ABSTRACT

This paper studies how local labour market conditions influence the quality composition of those who volunteer for military service in Sweden. A fixed-effects regression model is estimated on a panel data set containing IQ scores for those who applied for military basic training across Swedish municipalities during the period 2010 to 2016. The main finding is that low civilian employment rates at the local level tend to increase the mean IQ score of those who volunteer for military service, whereas the opposite is true if employment rates in the civilian labour market move in a more favourable direction. As such, the results suggest that the negative impact of a strong civilian economy on recruitment volumes is reinforced by a deterioration in recruit quality.

摘要

本文研究了当地劳动力市场状况如何影响瑞典志愿服兵役人员的质量构成。在包含 2010 年至 2016 年期间在瑞典各城市申请军事基础训练的人的智商分数的面板数据集上估计了一个固定效应回归模型。主要发现是地方一级的低平民就业率往往会增加志愿服兵役的人的平均智商得分，而如果民用劳动力市场的就业率朝着更有利的方向发展，则相反。因此，结果表明，强劲的民用经济对招聘数量的负面影响因招聘质量的下降而得到加强。