You currently have no access to view or download this content. Please log in with your institutional or personal account if you should have access to this content through either of these.
Showing a limited preview of this publication:
Abstract
We propose a dynamic general-equilibrium model with human capital accumulation to evaluate the economic consequences of compulsory services (such as military draft or social work). Our analysis identifies a so far ignored dynamic cost arising from distortions in time allocation over the life cycle.We provide conservative estimates for the excess burden that arises when the government relies on forced labor rather than on income taxation to finance public expenditures. Our results suggest that eliminating the draft could produce considerable dynamic gains, both in terms of GDP and lifetime utility.
Keywords: Conscription; time allocation; distortionary taxation; computable general-equilibrium models
Published Online: 2019-11-30
Published in Print: 2004-12-01
© 2019 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston