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Evaluating the Labor Market Performance of Veterans Using a Matched Comparison Group Design

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Listed:
  • Barry T. Hirsch
  • Stephen L. Mehay

Abstract

The effect of active-duty service on civilian earnings is estimated using the Reserve Components Surveys, permitting a matched comparison between reservists who are veterans and reservists without active-duty service. Estimated treatment effects control for selection by the military and individuals, due in part to identical active-duty and reserve entrance requirements. The average impact of active-duty service on civilian earnings is 3 percent among the reservist population, reflecting effects of essentially zero for enlisted personnel and 10 percent for officers. Among white enlisted personnel veteran effects are negative but small, while averaging about 5 percent among African-Americans. Wage penalties resulting from Vietnam-era service are larger for white draftees than volunteers, while African-American draftees and volunteers realized gains.

Suggested Citation

  • Barry T. Hirsch & Stephen L. Mehay, 2003. "Evaluating the Labor Market Performance of Veterans Using a Matched Comparison Group Design," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:38:y:2003:i:3:p673-700
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    Cited by:

    1. David R. Mann, 2012. "Why We Fight: Understanding Military Participation over the Life Cycle," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(4), pages 279-315.
    2. Muhammad Asali, 2017. "Military Service and Future Earnings Revisited," Working Papers 005-17 JEL Codes: J24, J3, International School of Economics at TSU, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.
    3. Cesur, Resul & Sabia, Joseph J. & Tekin, Erdal, 2015. "Combat exposure and migraine headache: Evidence from exogenous deployment assignment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 81-99.
    4. Asali, Muhammad, 2015. "Compulsory Military Service and Future Earnings: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 8892, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Charles Blessings Laurence Jumbe & Arild Angelsen, 2006. "Do the Poor Benefit from Devolution Policies? Evidence from Malawi’s Forest Co-Management Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 82(4), pages 562-581.
    6. Barry T. Hirsch, 2008. "Wage Gaps Large and Small," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(4), pages 914-933, April.
    7. P. Routon, 2014. "The Effect of 21st Century Military Service on Civilian Labor and Educational Outcomes," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 15-38, March.
    8. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2012. "Can Compulsory Military Service Raise Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 57-93, October.
    9. Jennifer L. Steele & Peter Buryk & Geoffrey McGovern, 2018. "Student Veterans’ Outcomes by Higher Education Sector: Evidence from Three Cohorts of the Baccalaureate and Beyond," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(7), pages 866-896, November.
    10. Christos A. Makridis & Barry T. Hirsch, 2021. "The Labor Market Earnings of Veterans: Is Military Experience More or Less Valuable than Civilian Experience?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 303-333, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Myoung-Jae Lee & Yip Chun Seng, 2005. "Non-market Leadership Experience and Labor Market Success: Evidence From Military Rank," Working Papers 12-2005, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
    13. Hou, Benyufang & Liu, Hong & Wang, Sophie Xuefei, 2020. "Returns to military service in off-farm wage employment: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    14. Amy Kate Bailey & Bryan L. Sykes, 2018. "Veteran Status, Income, and Intergenerational Mobility Across Three Cohorts of American Men," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(4), pages 539-568, August.
    15. Cesur, Resul & Sabia, Joseph J. & Tekin, Erdal, 2013. "The psychological costs of war: Military combat and mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 51-65.
    16. Ayan, Davut, 2016. "Unemployment Among the Recent U.S. Veterans," MPRA Paper 117307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Resul Cesur & Alexander Chesney & Joseph J. Sabia, 2016. "Combat Exposure, Cigarette Consumption, And Substance Use," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1705-1726, July.
    18. Muhammad Asali, 2018. "Military service and future earnings: Evidence from an Informed Difference-in-Differences (IDID) approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1583-1589.
    19. Chunkai Zhao & Jianhao Guo, 2022. "Are Veterans Happy? Long-term Military Service and the Life Satisfaction of Elderly Individuals in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 477-508, February.
    20. Paul E. Gabriel, 2020. "An Empirical Examination of the Occupational Attainment of American Veterans of World War I," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 101(3), pages 1009-1017, May.
    21. Alberto Davila & Marie T. Mora, 2012. "Terrorism and Patriotism: On the Earnings of US Veterans following September 11, 2001," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 261-266, May.
    22. Young-Min Ju & Myoung-Jae Lee, 2017. "Control Function Approach for Partly Ordered Endogenous Treatments: Military Rank Premium in Wage," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(6), pages 1176-1194, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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