Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/96739 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8057
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Military conscription implicitly taxes draftees. Those who would have volunteered at the market wage may be forced to serve for lower wages, and those with higher opportunity costs may be forced to serve regardless, yet little is known about the distribution of this burden. We exploit the Danish draft lottery to estimate the causal effect of military service on labor earnings of young men across the cognitive ability distribution. We find that high ability men who are induced to serve face a 7 percent earnings penalty, whereas low ability men face none. Educational career disruption is an important channel.
Subjects: 
conscription
military service
earnings
draft lottery
JEL: 
J24
J31
J45
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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