HU Credits: 4

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: School of Public Policy

Semester: Yearly

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Dr. Claude Berrebi

Coordinator Email:

Coordinator Office Hours: Wednesday 17:15-18:15

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Claude Berrebi

Course/Module description:
The course is intended to provide a formal analysis of terrorism from an economic perspective.

Course/Module aims:
We will consider a variety of theoretical and empirical approaches to studying terrorism. This include the study of the economic costs and consequences of terrorism, the evaluation of the economic root causes on the occurrence of terrorism, the economics of religion and its relation to terrorism and suicide terrorism in particular and the economics of counterterrorism.
Our study will also span into the political economy of terrorism and the effect of terrorism on voter’s preferences.
All of which will rely heavily on studies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel’s experience in coping with terrorism.

The course will rely on positive, as opposed to normative, economic analyses aimed to identify cause and effect based on the relevant supporting theories.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
This course is NOT about the latest political or economic debate on who did what to whom in the Middle East or in any other conflict area.
It will, however, provide the tools (empirical as well as theoretical) and understandings necessary for a substantive discussion of that sort to take place.

Attendance requirements(%):
Attendance is required. Absence in more than 20% of classes would disqualify the student from taking the final exam.

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Grading:
Reading/Participation (30%): Articles or book chapters are assigned for each class meeting.
You should do the readings prior to the class for which they are assigned and participate actively in class (attendance is a preliminary requirement for participation).

Final Exam (70%).

Course/Module Content:
1: Introduction and Background
• Terrorism
Definition of terrorism
Terrorism in the Middle East

Martha Crenshaw, Encyclopedia of World Terrorism, Martha Crenshaw and John Pimlott, Eds., Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc, 1997, pp 267-414.


2: Root Causes of Terrorism and Common Wisdom
• Individual level poverty
• Individual level education

* Russell, Charles, and Bowman Miller, “Profile of a Terrorist,” in Lawrence Zelic Freedman and Alexander Yonah, eds., Perspectives on Terrorism, Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1983, pp. 45-60.

* Hudson, Rex. A., and Marilyn Lundell Majeska, “The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why?” 1999. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17114

Hassan, Nasra, “An Arsenal of Believers,” The New Yorker, November 19, 2001, pp. 36–41.

Atran, Scott, “Who Wants to Be a Martyr?” New York Times, May 5, 2003, p. A23.

Krueger, Alan B., and Jitka Maleckova, “Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2003, pp. 119–144.

Berrebi, Claude, “Evidence About the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism Among Palestinians,” Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2007.
(2003 version of the paper can be found at http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/477.pdf)

* Benmelech, Efraim, and Claude Berrebi, “Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2007, pp. 223–238.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 11-52.

Krueger, Alan B., “What Makes a Homegrown Terrorist? Human Capital and Participation in Domestic Islamic Terrorist Groups in the U.S.A.,” Economic Letters, Vol. 101, 2008, pp. 293-296.


3: Macroeconomic Conditions and Terrorism
• The impact of macroeconomic conditions on the frequency of terrorism

* Blomberg, Brock S., Gregory D. Hess, and Akila Weerapana, “Economic Conditions and Terrorism,” European Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2004, pp. 463–478.

* Drakos Konstantinos and Andreas Gofas, “In Search of the Average Transnational Terrorist Attack Venue,” Defence and Peace Economics, 17 (2), 2006, pp. 73-93.

* Abadie, Alberto, “Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism,” American Economic Review, Vol. 96, No. 2, 2006, pp. 50–56.

Enders, Walter, Gary. A. Hoover, and Tood Sandler. “The Changing Nonlinear Relationship between Income and Terrorism” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2015. available online at: http://jcr.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/26/0022002714535252.full.pdf+html

Piazza, James, A., “Rooted in Poverty? Terrorism, Poor Economic Development, and Social Cleavages,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2006, pp. 159–177.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 53-104.

Krueger, Alan B., and David D. Laitin. “Kto Kogo? A Cross-Country Study of the Origins and Targets of Terrorism.” in Philip Keefer and Norman Loayza, eds., Terrorism, Economic Development, and Political Openness, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 148–173.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism,” The Journal of Politics, January 2012, Vol. 74 (1), pp. 1-16.


