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The Impact of Terrorism on Well-being: Evidence from the Boston Marathon Bombing

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  • Andrew E. Clark
  • Orla Doyle
  • Elena Stancanelli

Abstract

A growing literature concludes that terrorism impacts the economy, yet less is known about its impact on utility. This paper estimates the impact of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing on well-being, by exploiting representative U.S. daily data. Using both a regression discontinuity and an event study design, whereby the 2012 Boston marathon serves as a counterfactual, we find a sharp reduction in well-being, equivalent to a two percentage point rise in annual unemployment. The effect is stronger for women and those living in nearby States, but does not persist beyond one week, thus demonstrating the resilience of well-being to terrorism.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew E. Clark & Orla Doyle & Elena Stancanelli, 2017. "The Impact of Terrorism on Well-being: Evidence from the Boston Marathon Bombing," Working Papers 201717, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201717
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/9046
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    1. The Impact of Terrorism on Well-being: Evidence from the Boston Marathon Bombing
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2017-11-24 00:26:48

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    Cited by:

    1. Sylvie Blasco & Eva Moreno‐Galbis & Jeremy Tanguy, 2022. "Getting used to terrorist threats? Evidence from French terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2016," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 508-540, March.
    2. Brodeur, Abel & Clark, Andrew E. & Fleche, Sarah & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2021. "COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    3. Øystein Hernæs, 2021. "Going Through Hell: Increased Work Effort in the Aftermath of Terrorism in Norway," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 216-237, January.
    4. Foubert, Killian & Ruyssen, Ilse, 2024. "Global migration and the role of terrorist attacks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 507-530.
    5. Frijters, Paul & Johnston, David W. & Knott, Rachel & Torgler, Benno, 2021. "Resilience to Disaster: Evidence from Daily Wellbeing Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2024. "The female happiness paradox," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Guo, Shiqi & An, Jiafu, 2022. "Does terrorism make people pessimistic? Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    8. Steinhardt, Max F., 2018. "The Impact of Xenophobic Violence on the Integration of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 11781, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Elsayed, Ahmed, 2020. "Global terror, well-being and political attitudes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    10. Sergio Pinto & Panka Bencsik & Tuugi Chuluun & Carol Graham, 2021. "Presidential Elections, Divided Politics, and Happiness in the USA," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(349), pages 189-207, January.
    11. Keita, Sekou & Schewe, Paul, 2021. "Out of sight, out of mind? Terror in the home country, family reunification options, and the well-being of refugees," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Daniel Graeber & Felicitas Schikora, 2021. "Hate is too great a burden to bear: Hate crimes and the mental health of refugees," CEPA Discussion Papers 31, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    13. Morales, Juan S., 2021. "Legislating during war: Conflict and politics in Colombia," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    14. Cheng, Terence Chai & Kim, Seonghoon & Koh, Kanghyock, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Singapore," IZA Discussion Papers 13702, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Nurlatifah Hartojo & Mohamad Ikhsan & Teguh Dartanto & Sudarno Sumarto, 2022. "A Growing Light in the Lagging Region in Indonesia: The Impact of Village Fund on Rural Economic Growth," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Alex Bryson & George MacKerron, 2017. "How Does Terrorism Affect Individuals’ Wellbeing?," DoQSS Working Papers 17-14, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    17. Philip S. Morrison & Stephanié Rossouw & Talita Greyling, 2022. "The impact of exogenous shocks on national wellbeing. New Zealanders’ reaction to COVID-19," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1787-1812, June.
    18. Akay, Alpaslan & Bargain, Olivier & Elsayed, Ahmed, 2018. "Everybody's a Victim? Global Terror, Well-Being and Political Attitudes," Working Papers in Economics 733, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Well-being; Terrorism; Regression discontinuity design; Differences-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • F52 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - National Security; Economic Nationalism

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