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How Does Terrorism Affect Individuals' Wellbeing?

Author

Listed:
  • Bryson, Alex

    (University College London)

  • MacKerron, George

    (University of Sussex)

Abstract

This paper is the first to exploit high-frequency data to measure the impact of terrorist-related incidents (TRIs) on individuals' momentary happiness and anxiety. We show the impact of TRIs varies with the nature of the incident, the individual's physical proximity to it, and the time that has elapsed since the incident. TRIs have a substantial effect on individuals' momentary happiness and anxiety levels, but the effect is short-lived and is largely confined to incidents that lead to the death of victims and incidents within a twenty kilometre radius.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryson, Alex & MacKerron, George, 2018. "How Does Terrorism Affect Individuals' Wellbeing?," IZA Discussion Papers 11273, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11273
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    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11273.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michelle Slone, 2000. "Responses to Media Coverage of Terrorism," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 44(4), pages 508-522, August.
    2. Timothy Besley & Hannes Mueller, 2012. "Estimating the Peace Dividend: The Impact of Violence on House Prices in Northern Ireland," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 810-833, April.
    3. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, 2007. "Calculating Tragedy: Assessing The Costs Of Terrorism," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 1-24, February.
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    5. Robert Cummins & Ning Li & Mark Wooden & Mark Stokes, 2014. "A Demonstration of Set-Points for Subjective Wellbeing," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 183-206, February.
    6. Robert Metcalfe & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Paul Dolan, 2011. "Destruction and Distress: Using a Quasi‐Experiment to Show the Effects of the September 11 Attacks on Mental Well‐Being in the United Kingdom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(550), pages 81-103, February.
    7. Alex Bryson & George MacKerron, 2017. "Are You Happy While You Work?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 106-125, February.
    8. Kahneman, Daniel & Tversky, Amos, 1979. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(2), pages 263-291, March.
    9. Alan B. Krueger, 2007. "Introduction to What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism," Introductory Chapters, in: What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton University Press.
    10. Robert Metcalfe & Nattavudh Powdthavee & Paul Dolan, "undated". "Destruction and distress: using a quasi-experiment to show the effects of the September 11 attacks on subjective well-being in the UK," Discussion Papers 09/10, Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Bruno Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, 2009. "The life satisfaction approach to valuing public goods: The case of terrorism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 317-345, March.
    12. Dmitri Romanov & Asaf Zussman & Noam Zussman, 2012. "Does Terrorism Demoralize? Evidence from Israel," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(313), pages 183-198, January.
    13. Becker, Gary S. & Rubinstein, Yona, 2011. "Fear and the response to terrorism: an economic analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121740, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    15. Alex Bryson & George MacKerron, 2017. "Are You Happy While You Work?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 106-125, February.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Elsayed, Ahmed, 2020. "Global terror, well-being and political attitudes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Emilio Colombo & Valentina Rotondi & Luca Stanca, 2022. "The Day After the Bomb: Well-Being Effects of Terrorist Attacks in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 115-132, February.
    3. Panka Bencsik, 2018. "Stress on the Sidewalk: Mental health costs of close proximity crime," 2018 Papers pbe976, Job Market Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    happiness; anxiety; wellbeing; conflict; bombings; killings; shootings; terrorism; Northern Ireland;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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