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Labor Market Conditions, Political Events and Palestinian Suicide Bombings

Author

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  • Edward A. Sayre

    (Agnes Scott College)

Abstract

Objectives. This paper analyzes the relationship between Palestinian suicide bombings and economic and political conditions from 1993 to 2001. Labor market conditions could affect the number of terror attacks because when the economy worsens, the opportunity cost of engaging in suicide terrorism decreases. An alternative explanation is that suicide bombings are responses to changes in the political environment. Methods. Count data regression models are employed to explore the relative importance of economic and political factors in determining the frequency of suicide bombings. Results. Economic conditions explain some of the occurrence of suicide bombings from 1993 to 2001, and some political events are also strongly correlated with bombings. Conclusions. The results imply that the roots of suicide bombing may lie in the unfulilled economic promises of the Oslo peace process, but specific acts by Israelis are a proximite cause of the attacks.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward A. Sayre, 2005. "Labor Market Conditions, Political Events and Palestinian Suicide Bombings," Labor and Demography 0504007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpla:0504007
    Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 26
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Who becomes a suicide bomber?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2008-09-11 13:08:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Hinkkainen Kaisa, 2013. "Homegrown Terrorism: The Known Unknown," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 157-182, August.
    2. Caruso, Raul & Schneider, Friedrich, 2013. "Brutality of Jihadist terrorism. A contest theory perspective and empirical evidence in the period 2002–2010," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 685-696.
    3. Massimiliano Cal� & Sami H. Miaari, 2014. "Trade, employment and conflict: Evidence from the Second Intifada," HiCN Working Papers 186, Households in Conflict Network.
    4. Apolte, Thomas, 2017. "I hope I die before I get old: The supply side of the market for suicide bombers," CIW Discussion Papers 1/2017, University of Münster, Center for Interdisciplinary Economics (CIW).
    5. Danko Tarabar & Joshua C. Hall, 2016. "Explaining the worldwide decline in the length of mandatory military service, 1970–2010," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 55-74, July.
    6. Caruso Raul & Gavrilova Evelina, 2012. "Youth Unemployment, Terrorism and Political Violence, Evidence from the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 1-37, August.
    7. Sameh Hallaq, 2020. "The Palestinian Labor Market over the Last Three Decades," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_976, Levy Economics Institute.
    8. De Palma André & Perali Federico & Ricciuti Roberto & Scorbureanu Alexandrina & Picard Nathalie, 2013. "Social Crisis Prevention: A Political Alert Index for the Israel-Palestine Conflict," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 103-122, August.
    9. Irshad Hira & Taib Hasniza Mohd & Hussain Haroon & Hussain Rana Yassir, 2023. "Conventional and Islamic Equity Market Reaction Towards Terrorism: Evidence Based on Target Types, Location and Islamic Calendar Months," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 33(4), pages 70-116, December.
    10. Miaari, Sami & Zussman, Asaf & Zussman, Noam, 2014. "Employment restrictions and political violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 24-44.
    11. Wendler, Cordula & Liebe, Ulf & Ihle, Rico & von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan, 2012. "The Willingness to Pay of European Consumers for Jointly Produced Israeli – Palestinian Products," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126727, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Caruso, Raul & Schneider, Friedrich, 2011. "The socio-economic determinants of terrorism and political violence in Western Europe (1994–2007)," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(S1), pages 37-49.
    13. Forrester, Andrew C. & Powell, Benjamin & Nowrasteh, Alex & Landgrave, Michelangelo, 2019. "Do immigrants import terrorism?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 529-543.
    14. Ismail, Aisha & Amjad, Shehla, 2014. "Determinants of terrorism in Pakistan: An empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 320-331.
    15. Danko Tarabar & Joshua C. Hall, 2015. "Explaining the Worldwide Decline in Military Conscription: 1970-2010," Working Papers 15-30, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    16. Richard Estes & M. Sirgy, 2014. "Radical Islamic Militancy and Acts of Terrorism: A Quality-of-Life Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 615-652, June.
    17. Moamen Gouda & Marcus Marktanner, 2017. "Muslim Youth Unemployment and Expat Jihadism- Bored to Death?," Working Papers 1113, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 2003.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    West Bank; Gaza; terrorism; unemployment; Palestinian;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J - Labor and Demographic Economics

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