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Self-Selection and Recruit Quality in Sweden’s All Volunteer Force: Do Civilian Opportunities Matter?

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Abstract

This paper studies how local labour market conditions influence the quality composition of those who volunteer for military service in Swe- den. I estimate a fixed-effects regression model on a panel data set containing IQ scores for those who applied for military basic training across Swedish municipalities during the period 2010 to 2016. The main finding is that low civilian employment rates at the local level tend to increase the mean IQ score of those who volunteer for military service, whereas the opposite is true if employment rates in the civil- ian labour market move in a more favourable direction. As such, the results suggest that the negative impact of a strong civilian economy on recruitment volumes is reinforced by a deterioration in recruit quality.

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  • Bäckström, Peter, 2019. "Self-Selection and Recruit Quality in Sweden’s All Volunteer Force: Do Civilian Opportunities Matter?," Umeå Economic Studies 964, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:umnees:0964
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    1. Brown, Charles, 1985. "Military Enlistments: What Can We Learn from Geographic Variation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 228-234, March.
    2. Sofia Tano, 2014. "Regional clustering of human capital: school grades and migration of university graduates," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(2), pages 561-581, March.
    3. Tano, Sofia, 2014. "Regional Clustering of Human Capital - School Grades and Migration of University Graduates," Umeå Economic Studies 879, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    4. Erik Lindqvist & Roine Vestman, 2011. "The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability: Evidence from the Swedish Enlistment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 101-128, January.
    5. John Warner & Curtis Simon & Deborah Payne, 2003. "The military recruiting productivity slowdown: The roles of resources, opportunity cost and the tastes of youth," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 329-342.
    6. David A. Wise, 1987. "Public Sector Payrolls," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise87-1, March.
    7. David T. Ellwood & David A. Wise, 1987. "Uncle Sam Wants You-Sometimes: Military Enlistments and the Youth Labor Market," NBER Chapters, in: Public Sector Payrolls, pages 97-118, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    military labour market; military recruitment; self-selection; enlistment test; Roy model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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