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Does Peacetime Military Service Affect Crime?

Author

Listed:
  • Karsten Albæk
  • Søren Leth‐Petersen
  • Daniel le Maire
  • Torben Tranæs

Abstract

Draft lottery data combined with Danish longitudinal administrative records show that military service can reduce criminal activity for youth offenders. For this group, property crime is reduced, and our results indicate that the effect is unlikely to be the result of incapacitation only. We find no effect of military service on violent crime, on educational attainment, or on employment and earnings, either in the short run or in the long run. These results suggest that military service does not upgrade productive human capital directly, but rather affects criminal activity through other channels (e.g., by changing attitudes to criminal activity).

Suggested Citation

  • Karsten Albæk & Søren Leth‐Petersen & Daniel le Maire & Torben Tranæs, 2017. "Does Peacetime Military Service Affect Crime?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(3), pages 512-540, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:119:y:2017:i:3:p:512-540
    DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12181
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    Cited by:

    1. Xintong Wang & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, 2022. "Conscription and Military Service: Do They Result in Future Violent and Nonviolent Incarcerations and Recidivism?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(5), pages 1715-1757.
    2. 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).
    3. Nguyen Dinh Tuan Vuong & David Flath, 2019. "Conscription and the developing countries," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 119-146, January.
    4. Cesur, Resul & Sabia, Joseph J. & Tekin, Erdal, 2020. "Post-9/11 War Deployments Increased Crime among Veterans," IZA Discussion Papers 13304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Gabriela Ertola Navajas & Paula A. Lopez Villalba & Martin A. Rossi & Antonia Vazquez, 2022. "The Long-Term Effect of Military Conscription on Personality and Beliefs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(1), pages 133-141, March.
    6. D. Mark Anderson & Daniel I. Rees, 2015. "Deployments, Combat Exposure, and Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 235-267.
    7. Peter Siminski & Simon Ville & Alexander Paull, 2016. "Does the military turn men into criminals? New evidence from Australia’s conscription lotteries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 197-218, January.
    8. Lyk-Jensen, Stéphanie Vincent, 2018. "Does peacetime military service affect crime? New evidence from Denmark’s conscription lotteries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 245-262.
    9. Hjalmarsson, Randi & Lindquist, Matthew J., 2018. "Labour economics and crime," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 147-148.
    10. M. Amelia Gibbons & Martín A. Rossi, 2022. "Military Conscription, Sexist Attitudes and Intimate Partner Violence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(355), pages 540-563, July.
    11. Balestra, Simone, 2018. "Gun prevalence and suicide," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 163-177.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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