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Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism

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Author Info
Alberto Abadie

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Abstract

This article provides an empirical investigation of the determinants of terrorism at the country level. In contrast with the previous literature on this subject, which focuses on transnational terrorism only, I use a new measure of terrorism that encompasses both domestic and transnational terrorism. In line with the results of some recent studies, this article shows that terrorist risk is not significantly higher for poorer countries, once the effects of other country-specific characteristics such as the level of political freedom are taken into account. Political freedom is shown to explain terrorism, but it does so in a non-monotonic way: countries in some intermediate range of political freedom are shown to be more prone to terrorism than countries with high levels of political freedom or countries with highly authoritarian regimes. This result suggests that, as experienced recently in Iraq and previously in Spain and Russia, transitions from an authoritarian regime to a democracy may be accompanied by temporary increases in terrorism. Finally, the results suggest that geographic factors are important to sustain terrorist activities.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10859.

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Date of creation: Oct 2004
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Publication status: published as Abadie, Alberto. "Poverty, Political Freedom, And The Roots Of Terrorism," American Economic Review, 2005, v95(4,Sep), 50-56.
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10859

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances
K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War

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  1. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew D. Mellinger, 1998. "Geography and Economic Development," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1856, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
  2. Alesina, Alberto, et al, 1996. " Political Instability and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 189-211, June.
    Other versions:
  3. Alberto Abadie, 2004. "Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism," NBER Working Papers 10859, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Alan B. Krueger & Jitka Maleckova, 2003. "Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 119-144, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Edward Miguel & Shanker Satyanath & Ernest Sergenti, 2004. "Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(4), pages 725-753, August.
  6. John Luke Gallup & Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew D. Mellinger, 1998. "Geography and Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 6849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, 2004. "Calculating Tragedy: Assessing the Costs of Terrorism," CREMA Working Paper Series 2004-23, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Alesina, Alberto, et al, 2003. " Fractionalization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 155-94, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and Grievance in Civil War," Development and Comp Systems 0409007, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Alberto Abadie & Javier Gardeazabal, 2003. "The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 113-132, March. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Joshua D. Angrist & Adriana Kugler, 2005. "Rural Windfall or a New Resource Curse? Coca, Income, and Civil Conflict in Colombia," NBER Working Papers 11219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Alberto Abadíe & Javier Gardeazábal, 2005. "Terrorism and the World Economy," DFAEII Working Papers 200519, University of the Basque Country - Department of Foundations of Economic Analysis II. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Axel Dreher & Justina A.V. Fischer, 2008. "Decentralization as a disincentive for transnational terror? An empirical test," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-01, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Ana Bela Santos Bravo & Carlos Manuel Mendes Dias, 2006. "An Empirical Analysis Of Terrorism: Deprivation, Islamism And Geopolitical Factors," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 329-341, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Rony Pshisva & Gustavo A. Suarez, 2006. "'Captive markets': the impact of kidnappings on corporate investment in Colombia," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2006-18, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  6. Nauro F. Campos & Martin Gassebner, 2009. "International Terrorism, Political Instability and the Escalation Effect," Working papers 09-220, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Jean-Paul Azam & Véronique Thelen, 2008. "The roles of foreign aid and education in the war on terror," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 375-397, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Nils Braakmann, 2007. "Islamistic Terror, the War on Iraq and the Job Prospects of Arab Men in Britain: Does a Country’s Direct Involvement Matter?," Working Paper Series in Economics 70, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Alberto Abadie, 2006. "Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 50-56, May. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Axel Dreher & Martin Gassebner & Lars-H. R. Siemers, 2007. "Does Terror Threaten Human Rights? Evidence from Panel Data," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Denis Larocque & Geneviève Lincourt & Michel Normandin, 2008. "Macroeconomic Effects of Terrorist Shocks in Israel," Cahiers de recherche 0820, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
  12. Jeffry Jacob & Thomas Osang, 2007. "Values, Beliefs and Development," Departmental Working Papers 0705, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Caruso, Raul, 2008. "Al Qaeda as a Tournament: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 11693, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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