Economic theory predicts that military conscription is associated with static inefficiencies as well as with dynamic distortions of the accumulation of human and physical capital. Relative to an economy with an all-volunteer force, output levels and growth rates should be lower in countries that...

We find that the Nonneman and Vanhoudt (1996) extension to include R&D in the Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992) growth model with human capital performs well also outside of OECD countries. It explains 61 to 86 percent of cross-country variation in income and growth over 40 years, explanatory...