Older people report much less hardship than younger people in a range of contexts, despite lower incomes. Hardship indicators are increasingly influential, so the source of the gradient has considerable policy implications. We propose a theoretical and empirical strategy to decompose the sources...

We estimate the effect of Vietnam era Army service on mortality, exploiting Australia’s conscription lotteries for identification. We utilise population data on deaths during 1994-2007 and militarypersonnel records. The estimates are identified by over 51,000 compliers induced to enlist in the...

Labour market theory provides several reasons why mothers are likely to earn lower hourly wages than non-mothers. However, the size of any motherhood penalty is an empirical matter and the evidence for Australia is limited. This paper examines the effect of motherhood on Australian women’s...

Australia’s commitment to the Vietnam War drew on the selective conscription of additional manpower through 16 biannual ballots. 20-year-old men were liable to serve if their date of birth was drawn out. The random nature of the ballot was seen as an equitable method of selection for a system...

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The Australian Commonwealth government provides a set of benefits to high income older people, which are intended to promote saving for retirement. It has not been established whether this unusual policy is effective. Using illustrative models, it is shown that these benefits may induce some...

The Australian conscription lotteries of 1965-1972 are a unique and underutilised resource for studying the effects of army service and veterans’ programs. Drawing on many data sources and 25 years of related US literature, we present a comprehensive analysis of this natural experiment,...

Combat is the most intense form of military service, but several aspects of the training experience, which explicitly prepares people for violent warfare, are hypothesized to link service to violent crime. Using Australia’s Vietnam-era conscription lotteries for identification and criminal...

A large literature has documented signicant public health benets associated with the minimum legal drinking age in the United States, particularly because of the resulting eects on motor vehicle accidents. These benets form the primary basis for continued eorts to restrict youth access to...

Exploiting the Australian National Service lotteries of 1965-72, I estimate the effect of Army service on employment outcomes. Population data from military personnel records, tax returns, veterans’ compensation records and the Census facilitate a rich and precise analysis, identified by...