinstatement in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
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    3. Quincy, Sarah, 2022. "Income shocks and housing spillovers: Evidence from the World War I Veterans’ Bonus," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).

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