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Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes

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  • Puhani, Patrick
  • Sterrenberg, Margret

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the effects of mandatory military service by exploiting the post-cold war decrease in the need for soldiers causing a substantial number of potential conscripts not to be drafted into the German military. Specifically, using previously unavailable information on degree of fitness in the military’s medical exam as a control variable, we test for the effects of mandatory military service on wages; employment; marriage/partnership status; and satisfaction with work, financial situation, health, family life, friends, and life in general. We find almost no statistically significant effects of this 6 to 9 month career interruption for young German men, with the exception of hourly wage, which shows a negative point estimate of -15 percent with a large confidence interval of between -30 and -0.2 percent. This interval estimate is consistent with previous findings for the United States, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

Suggested Citation

  • Puhani, Patrick & Sterrenberg, Margret, 2021. "Effects of Mandatory Military Service on Wages and Other Socioeconomic Outcomes," Economics Working Paper Series 2105, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2021:05
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Career breaks; conscription; wages; employment; life satisfaction; natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J47 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Coercive Labor Markets

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