In filling their armed forces, many countries rely on conscription, which interrupts conscripts’ labor market participation and accumulation of human capital. Thus, conscription likely affects one’s future earnings. In this paper, I investigate the effects of conscription eligibility in the Netherlands and in Italy on subsequent future earnings. I use a difference-in-difference method, using women as the counterfactual, on Luxembourg Income Study data to calculate the effects of conscription eligibility. I find no systematic earnings effects of conscription. While the existence of educational deferments increase the demand for postsecondary education and hence increase future earnings, factors like military culture, military philosophy, and jobs assigned to conscripts produce different results in the two countries. I find that the Dutch conscription increased (by 6-17%) eligible young men’s earnings while the Italian conscription had no effect or slightly decreased eligible young men’s earnings.

U.S. military service members who are discharged from service for misconduct are at high risk for mental health and substance use disorders, homelessness, mortality, and incarceration. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the pre- and post-discharge experiences and characteristics of this highly vulnerable population in order to inform improved prevention and intervention strategies. Administrative data from the Department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration for veterans of recent conflicts were used to conduct 3 related retrospective cohort studies. These included (1) an evaluation of the demographic and military service characteristics and service-connected disabilities associated with discharge for misconduct; (2) an examination of post-discharge health status and healthcare utilization among misconduct-discharged veterans; and (3) the development of predictive models for homelessness and mortality among misconduct-discharged veterans. Several demographic and military service characteristics were associated with increased risk for misconduct discharge, as were exposure to sexual trauma, and post-discharge designation of service-connected disabilities related to mental illness. Misconduct-discharged veterans were found to have significant and complex healthcare needs, and used clinical services at approximately double the rate of routinely discharged veterans. Several risk factors for homelessness and mortality among this population were identified. Risk stratification models showed good predictive accuracy for homelessness, and fair predictive accuracy for mortality. Targeted counter-attrition strategies and an increased focus on health-related determinants of misconduct, including rehabilitative approaches to behavioral problems, may help to reduce misconduct-related attrition. Efforts to transition post-discharge care from specialty settings to integrated primary care settings may be successful in mitigating adverse outcomes. Risk stratification techniques can facilitate the efficient targeting of resources.

The thesis examines individual Scottish soldiers and Scottish regiments abroad in the second half of the seventeenth century, with particular focus on Scottish military service in France and the Netherlands, c.1660-92. The study contends that privately contracted units, of the sort common in the period of the Thirty Years' War (1618-48), evolved into regular standing regiments by the end of the seventeenth century. This process is visible in the altered conditions experienced by professional Scottish officers and ordinary soldiers who served abroad in this period. This study proposes that Britain's foreign policy was primarily affected by that of her two most potent neighbours: France and the Netherlands profoundly affected the attitude of the Stuart monarchs towards their subjects fighting abroad. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>The purpose of this study is to examine who were given the opportunity to express their opinions in the government proposition concerning the future of the school system – particularly regarding the proposal that pupils do compulsory military service - submitted to the Swedish parliament 21 March 1941. Our focus is mainly on three parts of the proposition: the proposal to introduce shooting- and grenade practice for all pupils, the proposal to introduce an obligatory military leadership training course for teachers and the proposal to introduce an obligatory summer camp for all pupils.</p><p>Using primarily a qualitative method we examine how different opinions and views are expressed in the statements and utterances responding to the pending proposition and who the responders are. We will attempt to clarify who were considered to be undisputed authorities and experts, and whose opinions, for that reason, carried a lot of weight in the decision making process, comparing them to the statements and utterances submitted on a voluntary basis by non-experts. And finally, to what extent the opinions in the statements and utterances were allowed to guide the propositional work.</p><p>Results show that the statements and utterances were submitted by authorities, chapter, county administrative boards and religious, non-profit and political organizations as well as different types of schools, representatives from the Board of Education and elementary school boards not a part of county councils or other types of associations. Government authorities, chapter and county administrative boards were given priority in the proposition and it was their opinions that the proposition came to rely on. The rest were seen as “guiding” rather than deciding factors, and then only selectively, as they were generally lumped together and treated collectively. Most of the time, their opinions were not heard, and when they were it was usually to support and corroborate decisions already made by the decision making and implementing instances.</p>

The purpose of this study is to examine who were given the opportunity to express their opinions in the government proposition concerning the future of the school system – particularly regarding the proposal that pupils do compulsory military service - submitted to the Swedish parliament 21 March 1941. Our focus is mainly on three parts of the proposition: the proposal to introduce shooting- and grenade practice for all pupils, the proposal to introduce an obligatory military leadership training course for teachers and the proposal to introduce an obligatory summer camp for all pupils. Using primarily a qualitative method we examine how different opinions and views are expressed in the statements and utterances responding to the pending proposition and who the responders are. We will attempt to clarify who were considered to be undisputed authorities and experts, and whose opinions, for that reason, carried a lot of weight in the decision making process, comparing them to the statements and utterances submitted on a voluntary basis by non-experts. And finally, to what extent the opinions in the statements and utterances were allowed to guide the propositional work. Results show that the statements and utterances were submitted by authorities, chapter, county administrative boards and religious, non-profit and political organizations as well as different types of schools, representatives from the Board of Education and elementary school boards not a part of county councils or other types of associations. Government authorities, chapter and county administrative boards were given priority in the proposition and it was their opinions that the proposition came to rely on. The rest were seen as “guiding” rather than deciding factors, and then only selectively, as they were generally lumped together and treated collectively. Most of the time, their opinions were not heard, and when they were it was usually to support and corroborate decisions already made by the decision making and implementing instances.

