International terrorism, political instability and the escalation effect

Nauro Campos and Martin Gassebner

No 09-220, KOF Working papers from KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich

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: Escalation; International terrorism; Political instability; Terrorism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2009-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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http://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-005778530 (application/pdf)

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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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kof:wpskof:09-220

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