4: The impact of macroeconomic conditions on the quality of terrorism

Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan, “The Quality of Terror,” American Journal of Political Science, 49 (3), 2005, pp. 515-530.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism,” The Journal of Politics, January 2012, Vol. 74 (1), pp. 1-16.

5: Religion, Factions and Terrorism in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

* Berman, Eli, and D. David Laitin, “Hard Targets: Theory and Evidence on Suicide Attacks,” NBER Working Paper, Cambridge, MA. No. 11740 2005.

* Berman, Eli and David D. Laitin (2008). “Religion, Terrorism and Public Goods: Testing the Club Model,” Journal of Public Economics, 92(10-11), 2008, pp. 1942-1967.

* Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman (2006). “Israel, the Palestinian Factions, and the Cycle of Violence,” American Economic Review, 96(2): 45-49.

Suicide Terror

* Pape, Robert, “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 97, August 2003, pp. 343–361.

Berko, Anat, The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. [elective reading]

6: Terrorism Risk Across Time and Space – The Israeli Case Study

Berrebi, Claude, and Darius Lakdawalla, “How Does Terrorism Risk Vary Across Space and Time? An Analysis Based on the Israeli Experience,” Defence and Peace Economics, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2007, pp. 113–131.


7: The Economic Consequences of Terrorism
• What Do We Know?

Krugman, Paul “The Costs of Terrorism: What Do We Know?” Princeton University, unpublished, 2004.

• Big vs. Small effect

* Abadie, Alberto, and Javier Gardeazabal, “The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country,” The American Economic Review, Vol. 93, No. 1, 2003, pp. 113–132.

* Abadie, Alberto, and Javier Gardeazabal, “Terrorism and the World Economy” European Economic Review, Vol. 52, 2008, pp. 1–27.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 105-119.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Gregory D.Hess and Athanasios Orphanides "The macroeconomic consequences of terrorism" Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 51, 2004, pp. 1007–1032

• Fear and Response to Terrorism

Becker, S. Gary and Rubinstein, Yona “Fear and the Response to Terrorism: An Economic Analysis” Chicago University, unpublished, 2011. [elective reading]

• The Effect on the Israeli Economy

* Fishelson, Gideon. "Political Events and Economic Trends: the Effects of the Intifada on the Israeli Economy." Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Paper 10-93, Tel Aviv University, unpublished, 1993.

Fielding, David. "Modeling Political Instability and Economic Performance: Israeli Investment during the Intifada." Economica, 70, February 2003, pp. 159 – 186.

Fielding, David. "Counting the Costs of the Intifada: Consumption, Saving and Political Instability in Israel." Public Choice, 116(3-4), September 2003, pp. 297-312.

Eckstein, Z., and D. Tsiddon, “Macroeconomic Consequences of Terror: Theory and the Case of Israel,” Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 51, No. 5, 2004, pp. 971–1002.


8: Financial Markets and Terrorism

Karolyi, G. A. “The consequences of terrorism for financial markets: what do we know?” Canadian Investment Review, 2006, pp. 9–15.

Eldor, Rafi and Melnick, Rafi. "Financial Markets and Terrorism." European Journal of Political Economy, 20(2), 2004, pp. 367-386.

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “The Impact of Terrorism on the Defense Industry,” Economica, Vol. 77(307), 2010, pp. 518-543.



9: The Economic Cost of Harboring Terrorism

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “The Economic Cost of Harboring Terrorism,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 54 (2), 2010, pp. 331-353.

10: Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes in the Israeli-Palestinian Context
• Theory

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “On Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2006, pp. 899–925.

• Empirical evidence

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “Are Voters Sensitive to Terrorism? Direct Evidence from the Israeli Electorate,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 102, Issue 3, August 2008, pp 279–301.

11: Terrorism and Public Opinion

Gould, Eric D., and Esteban F. Klor, “Does Terrorism Work?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2010, pp. 1459-1510.

* Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan, and Eric Dickson, “The Propaganda of the Deed: Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Mobilization,” American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 51, April 2006, pp. 364–381.

* Bloom, Mia. , “Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public Support, Market Share, and Outbidding,” Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 119, Spring 2004, pp. 61–88.

Jaeger, David A., Esteban F. Klor, Sami H. Miaari and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Struggle for Palestinians Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada,” Journal of Public Economics, April 2012, 96 (3-4): 354-368.

