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Among a set of extractive institutions particularly set up by colonial powers themselves, military conscription has been understudied to this day. In this paper, I attempt to delve deeper into this important historical institution in French West Africa (FWA) during the interwar era (1920-1939). First of all, I find that when the conscription target stipulated by higher colonial officials increased, strikingly the lower district-level authorities were not complying with this figure faithfully, even when they complied, the target increase was only met by a dubious increase in "deemed fit" soldiers in regions where labor constraints were already running high. Such findings point to a more complex French colonial rule in West Africa where authorities were "fighting over" the scarce resource of labor. Secondly, I find that in times of negative income shocks, potential flooding events in tropical regions of FWA made individuals more likely to volunteering into the army and correspondingly, an increase in drought risk in arid Sahel regions of FWA also made the indigenous more likely to present themselves to the military. Both effects point to the fact that the conscription system was being exploited as an informal insurance device by the locals at a time when insurance institutions were lacking and weather-induced negative agricultural income shocks were frequent.

Among a set of extractive institutions particularly set up by colonial powers themselves, military conscription has been understudied to this day. In this paper, I attempt to delve deeper into this important historical institution in French West Africa (FWA) during the interwar era (1920-1939). First of all, I find that when the conscription target stipulated by higher colonial officials increased, strikingly the lower district-level authorities were not complying with this figure faithfully, even when they complied, the target increase was only met by a dubious increase in "deemed fit" soldiers in regions where labor constraints were already running high. Such findings point to a more complex French colonial rule in West Africa where authorities were "fighting over" the scarce resource of labor. Secondly, I find that in times of negative income shocks, potential flooding events in tropical regions of FWA made individuals more likely to volunteering into the army and correspondingly, an increase in drought risk in arid Sahel regions of FWA also made the indigenous more likely to present themselves to the military. Both effects point to the fact that the conscription system was being exploited as an informal insurance device by the locals at a time when insurance institutions were lacking and weather-induced negative agricultural income shocks were frequent.

Among a set of extractive institutions particularly set up by colonial powers themselves, military conscription has been understudied to this day. In this paper, I attempt to delve deeper into this important historical institution in French West Africa (FWA) during the interwar era (1920-1939). First of all, I find that when the conscription target stipulated by higher colonial officials increased, strikingly the lower district-level authorities were not complying with this figure faithfully, even when they complied, the target increase was only met by a dubious increase in "deemed fit" soldiers in regions where labor constraints were already running high. Such findings point to a more complex French colonial rule in West Africa where authorities were "fighting over" the scarce resource of labor. Secondly, I find that in times of negative income shocks, potential flooding events in tropical regions of FWA made individuals more likely to volunteering into the army and correspondingly, an increase in drought risk in arid Sahel regions of FWA also made the indigenous more likely to present themselves to the military. Both effects point to the fact that the conscription system was being exploited as an informal insurance device by the locals at a time when insurance institutions were lacking and weather-induced negative agricultural income shocks were frequent.

Among a set of extractive institutions particularly set up by colonial powers themselves, military conscription has been understudied to this day. In this paper, I attempt to delve deeper into this important historical institution in French West Africa (FWA) during the interwar era (1920-1939). First of all, I find that when the conscription target stipulated by higher colonial officials increased, strikingly the lower district-level authorities were not complying with this figure faithfully, even when they complied, the target increase was only met by a dubious increase in "deemed fit" soldiers in regions where labor constraints were already running high. Such findings point to a more complex French colonial rule in West Africa where authorities were "fighting over" the scarce resource of labor. Secondly, I find that in times of negative income shocks, potential flooding events in tropical regions of FWA made individuals more likely to volunteering into the army and correspondingly, an increase in drought risk in arid Sahel regions of FWA also made the indigenous more likely to present themselves to the military. Both effects point to the fact that the conscription system was being exploited as an informal insurance device by the locals at a time when insurance institutions were lacking and weather-induced negative agricultural income shocks were frequent.

Fil: López, Paula A. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina. ; Military conscription is one of the most prevalent policies around the world, typically affecting men at a very young age. Still, its consequences on shaping men´s beliefs remain unknown. I estimate the causal impact of mandatory military conscription on subsequent beliefs. To address potential endogeneity concerns I exploit the conscription draft lottery in Argentina. I combine administrative data on the draft with data from a purposely-designed survey on beliefs. I find that men that served in the conscription are more likely to justify violence to solve conflicts, believe that military service should be mandatory, support coups against civilian governments, accept military interventions in foreign countries, and support the right to bear arms. This paper highlights the potential role that military conscription has in shaping the beliefs of young people from all around the world. ; Rossi, Martín A.

