Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription
21 Pages Posted: 11 May 2020 Last revised: 14 Jul 2021
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Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription
Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 20-09
Number of pages: 21
Posted: 11 May 2020
Last Revised: 14 Jul 2021
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Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription
Number of pages: 21
Posted: 22 Apr 2021
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Date Written: May 11, 2020
Abstract
Gary Becker wrote what may be the first economic analysis of conscription. Less than a decade later, economists played a key role in an important public policy debate during the Vietnam War, which eventually led to abolishment of the military draft. Becker had connections to many of those economists who studied the economics of conscription, and his paper foreshadowed many of the ideas in that literature. Despite this, none cited his paper on conscription. We discuss this history and speculate on this puzzle.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Gibbs, Michael and Perri, Timothy, Dodging a Draft: Gary Becker's Lost Paper on Conscription (May 11, 2020). Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 20-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3598191 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3598191
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