McCall, John, and Neil Wallace. 1969. "A Supply Function of First-Term Re-Enlistees to the Air Force." Journal of Human Resources 4(3):293-310.

This paper examines several aspects of the training and retention of Air Force electronic specialists. The major goal of the study is to investigate the responsiveness of the re-enlistment rate to changes in Air Force remuneration. The study is based on data obtained from the Personnel Research Laboratory at Lackland Air Force Base. Both biographical and earnings information were available for a group of 505 electronic specialists who left the Air Force in 1962 after their first tour of duty and who reported their civilian earnings in 1964. Biographical data were also obtained for a control group of 393 electronic specialists who chose to re-enlist in 1962 after their first tour of duty. For this sample of airmen, the re-enlistment rate is very sensitive to differences between civilian and Air Force earnings opportunities. Our results imply, for example, that if the initial re-enlistment rate were 50 percent and if Air Force remuneration were increases by $1,000 per year, then the re-enlistment rate would rise to about 70 percent.

Mr. McCall is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine. Mr. Wallace is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota; he is currently on leave at the National Bureau of Economic Research. This research was performed while the authors were at the RAND Corporation. Any views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the RAND Corporation or the official opinion or policy of any of its governmental or private research sponsors. Papers are reproduced by the RAND Corporation as a courtesy to members of its staff.

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US ISSN 0022-166X

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