Conscription and the Returns to Education: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity*

In 1997, the French government put into effect a law that permanently exempted young French men born after 1 January 1979 from mandatory military service. This paper uses a regression discontinuity design to identify the effect of peacetime conscription policies on education and labor market outcomes. Results indicate that conscription eligibility induces a significant increase in years of education but has no effect on employment and wages at the ages of 30-36. Further analysis shows that the interpretation most consistent with findings is that the average marginal return to the additional schooling induced by conscription is low.