No Fairness, No Cooperation: Draft Dodging by the Rich and Voluntary Enlistment in World War II

Abstract

Conscription in the US during World War II favored the rich. This paper first documents this fact and then examines its effects on voluntary enlistment through newly digitized individual-level draft registration and exemption records. Leveraging random variations from the draft lottery, I find that individuals were less likely to volunteer when the draft rate of their higher-income neighbors was lower than that of their lower-income neighbors. This effect was more pronounced among low-income individuals and those from areas with large draft rate gaps between the poor and rich. In Gallup polls, these individuals also expressed more concerns about draft fairness. These results suggest the importance of perceived fairness in sustaining voluntary cooperation.

Keywords: Fairness, Cooperation, Draft Lottery, Voluntary Enlistment, World War II

JEL Classification: D63, D71, H56, J45, N42