American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Battle Scars? The Puzzling Decline in Employment and Rise in Disability Receipt among Vietnam Era Veterans
American Economic Review
vol. 101,
no. 3, May 2011
(pp. 339–44)
Abstract
Using Current Population Survey and US Army administrative data, we document that between 2000 and 2010, the employment rate of Vietnam era veterans fell markedly relative to non-veterans of the same cohorts while simultaneously their enrollment increased steeply in the Veterans Disability Compensation (DC) program, which provides healthcare and transfer payments to veterans with service-connected disabilities. Thirty percent of Vietnam era Army veterans enrolled in DC in 2006 received benefits for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with median annual payments of $25,500. The declining employment and rising transfer payments to Vietnam era veterans underscore the long-term private and public costs of wartime service, potentially stemming from both adverse health consequences and policies that have expanded benefits eligibility.Citation
Autor, David H., Mark G. Duggan, and David S. Lyle. 2011. "Battle Scars? The Puzzling Decline in Employment and Rise in Disability Receipt among Vietnam Era Veterans." American Economic Review, 101 (3): 339–44. DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.3.339JEL Classification
- H23 Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
- I12 Health Production
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
- J45 Public Sector Labor Markets