Ruhr Economic Papers

Ruhr Economic Papers #206
Compulsory Military Service in Germany Revisited
by Alfredo Paloyo
RWI, RUB, RGS Econ, 09/2010, 27 S./p., 8 Euro, ISBN 978-3-86788-235-4
downloadAbstract
This paper estimates the causal impact of compulsory military service on men in Germany using social security and pension administrative data for the cohort of individuals born in the period 1932–1942. Due to the combination of laws restricting conscription only to men born on or after July 1, 1937, difference-in-differences estimates of the effect of conscription on average daily wages can be computed using cohorts of women as a comparison group. The results indicate that conscription had no significant impact on a draftee’s labor-market performance, validating an earlier result using an alternative identification strategy.
JEL-Classification: J31
Keywords: Conscription; difference in differences; German Federal Defense Force