Explaining the worldwide decline in the length of mandatory military service, 1970–2010

Compulsory military service has declined considerably since 1970. This explained by changes on both the extensive and intensive margins by governments. While the decision to use conscription for military purposes has been studied extensively, in this paper we examine empirically the factors underlying the decline in the duration of military service obligations. Employing data from the Economic Freedom of the World index observed at 5-year...