Year: 2001
Type: report
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: What motivated men to risk death in the most horrific war in U.S. history when pay was low and irregular and military punishment strategies were weak?In such a situation creating group loyalty by promoting social capital is of paramount importance and in the Civil War was the cement of both armies.We find that individual and company socio-economic and demographic characteristics, ideology, and morale were important predictors of group loyalty in the Union Army.Company characteristics were more important than ideology or morale.Soldiers in companies that were more homogeneous in ethnicity, occupation, and age were less likely to shirk.
DOI: 10.3386/w8627
Authors: Dora Costa, Matthew Kahn
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Institutes of Health
OpenAlex ID: W2890187593