Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Author-Name: Guillermo Cruces Author-Name-First: Guillermo Author-Name-Last: Cruces Author-Name: Martín A. Rossi Author-Name-First: Martín A. Author-Name-Last: Rossi Author-Name: Ernesto Schargrodsky Author-Name-First: Ernesto Author-Name-Last: Schargrodsky Title: Dishonesty and Public Employment. Abstract: We study the link between dishonesty and selection into public employment. When military conscription was mandatory in Argentina, eligibility was determined by a lottery and by a medical examination. In order to avoid conscription, drafted individuals had strong incentives to cheat in their medical examination. These incentives varied with the lottery number. Exploiting this exogenous variation in the propensity to engage in dishonest behavior during early adulthood (the “impressionable” years), we find that individuals with higher probability of having cheated in their health checks as young adults also show higher propensity to become public employees later in life. Length: 33 pages Creation-Date: 2020-11 File-URL: https://aaep.org.ar/works/works2020/Rossi.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Number: 4401 Classification-JEL: K2 Keywords: Military service, conscription, public sector, state capacities, cheating Handle: RePEc:aep:anales:4401