Military Draft and Economic Growth in OECD Contries

Keller, Katarina; Poutvaara, Panu; Wagener, Andreas (2008): Military Draft and Economic Growth in OECD Contries. Discussion Paper / Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), 2008,10

Abstract

Economic theory predicts that military conscription is associated with static inefficiencies as well as with dynamic distortions of the accumulation of human and physical capital. Relative to an economy with an allvolunteer force, output levels and growth rates should be lower in countries that rely on a military draft to recruit their army personnel. For OECD countries, we show that military conscription indeed has a statistically significantly negative impact on economic performance.

• Item Type: Paper (Discussion Paper)
• Faculties: Economics; Economics > Chairs > CESifo-Professorship for International Institutional Comparisons
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• Language: English