This paper examines an institution called Review and Selection, which facilitated the tasks of tax collection and military conscription in early modern Vietnam. Through a comparative examination of this institution's history in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Lê/Trịnh realm of Đàng Ngoài in the north and the Nguyễn domain of Đàng Trong in the south, this paper challenges ideas in extant English-language scholarship that claim that Đàng Trong was less bureaucratic, less Confucian, and more militarized than that of the Lê north. In the process, it offers some new characterizations of early modern Vietnam.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ; The human resource – or 'manpower' – problem faced by the British during the First World War is a topic that has been neglected and is therefore much misunderstood. This thesis sheds light on the ways in which the nation attempted to organise its citizens to serve four concomitant manpower needs: the sufficient supply of men for the armed forces, the workforce required for the munitions industry, the personnel needed to cater for the needs of the civilian population, and the people who worked to maintain the country's financial and economic stability. This is done through study of the implementation and administration of compulsory military service. The principal archival source is the Middlesex Appeal Tribunal archive, held at The National Archives in Kew. The urban district of Acton has been used as a data sample. This thesis examines five different occupations and considers the three groups of people involved in the tribunal process: the potential conscripts, their associated contemporaries and the tribunal members. This thesis demonstrates the complexities involved in balancing the nation's manpower needs. Indeed, many of the problems were never fully solved. With little overall central guidance the demands made by various government departments, the military authorities, trade associations, employers, the local populace, family members and the appellants themselves were often difficult for the military service tribunals to resolve. This thesis shows that home front imperatives were a fundamental aspect of the decision making with regard to the nation's manpower. A man's skill, his local influence and his health were important points to consider when deciding whether he should remain on the home front or serve in the armed forces. In addition it is clear that tribunals paid mere lip service to some central government advice, such as that related to one-man businesses. Much ...

Fil: Vazquez, Antonia. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina. ; "El servicio militar obligatorio es una de las políticas públicas más extendidas en todo el mundo y generalmente afecta a los hombres jóvenes. Sin embargo, sus efectos sobre la personalidad siguen siendo desconocidos. En este trabajo, estudio el impacto causal del servicio militar obligatorio sobre distintos rasgos de la personalidad. Para evitar posibles problemas de endogeneidad, exploto el sorteo del servicio militar obligatorio en Argentina. Combinando los datos administrativos sobre el sorteo con datos obtenidos de una encuesta sobre rasgos de personalidad específicamente diseñada para este estudio, encuentro que los hombres reclutados son menos tolerantes, más disciplinados, más políticamente conservadores, más autoritarios y más beligerantes." ; Palabras clave: Servicio Militar Obligatorio, personalidad, políticas publicas, Argentina ; Rossi, Martín

Given that a growing number of countries have abolished or are considering the abolition of military conscription, understanding the consequences of this measure is of increased importance. In this paper we study the effect of the suppression of compulsory military service on university enrolment in Italy using double and triple differences models. The empirical results show that there is no compelling evidence suggesting that the abolition of military conscription has a causal effect on university enrolment. However, although there is no significant overall effect, we find some evidence of heterogeneous effects. While this measure seems to increase university participation among individuals from more advantaged backgrounds, it appears to have a detrimental effect on the enrolment of those from less advantaged backgrounds.

The post-Cold War tendency of abandoning conscripted for volunteer forces appears to be reversing, and many countries have recently expanded or reintroduced mandatory military service. This article offers insights into the contemporary "return" of draft models by exploring how the reactivation of (this time gender-neutral) military conscription was justified and made possible in Sweden. The study, based on a discourse analysis of political and policy documents and interviews with defense officials, shows how Sweden's new conscription was envisioned as "modernized" in its reimplementation phase; a system distinguished from the familiar republican citizen-soldier model. Instead, the article shows how conscription was reimagined when linked to characteristics of (neo)liberal government and citizenship: voluntarism, individualism, and gender equality. The study's unique contribution to knowledge is thus an improved understanding of how conscription is ascribed meaning, legitimacy, and appeal and consequently how its return and retainment is enabled, across national contexts.

We provide empirical evidence on the long‐term causal impact of military conscription on sexist attitudes and intimate partner violence. To address potential endogeneity, we exploit the conscription draft lottery in Argentina. We combine the draft administrative data with self‐reported survey data. We find that conscription causes men to adopt more sexist attitudes in dimensions such as justification of sexism and violence, sexual machismo, negative attitude towards homosexuality, old‐fashioned sexism, and hostile sexism. Conscription also causes more engagement in intimate partner violence, as measured by self‐reported non‐physical abuse and physical violence.