Editor:
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía
Issued date:
2019-10-25
ISSN:
2340-5031
xmlui.dri2xhtml.METS-1.0.item-contributor-funder:
Comunidad de Madrid Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España) Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (España)
Sponsor:
I gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education
(Grant ECO2009-11165), the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MDM 2014-
0431), and the Comunidad de Madrid MadEco-CM (S2015/HUM-3444).
Serie/No.:
Working papers. Economics 19-03
Project:
Gobierno de España. ECO2009-11165 Gobierno de España. MDM 2014-0431 Comunidad de Madrid. S2015/HUM-3444/MadEco-CM
Rights:
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España
Abstract:
Using Spanish administrative records, I study the impact of Military Service (MS) on
several labor outcomes for men born between the years 1968 and 1973. To address a concern
of endogeneity in MS, a national lottery is used as a source of variation. The resuUsing Spanish administrative records, I study the impact of Military Service (MS) on
several labor outcomes for men born between the years 1968 and 1973. To address a concern
of endogeneity in MS, a national lottery is used as a source of variation. The results reveal,
differently from OLS or Fixed Effects estimates of the impact of MS, that an allocation out
of service through the lottery is associated with significant benefits. Firstly, being spared
from service increases the probability of being in the labor market (1.6pp), the likelihood of
being employed (1.7pp), tenure in the last job (0.15 years) and monthly earnings (1.9pp).
Secondly, the effect is not restricted to the years of active service, but for extensive margins
(employment and labor force participation), it wears o over the years. However, the impact
on some earnings measures is present over the complete period under analysis. Thirdly, I
present evidence that avoiding MS through the lottery is associated to an increase in labor
market experience (0.2 years) and the likelihood of holding a professional or technical degree
(2.8pp). Finally, I explore the heterogeneity across educational levels and whether location of
service and military branch affect the size of the penalty.[+][-]