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Why Suicide-Terrorists Get Educated, and What to Do About It

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  • Azam, Jean-Paul

Abstract

This paper tries to reconcile the observed fact that suicide-terrorists have a relatively high education level with rationality. It brings out the conditions under which potential students choose to acquire some education in a rational-choice model where this yields a non-zero probability of blowing up the resulting human capital in a terrorist attack. The comparative-statics of the rational expectations equilibrium of this model demonstrate how economic development, on the one hand, and repression, on the other hand, might reduce terrorism under some parameter restrictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Azam, Jean-Paul, 2010. "Why Suicide-Terrorists Get Educated, and What to Do About It," TSE Working Papers 10-230, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:24339
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    6. Azam, Jean-Paul & Thelen, Véronique, 2009. "Foreign Aid vs. Military Intervention in the War on Terror," TSE Working Papers 09-061, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    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.
    8. Ethan Bueno De Mesquita, 2005. "The Quality of Terror," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 515-530, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Biais & Florian Heider & Marie Hoerova, 2021. "Variation Margins, Fire Sales, and Information-constrained Optimality [Leverage, Moral Hazard, and Liquidity]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(6), pages 2654-2686.
    2. Jean-Paul Azam & Véronique Thelen, 2014. "The Geo-Politics of Foreign Aid and Transnational Terrorism," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 22(HS01), pages 263-288.
    3. Jean-Paul Azam & Mario Ferrero, 2019. "Jihad Against Palestinians? The Herostratos Syndrome and the Paradox of Targeting European Jews," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(6), pages 687-705, September.
    4. Azam, Jean-Paul & Ferret, Jérôme, 2022. "Radicalization of Islam or Peddling Radicalism? Lessons from the French Experience," TSE Working Papers 22-1296, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Nov 2023.
    5. Azam, Jean-Paul & Djemaï, Elodie, 2019. "Matching, cooperation and HIV in the couple," TSE Working Papers 19-991, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    6. Alexis Poindron & Nizar Allouch, 2024. "A Model of Competing Gangs in Networks," Games, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Thomas Bassetti & Raul Caruso & Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "The tree of political violence: a GMERT analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 839-850, March.
    8. Malečková Jitka & Stanišić Dragana, 2013. "Does Higher Education Decrease Support for Terrorism?," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 343-358, December.

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    Keywords

    Terrorism – Education – Development;

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