Educational Benefits Versus Enlistment Bonuses: A Comparison of Recruiting Options.
Abstract
Effective management of recruiting resources requires information on the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative methods of enhancing enlisted supply. Two key recruiting policy options are enlistment bonuses and post-service educational benefits. While numerous studies have examined the effects of these programs on enlistment outcomes, less is known about how these options affect the service history of recruits. The incentives embedded in the programs, the structure of the programs, and the types of recruits systematically drawn in by these programs may result in these benefits' significantly altering the attrition, retention, and reserve component accession rates of recruits. Such effects could dramatically influence estimated per-man-year costs of these recruiting programs. As a result, cost- effectiveness comparisons based on the enlistment effects of each program could provide only a partial picture of the programs' effects. For example, educational benefits could induce enlistees to leave after their first term but could also induce them to become part of the reserve force later. An examination of enlistment effects only rather than total force effects would provide a misleading comparison between educational benefits and bonuses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA291829
Entities
People
- Beth J. Asch
- James N. Dertouzos
Organizations
- RAND Corporation