This paper analyzes the relationship between Palestinian suicide bombings and economic and political conditions. Labor market conditions can affect the frequency of attacks because when the economy worsens, the opportunity cost of being a terrorist decreases. An alternative explanation is that suicide bombings are responses to changes in the political environment. This paper examines these alternative explanations by estimating count data regression models of the occurrence of Palestinian terrorist attacks from 1993 to 2004. Contrary to the previous literature, this paper finds that economic conditions are correlated with suicide terrorism. Specifically, deteriorating local labor market conditions during the al-Aqsa Intifada account for nearly half of the increase in suicide bombings during that time.

Ed. by Caruso, Raul
3 Issues per year
Issues
Volume 19 (2013)
Volume 18 (2012)
Volume 17 (2011)
Volume 15 (2009)
Volume 14 (2008)
Volume 13 (2007)
Volume 12 (2006)
Volume 11 (2005)
Volume 10 (2004)
Volume 9 (2003)
Volume 8 (2002)
Volume 7 (2001)
Volume 6 (2000)
Volume 5 (1999)
Volume 4 (1996)
Volume 3 (1995)
Volume 2 (1994)
Volume 1 (1993)
Most Downloaded Articles
- How Many Wars Is the US Fighting Today? by Bilmes, Linda J. and Intriligator, Michael D.
- Evidence about the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism among Palestinians by Berrebi, Claude
- Remittances and the Financing of Terrorism In Sub-Saharan Africa: 1974 - 2006 by Elu, Juliet U. and Price, Gregory N.
- Youth Unemployment, Terrorism and Political Violence, Evidence from the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict by Caruso, Raul and Gavrilova, Evelina
- The Impact of Employment in Israel on the Palestinian Labor Force by Etkes, Haggay
Labor Market Conditions, Political Events, and Palestinian Suicide Bombings
Edward A Sayre1
1University of Southern Mississippi, edward.sayre@usm.edu
Citation Information: Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy. Volume 15, Issue 1, Pages –, ISSN (Online) 1554-8597, DOI: 10.2202/1554-8597.1134, May 2009
Publication History:
- Published Online:
- 2009-05-14
Keywords: terrorism; labor market; wages; unemployment


















Comments (0)