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Author: Daula, Thomas
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Daula, Thomas
Fagan, Thomas
Smith, D. Alton
Supply of Enlisted Personnel to the Armed Force
Presented: Ithica NY, Econometric Society Meetings, June 1982
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Author
Keyword(s): Behavior; Earnings; Job Patterns; Military Enlistment; Unemployment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using the NLSY, the authors estimate a structural model of enlistment behavior, relating the probability of enlistment for male high school graduates to military earnings relative to potential civilian earnings, unemployment conditions, and variables representing tastes for military job. Potential civilian earnings are derived from an earnings function estimated with the civilian subsample. This function is estimated along with the choice equation to account for possible sample selection bias. In contrast to previous enlistment studies, which use aggregate time series or cross-sectional data, substantially higher relative pay elasticities were found and attributed to the errors in variables problem inherent in using aggregate data to characterize individual behavior. This finding has important implications for the future manpower costs of the armed forces, especially given the declining proportion of 17 to 21 year olds in the population and the armed forces' increasing demands for more intelligent youths to work with sophisticated weapons systems.
Bibliography Citation
Daula, Thomas, Thomas Fagan and D. Alton Smith. "Supply of Enlisted Personnel to the Armed Force." Presented: Ithica NY, Econometric Society Meetings, June 1982.