{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.012866333095067906, 'fraction_numerical': 0.009292351679771264, 'mean_word_length': 5.11353711790393, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Evidence for Social Capital through Drinking in the Military? Evidence from Officers versus Enlisted Personnel

The positive correlation between drinking and higher wages has existed in the economics literature on alcohol consumption since 1988. However, a clear explanation for this finding has yet to emerge. I use data on male military personnel from the 1985 Worldwide Survey of Alcohol and Nonmedical Drug Use Among Military Personnel to explore a theory of social capital. Specifically, one way individuals can invest in social capital is through drinking in certain settings. Abstainers miss out on opportunities to increase their social capital stock because they forego social interaction that could aid in promotion. Some evidence comes from exploring the wage bonus for Officers versus Enlisted. I find the effect of different drinking levels on wages varies with station in the military. Officers who drink between 2 and 38 drinks per week earn between 2 and 8 percent more than officers who abstain. Alternatively, Enlisted personnel gain a much smaller bonus from drinking. Utilizing the ways in which the military differs on Officers and Enlisted promotions and data on where individuals drink, I expect to find a bigger wage bonus among officers who drink in officers’ clubs relative to drinking alone, thus finding evidence for social capital as a wage-enhancing drinking mechanism.