When Germany ended conscription, and an era: Effects on composition and quality of its military

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Authors
Bacolod, Marigee
Koenigsmark, Stefan
Advisors
Second Readers
Subjects
Conscription
Military manpower
Difference-indifferences
All-volunteer force
German armed forces
Date of Issue
2017
Date
Publisher
Journal of Defense Management
Language
Abstract
On July 1, 2011 Germany formally suspended the draft that had been in place since 1957. This study examines data from the German Micro Census and the German General Social Surveys to estimate the causal effects of the switch to an All-Volunteer Force (AVF) on the quantity and quality of military recruits, as well as perceived demand for defense. Using a difference-indifferences empirical strategy, the paper finds that while the perceived importance of national defense dropped, the average quality of German military recruits increased with the switch to an AVF. Implications for policy are then considered.
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Article
Description
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167-0374.1000165
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper are the authors’ own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the USA Department of Defense or the German Navy. All errors are also our own.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10945/57658
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6 p.
Citation
Marigee Bacolod and Stefan Koenigsmark, "When Germany Ended Conscription, and an Era: Effects on Composition and Quality of its Military", Journal of Defense Management, 2017, Vol.7, Issue 2
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.
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