What Explains the Flow of Foreign Fighters to ISIS?

Efraim Benmelech and Esteban Klor

No 22190, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper provides the first systematic analysis of the link between economic, political, and social conditions and the global phenomenon of ISIS foreign fighters. We find that poor economic conditions do not drive participation in ISIS. In contrast, the number of ISIS foreign fighters is positively correlated with a country's GDP per capita and Human Development Index (HDI). In fact, many foreign fighters originate from countries with high levels of economic development, low income inequality, and highly developed political institutions. Other factors that explain the number of ISIS foreign fighters are the size of a country's Muslim population and its ethnic homogeneity. Although we cannot directly determine why people join ISIS, our results suggest that the flow of foreign fighters to ISIS is driven not by economic or political conditions but rather by ideology and the difficulty of assimilation into homogeneous Western countries.

JEL-codes: H0 H56 K42 O52 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-pr~, nep-mig and nep-pol
Note: DEV LS POL
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Efraim Benmelech & Esteban F. Klor, 2020. "What Explains the Flow of Foreign Fighters to ISIS?," Terrorism and Political Violence, vol 32(7), pages 1458-1481.

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