Military Ranks
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WHO WILL SERVE? EDUCATION, LABOR MARKETS, AND MILITARY PERSONNEL POLICY by Lindsay P. Cohn Department of Political Science Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Peter D. Feaver, Supervisor ___________________________ David Soskice ___________________________ Christopher Gelpi ___________________________ Tim Büthe ___________________________ Alexander B. Downes Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2007 ABSTRACT WHO WILL SERVE? EDUCATION, LABOR MARKETS, AND MILITARY PERSONNEL POLICY by Lindsay P. Cohn Department of Political Science Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Peter D. Feaver, Supervisor ___________________________ David Soskice ___________________________ Christopher Gelpi ___________________________ Tim Büthe ___________________________ Alexander B. Downes An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science in the Graduate School of Duke University 2007 Copyright by Lindsay P. Cohn 2007 Abstract Contemporary militaries depend on volunteer soldiers capable of dealing with advanced technology and complex missions. An important factor in the successful recruiting, retention, and employment of quality personnel is the set of personnel policies which a military has in place. It might be assumed that military policies on personnel derive solely from the functional necessities of the organization’s mission, given that the stakes of military effectiveness are generally very high. Unless the survival of the state is in jeopardy, however, it will seek to limit defense costs, which may entail cutting into effectiveness. How a state chooses to make the tradeoffs between effectiveness and economy will be subject to influences other than military necessity. In this study, I argue that military personnel management policies ought to be a function of the interaction between the internal pressures of military mission and the external pressures of the national economic infrastructure surrounding the military. The pressures of military mission should not vary significantly across advanced democratic states, but the national market economic type will. Using written policy and expert interview data from five countries, this study analyzes how military selection, accessions, occupational specialty assignment, and separations policies are related to the country’s educational and training system, the significance of skills certification on the labor market, and labor flexibility. I evaluate both officers and enlisted personnel, and I compare them across countries and within countries over time. I find that market iv economic type is a significant explanatory variable for the key military personnel policies under consideration, although other factors such as the size of the military and the stakes of military effectiveness probably also influence the results. Several other potential explanatory factors such as the ease of recruiting appear to be subordinate to market economic type in predicting policy. v Contents Abstract .........................................................................................................................................iv List of Tables.............................................................................................................................. xiii List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................xv 1. Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1 1.1 Why Personnel Quality Matters.....................................................................................2 1.2 A Larger Logic: Economics Inside and Outside...........................................................3 1.2.1 Military Functional Imperatives..................................................................................5 1.2.2 Imperatives of the National Economy........................................................................6 1.3 Aims of the Study.............................................................................................................7 1.4 Limitations.........................................................................................................................9 1.5 Plan of the Study.............................................................................................................15 2. Labor Markets and Education: a theory of military manpower policies ........................18 2.1 Underpinnings: Human Capital and Varieties of Capitalism..................................28 2.1.1 Human Capital ..........................................................................................................28 2.1.2 Varieties of Capitalism..............................................................................................33 2.1.3 Alternative Arguments.............................................................................................37 2.1.3.1 Functional Similarity .........................................................................................38 2.1.3.2 National Idiosyncrasy .......................................................................................40 2.1.3.3 Socio‐economic Legacy .....................................................................................41 2.1.3.4 Mission Posture..................................................................................................41 2.1.4 Summary ....................................................................................................................42 vi 2.2 Influences on Military Organizations: Functional Pressure and Complementarities ...............................................................................................................44 2.2.1 Functional Pressures: Skills, Training, and Tenure ..............................................44 2.2.2 Complementarities: Education, Labor Markets, and Job Security .....................48 2.2.3 Hypotheses for Three Policy Areas.........................................................................51 2.2.3.1 Selection and Accessions Policy.......................................................................51 2.2.3.2 Occupational Specialty Assignment Policy....................................................60 2.2.3.3 Terms of Contract and Separations Policy .....................................................70 2.3 Framework for Theory Testing.....................................................................................82 2.3.1 Selection of Cases ......................................................................................................82 2.3.2 Method........................................................................................................................86 3. Selection and Accessions Policies .........................................................................................88 3.1 Liberal Market Economies.............................................................................................90 3.1.1 The United Kingdom ................................................................................................90 3.1.1.1 Education ............................................................................................................90 3.1.1.2 Selection and Accessions...................................................................................92 3.1.2 Ireland .........................................................................................................................97 3.1.2.1 Education ............................................................................................................97 3.1.2.2 Selection and Accessions...................................................................................99 3.1.3 The United States.....................................................................................................104 3.1.3.1 Education ..........................................................................................................104 3.1.3.2 Selection and Accessions.................................................................................106 3.2 Continental Coordinated Market Economies...........................................................114 vii 3.2.1 Germany ...................................................................................................................114 3.2.1.1 Education ..........................................................................................................114 3.2.1.2 Selection and Accessions.................................................................................117 3.2.2 The Netherlands ......................................................................................................125 3.2.2.1 Education ..........................................................................................................125 3.2.2.2 Selection and Accessions.................................................................................127 3.3 Discussion......................................................................................................................131 3.4 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................139