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Do Guns Displace Books? The Impact of Compulsory Military Service on Educational Attainment

Author

Listed:
  • Bauer, Thomas K.

    (RWI)

  • Bender, Stefan
  • Paloyo, Alfredo R.

    (University of Wollongong)

  • Schmidt, Christoph M.

    (RWI)

Abstract

Compulsory military service typically drafts young men when they are at the height of their learning ability. Thus, it can be expected to depress the demand for higher education since skill atrophy and the delayed entry into the civilian labor market reduce the returns to human-capital investments. Attending university, however, might open the possibility to avoid the draft, leading to an increase in the demand for tertiary education. To estimate the causal effect of conscription on the probability to obtain a university degree, we use a regression-discontinuity design that employs special regulations associated with the introduction of conscription in Germany in 1956. We estimate conscription to increase the probability of having a university degree.

Suggested Citation

  • Bauer, Thomas K. & Bender, Stefan & Paloyo, Alfredo R. & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2011. "Do Guns Displace Books? The Impact of Compulsory Military Service on Educational Attainment," IZA Discussion Papers 5744, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5744
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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre Mouganie, 2020. "Conscription and the Returns to Education: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(3), pages 1112-1139, July.
    2. Giorgio Pietro, 2013. "Military conscription and university enrolment: evidence from Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 619-644, April.
    3. Frank Hubers & Dinand Webbink, 2015. "The long-term effects of military conscription on educational attainment and wages," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, December.
    4. Torun, Huzeyfe & Tumen, Semih, 2016. "The effects of compulsory military service exemption on education and labor market outcomes: Evidence from a natural experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 16-35.
    5. Bauer, Thomas K. & Bender, Stefan & Paloyo, Alfredo R. & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2012. "Evaluating the labor-market effects of compulsory military service," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 814-829.
    6. Bingley, Paul & Lyk-Jensen, Stéphanie Vincent, 2024. "Recruiting effective soldiers: Comparing Danish conscripts and volunteers deployed to peace-keeping and peace-enforcing missions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Elena Kotyrlo & Elena Varshavskaya, 2022. "Impact of the compulsory military service reform of 2007–2008 on the demand for higher education," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 715-735, October.
    8. Hwee Ling Lim, 2018. "Perceptions of Emirati Youths on National Service at Initial Implementation Stage," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, May.
    9. Collischon, Matthias & Eberl, Andreas & Jahn, Kerstin, 2018. "The effect of compulsory service on life satisfaction and its channels," IAB-Discussion Paper 201824, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    10. Marta Schoch, 2020. "Essays on political economy, inequality and development," Economics PhD Theses 0120, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    career interruption; conscription; regression discontinuity; skill atrophy; TS2SLS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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