Can Compulsory Military Service Raise Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Card, David; Cardoso, Ana Rute
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC); CSIC - Institut d'Analisi Economica (IAE); Barcelona School of Economics
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.4.4.57
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 57-93
• 关键词: Conscription; earnings; IMPACT; experience; education; LESSONS; HEALTH

摘要

We provide new evidence on the long-term impacts of peacetime conscription, using longitudinal data for Portuguese men born in 1967. These men were inducted at age 21, allowing us to use pre-conscription wages to control for ability differences between conscripts and nonconscripts. We find a significant 4-5 percentage point impact of service on the wages of men with only primary education, coupled with a zero effect for men with higher education. The effect for less-educated men suggests that mandatory service can be a valuable experience for those who might otherwise spend their careers in low-level jobs. (JEL J24, J31, J45)