International Terrorism, Political Instability and the Escalation Effect

Nauro Campos and Martin Gassebner

No 4061, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: What are the main causes of international terrorism? The lessons from the surge of academic research that followed 9/11 remain elusive. The careful investigation of the relative roles of economic and political conditions did little to change the fact that existing econometric estimates diverge in size, sign and significance. In this paper we present a new rationale (the escalation effect) stressing domestic political instability as the main reason for international terrorism. Econometric evidence from a panel of more than 130 countries (yearly from 1968 to 2003) shows this to be a much more promising avenue for future research than the available alternatives.

Keywords: political instability; terrorism; escalation; international terrorism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C25 D72 F59 H56 P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2009-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published - published in: Economics & Politics, 2013, 25 (1), 27-47

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Related works:
Working Paper: International Terrorism, Political Instability and the Escalation Effect (2009)
Working Paper: International terrorism, political instability and the escalation effect (2009)
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