Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription

18 Pages Posted: 17 Apr 2021 Last revised: 19 May 2022

See all articles by Michael Gibbs

Michael Gibbs

University of Chicago Booth School of Business; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Timothy Perri

Appalachian State University

Abstract

Gary Becker wrote what may be the first economic analysis of conscription. Less than a decade later, economists played a key role in an important public policy debate during the Vietnam War, which eventually led to abolishment of the military draft. Becker had connections to many of those economists who studied the economics of conscription, and his paper foreshadowed many of the ideas in that literature. Despite this, none cited his paper on conscription. We discuss this history and speculate on this puzzle.

Keywords: labor market public policy, conscription

JEL Classification: M5

Suggested Citation

Gibbs, Michael and Perri, Timothy, Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription. IZA Discussion Paper No. 14284, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3828331

Michael Gibbs (Contact Author)

University of Chicago Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Timothy Perri

Appalachian State University ( email )

Boone, NC 28608
United States

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