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Demand for Education and Labour Market Outcomes: Lessons from the Abolition of Compulsory Conscription in France

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  • Maurin, Eric
  • Xenogiani, Theodora

Abstract

In this paper we examine the effects of the abolition of the compulsory conscription in France on the demand for education and labour market outcomes. The reform took place in 1997 and affected all men born after 1979. Before the reform, staying on in education was a way to defer the national service and get access to more interesting forms of the military service. After the reform, these specific incentives to stay on in education have disappeared and the relative cost of education for men has plausibly increased. As a matter of fact, our data reveal that the reform has been followed by a significant decrease in the number of years spent at school by male students, as well as in the proportion of male degree holders. In contrast, the reform had no significant effect on the demand for education for women nor for men of high socio-economic background. We use this exogenous variation in the demand for education to estimate the effect of education on wages as well as on the probability of being in a manual job at the early stage of one’s career.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4946.

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Date of creation: Mar 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4946

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Keywords: demand for education; natural experiment; wages;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2011. "Can Compulsory Military Service Increase Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal," NBER Working Papers 17694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Poutvaara, Panu & Wagener, Andreas, 2009. "The Political Economy of Conscription," IZA Discussion Papers 4429, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. Piero Cipollone & Alfonso Rosolia, 2011. "Schooling and youth mortality: learning from a mass military exemption," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 811, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
  4. Card, David & Cardoso, Ana Rute, 2011. "Can Compulsory Military Service Raise Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal," IZA Discussion Papers 5915, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Keller, Katarina & Poutvaara, Panu & Wagener, Andreas, 2009. "Does Military Draft Discourage Enrollment in Higher Education? Evidence from OECD Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 4399, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Alfredo R. Paloyo, 2010. "Compulsory Military Service in Germany Revisited," Ruhr Economic Papers 0206, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
  7. V. Albouy & L. Lequien, 2007. "Education and health," Documents de Travail de la DESE - Working Papers of the DESE g2007-02, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques, DESE.
  8. Donata Bessey & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2008. "Dropping out and revising educational decisions: Evidence from vocational education," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0040, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  9. Bauer, Thomas & Bender, Stefan & Paloyo, Alfredo & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2011. "Do Guns Displace Books? The Impact of Compulsory Military Service on Educational Attainment," IZA Discussion Papers 5744, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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