Conscription and the Developing Countries

43 Pages Posted: 1 Apr 2017

See all articles by Nguyen Vuong

Nguyen Vuong

University of Wisconsin - Madison - Agricultural and Applied Economics

David Flath

Ritsumeikan University - Faculty of Economics

Date Written: April 1, 2017

Abstract

Many countries, mostly ones with developing economies, still have conscription. This study explains why, based on the costs of different recruitment systems. A conscription system misallocates labor compared to all-volunteer recruitment but entails a smaller wage bill. In developing countries, the costs of establishing a conscription system may be large, but the excess burden of taxes needed to finance the higher wage bill of an all-volunteer military are likely to be greater. These considerations, based on cross-country regression analysis, partly explain why many developing countries continue to impose conscription even as the developed countries seem to be abandoning it.

Keywords: conscription, tax systems in developing countries

JEL Classification: H20, H21, O17

Suggested Citation

Vuong, Nguyen and Flath, David J., Conscription and the Developing Countries (April 1, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2943988 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2943988

Nguyen Vuong (Contact Author)

University of Wisconsin - Madison - Agricultural and Applied Economics ( email )

United States

David J. Flath

Ritsumeikan University - Faculty of Economics ( email )

1-1-1 Noji-Higashi
Kusatsu, Shiga 525-8577, Siga 525-8577
Japan

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