To draft or not to draft? Inefficiency, generational incidence, and political economy of military conscription

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Panu Poutvaara
  • Andreas Wagener

Organisationseinheiten

Externe Organisationen

  • Universität Helsinki
  • Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR)
  • Münchener Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wirtschaftswissenschaft - CESifo GmbH
  • Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA)
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)975-987
Seitenumfang13
FachzeitschriftEuropean Journal of Political Economy
Jahrgang23
Ausgabenummer4
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Dez. 2007

Abstract

We study the military draft as a form of intergenerational redistribution, taking into account endogenous human capital formation. Introducing the military draft initially benefits the older generation while it harms the young and all future generations. As it distorts human capital formation more severely than an equivalent intergenerational transfer using public debt or pay-as-you-go pensions, the draft can be abolished in a Pareto-improving way if age-dependent taxes are available. In the absence of age-specific taxes, the political allure of the draft can be explained by the specific intergenerational incidence of its costs and benefits.

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Zitieren

To draft or not to draft? Inefficiency, generational incidence, and political economy of military conscription. / Poutvaara, Panu; Wagener, Andreas.
in: European Journal of Political Economy, Jahrgang 23, Nr. 4, 12.2007, S. 975-987.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

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