|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
Distributional and Welfare Implications of the Military Draft in Russia: Micro-level Evidence
https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2006-1-50-69
Abstract
In this paper data from a large nationally representative survey in Russia are used to analyze the distributional and welfare implications of the military draft. The authors focus on draft avoidance as a common response to highly unpopular conscription system ridden by corruption. A theoretical model that describes household compliance decisions with respect to enlistment is developed. Several econometric techniques are employed to estimate the effect of household characteristics on the probability to serve in the army and the draft-induced implications for household income. The results indicate that the burden of conscription falls excessively on the poor. Poor, low-educated, rural households are much more likely to have their sons enlisted compared to urban, wealthy and better-educated families. The losses incurred by the poor are disproportionately large and exceed the statutory rate of personal income tax.
References
1. Гайдар Е. Социально-экономический прогресс и трансформация системы комплектования вооруженных сил // МЭиМО. 2004. № 8.
2. Хрусталев Е., Цымбал В. Прогнозирование и анализ социально-экономических последствий перехода к контрактному принципу комплектования военной организации // Проблемы прогнозирования. 2004. № 4.
3. Angrist J. Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam Era Draft Lottery: Evidence from Social Security Administrative Records // American Economic Review. 1990. Vol. 80. P. 313-336.
4. Cameron S., Dorling G., Thorpe A. It Could Be You! Military Conscription and Selection Bias in Rural Honduras // European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. 2000. Vol. 68. P. 47-63.
5. Conscription through Detention in Russia's Armed Forces: Human Research Watch Report, 2002. Vol. 14. No 8(D)
6. Fisher A. The Cost of the Draft and the Cost of Ending the Draft // American Economic Review. 1969. Vol. 80. P. 239-253.
7. Hansen W., Weisbrod B. Economics of Military Draft // Quarterly Journal of Economics. 1967. Vol. 81 (3). P. 395-421.
8. Heckman J. Sample Selection Bias as Specification Error // Econometrica. 1979. Vol. 47. P. 153-161.
9. Imbens G., van der Klaauw W. Evaluating the Cost of Conscription in the Netherlands // Journal of Business and Economic Statistics. 1995. Vol. 13. No 2. P. 207-215.
10. Knapp C. A Human Capital Approach to the Burden of the Military Draft // Journal of Human Resources. 1973. Vol. 8. No 4. P. 485-496.
11. Lau M., Poutvaara P., Wagener A. The Dynamic Cost of Military Draft // German Economic Review.2004. Vol. 5. P. 381-406.
12. Maddala G. Limited-Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics // Econometric Society Monographs. No 3. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
13. Maurin E., Xenogiani T. Demand for Education and Labor Market Outcomes: Lessons from the Abolition of Compulsory Conscription in France: CEPR Discussion paper 4946 / Center for Economic Policy Research, March 2005.
14. Methodology of Poverty Line and Consumption Aggregate Using NOBUS. Tesliuc E., Sajaia Z. Russian poverty measurement using NOBUS data: mimeo. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2004.
15. Meznar J. The Ranks of the Poor: Military Service and Social Differentiation in North-East Brazil, 1830-1875 // Hispanic American Historical Review. 1992. Vol. 72. No 3. P. 335-351.
16. Mulligan C., Shleifer A. Conscription as Regulation: Working paper No 10558. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2004.
17. Organizational and Methodological Principles of the National Survey of Household Welfare and Program Participation. Moscow: Russian Federation State Statistical Committee, 2004. http://www.worldbank.org.ru/ECA/Russia.nsf/.
18. To Serve without Health? Inadequate Nutrition and Health Care in the Russian Armed Forces. Human Research Watch Report, 2003. Vol. 15. No 9(D).
19. World Bank. Russian Federation: Reducing Poverty through Growth and Social Policy Reform: Report No 28923-RU, February 8, 2005.
Review
For citations:
Yemtsov R., Lokshin M. Distributional and Welfare Implications of the Military Draft in Russia: Micro-level Evidence. Voprosy Ekonomiki. 2006;(1):50-69. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2006-1-50-69
Views:
814
Email this article 
