Utilizing particularities in the Israeli laws and regulations, that exempt married women and ultraorthodox
Jewish men from military service, we provide evidence about the effects of compulsory military service on future earnings of veterans. The quasi-experimental estimates suggest that women experience a 4.6 percent military wage premium, while men experience a premium of 11.6 percent. These effects are far smaller than those experienced by minority groups, confirming the common notion in this literature. Finally, the discrepancies we found between the naïve and the consistent estimates suggest that people who voluntarily avoid service are those who face the highest opportunity costs of service.