From Barracks to the Labor Market: How Military Identity Shapes Veteran Employment Stability in China

Veteran social reintegration is a growing policy concern, yet existing research has focused mainly on institutional support while giving less attention to veterans’ psychological and social resources. Using 2023 survey data from veterans in nine Chinese provinces, this study examines the association between military identity and employment stability. Ordered logit and multinomial logit models are employed, together with a conditional mixed process model, to partially alleviate endogeneity concerns. The results show that stronger military identity is significantly associated with a higher likelihood of stable employment. Mechanism analyses indicate that military identity is linked to more positive future outlooks, stronger perceived transferability of military-acquired skills, and more active comrade network maintenance, which are also associated with employment stability. Heterogeneity analyses show that the association is stronger among rural veterans, those without resettlement benefits, and younger cohorts. The findings highlight identity-based career resources as an important dimension of veteran employment support.