R&D Substitute Military Service is the transformation of the Defense Industry Reserve Duty System, and early in the system conversion, the employing enterprise and the community had great expectations. The competent authorities and the organizers have also invested a lot of resources, greater use of space in the system at the surface, the character of the employer and the draftee demand. In this study, a qualitative analysis, through in-depth interviews with the the Rebate employing unit, a draftee, analysis of this system the enterprise of the recruitment and staffing management, organizational effectiveness of the shadow impact as the proposed future sophisticated.

Military service system is the beginning of founding national defense and a way of establishing civilians serving military service. It has great effects on the nation as well as individuals. With the change of time and space, the military strategy in R.O.C. has also undergone concrete transformation. After 1979, R.O.C. adopts the idea of defensive posture in building up troops. R.O.C. Armed Forces also pushes a whole programming of reconstructing troops, such as "Ten-Year Military Buildup Concepts", "Jingshi Program" and "Jingjin Program". The adjustment in organization and objectives in big range is regarded as the great military reconstruction since the establishment of the army. Therefore, the influence is deep and wide. Besides, the military service system serves as the source of high quality and proper quantity personnel, so the choice of military service system should depend on the guidelines of military strategies and the requirement of force structure. Hence, whether the force sourcing or the shortening of the service term should keep the flexibility and tenacity, in accordance with the gradual adjustment of buildup plan. Otherwise, the military strategic target cannot be achieved. Nowadays, the military buildup plan is based on the "fighting, equipment, organization, training, and employing" and the goal of "what we fight, what we get." And "Ten-Year Military Buildup Concepts" and "Five-Year Defense Force Programming" are important documents in ¡§designing¡¨ long-term force construction needs, which instruct the force structure in the future toward the target of reducing the total numbers of soldiers and promote personnel's character. Among these objectives, the military service system is an important part of "organization", and the root of weapon system efficiency. Currently the design of R.O.C. military service system is mainly on the voluntary system to meet the requirement of military personnel. Speaking of the trend of military service system, the voluntary system is the mainstream indeed. However, the factors of designing military service system are very complicated. There is no good or bad one. From the literature review about the military service system, most of them are concerned about whether the voluntary system or conscription system is good or bad and shortening of service time. Few of them mention the deep underlying theories behind military service system and the problem arising from the process of military transformation. This study mainly explores the problems encountered in the reform of the military service system. The policy-making authorities must face up to these factors and search for long-term and complete solution. Otherwise, the effect of the voluntary system to elevate the military power will be reduced and it will cause more and more problems in the future.

In this thesis, we examine labor market outcomes for the youth (ages 15-29) using microdata from several rounds of the Turkish Household Labor Force Survey (HLFS). We begin by examining demographic trends. We then rely on synthetic cohorts. The fact that the HLFS sample frame targets the civilian non-institutional population brings about difficulties in interpreting labor market indicators. We show that a more reasonable picture of schooling and work choices emerges when a simple correction for &lsquo / missing males&rsquo / who are doing their CMS and examine the effect of Compulsory Military Service (CMS) on the transition from school to work by using discrete hazard models. We also investigate the time it takes to find the first permanent job to shed light on the recent evolution of the transition from school to work.Using Cox Proportional Hazard Model, we examine the effects of structural reforms and macro-economic conditions, and the permanence of these effects. We are able to study the differences in the hazard of obtaining the first permanent job by education levels non-parametrically. Finally, we investigate the changes in the cumulative baseline hazards over time and test for the presence of gender differences in the hazard rates by using time varying covariates. With the help of these covariates, we are able to compute the time needed for the closure of the gender gap.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-269).

This dissertation investigates some of the factors affecting modern household finance decisions in the United States using natural experimental variation and administrative data. In Chapter 1 I estimate the effects of financial education on retirement savings decisions. Between 2007 and 2008 the U.S. Army implemented a mandatory 8 hour Personal Financial Management Course (PFMC) for new soldiers. Staggered implementation across locations and time provides quasi-experimental variation in whether an individual received the training. I find that the course has large and lasting effects on individual retirement savings in the Thrift Savings Plan, a tax-deferred account similar to a 401(k). The course doubles savings, has significant effects throughout the distribution of savings and the effects persist out to two years. The mechanism for the effects is likely a combination of both human capital and behavioral assistance. In Chapter 2 I estimate the effects of financial education on a variety of other economic behaviors. I rely on the same natural experiment as in Chapter 1 but I use individually matched credit data to estimate the effects of financial education on credit scores, credit balances for several types of accounts, monthly payments and adverse legal actions. In some areas I find that the PFMC has beneficial effects, reducing cumulative account balances (especially for automobile accounts) and aggregate monthly payments. In other areas, including credit scores, the probability of being active in the credit market and the number of adverse legal actions, the PFMC has no statistically significant effects on financial behavior. In Chapter 3 I estimate the effects of stress on financial decision-making. I use the natural variation in the casualty rates faced by individuals deploying overseas an exogenous source of stress and I measure the effects of this stress on individuals' participation in the Savings Deposit Program (SDP), a risk-free 10% annual percentage rate savings account. I find a modest and statistically significant negative relationship between the stress of casualties and SDP participation on the order of 5%. Some failures of the randomization test and the confounding effects of overall activity levels and rural locations cannot be eliminated as a source of the observed savings differences and as a result, these results should be considered suggestive evidence of the adverse effects of stress on financial decision-making.