* Li, Quan, “Does Democracy Promote or Reduce Transnational Terrorist Incidents?” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49 (2), 2005, pp. 278-297.

Krueger, Alan B., and Jitka Maleckova, “Attitudes and Action: Public Opinion and the Occurrence of International Terrorism” Science, September 2009, pp. 1534-1536.

Avi Ben Bassat, Momi Dahan, Benny Geys and Esteban F. Klor, “The Impact of the Economic Costs of Conflict on Individuals’ Political Attitudes,” Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, August 2012, 18 (2): Article 4


12: The Effectiveness of Counterterrorism

* Enders, Walter, and Todd Sandler, “The Effectiveness of Antiterrorism Policies: A Vector-Autoregression Intervention Analysis,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. 4, 1993, pp. 829–844.

Zussman, Asaf and Zussman, Noam. "Assassinations: Evaluating the Effectiveness: of a Counterterrorism Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(2), Spring 2006, pp. 193 - 206.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “Counter-Suicide-Terrorism: Evidence from House Demolitions,” Journal of Politics, 77(1) January 2015.

Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Cycle of Violence? An Empirical Analysis of Fatalities in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict,” American Economic Review, 98(4), 2008, pp. 1591-1604.

Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Shape of Things to Come? On the Dynamics of Suicide Attacks and Targeted Killings,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2009, Vol. 4, pp. 315–342.

* Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman (2006). “Israel, the Palestinian Factions, and the Cycle of Violence,” American Economic Review, 96(2): 45-49.

13: The Rationality of Terrorists and Terrorism
• Mental health and irrationality

Berko, Anat, The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. [elective reading]

Merari, Ariel (2006). “Psychological Aspects of Suicide Terrorism.” in Bruce Bongar et al., eds., Psychology of Terrorism, New York: Oxford University Press. [elective reading]

* Kruglanski, A. W., and S. Fishman, “The Psychology of Terrorism: ‘Syndrome’ Versus ‘Tool’ Perspectives,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2006, pp. 193–215.

• Definition of a rational choice actor
• Tactical and operational level rationality



Choice of targets and Timing of attacks
Berrebi, Claude, and Darius Lakdawalla, “How Does Terrorism Risk Vary Across Space and Time? An Analysis Based on the Israeli Experience,” Defence and Peace Economics, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2007, pp. 113–131.

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “On Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2006, pp. 899–925.

Choice of tactic
Berman, Eli, and D. David Laitin, “Hard Targets: Theory and Evidence on Suicide Attacks,” NBER Working Paper, Cambridge, MA.No. 11740 2005.
Human capital considerations
Benmelech, Efraim, and Claude Berrebi, “Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2007, pp. 223–238.

• Strategic level rationality

Gould, D. Eric and Esteban F. Klor, “Does Terrorism Work?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2010, pp. 1459-1510.

Berrebi, Claude (2009). “The Economics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism: What Matters, and is Rational-Choice Theory Helpful?” in Paul K. Davis and Kim R. Cragin (eds.) Social Science for Counterterrorism, California, RAND Press.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 119-142.

Economic warfare
Pursuit of territorial liberation goals

14: The Social Science Knowledge of Terrorism: What Are We Missing?

Paul K. Davis and Kim R. Cragin, Social Science for Counterterrorism, 2009, Santa Monica, CA: RAND Press.


* : For articles preceded by “*” only the abstract, introduction and summary are mandatory readings before the specified class (i.e. the remaining of the article is considered elective reading for that lesson).

Required Reading:
1: Introduction and Background
• Terrorism
Definition of terrorism
Terrorism in the Middle East

Martha Crenshaw, Encyclopedia of World Terrorism, Martha Crenshaw and John Pimlott, Eds., Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc, 1997, pp 267-414.


2: Root Causes of Terrorism and Common Wisdom
• Individual level poverty
• Individual level education

* Russell, Charles, and Bowman Miller, “Profile of a Terrorist,” in Lawrence Zelic Freedman and Alexander Yonah, eds., Perspectives on Terrorism, Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1983, pp. 45-60.

* Hudson, Rex. A., and Marilyn Lundell Majeska, “The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why?” 1999. http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS17114

Hassan, Nasra, “An Arsenal of Believers,” The New Yorker, November 19, 2001, pp. 36–41.

Atran, Scott, “Who Wants to Be a Martyr?” New York Times, May 5, 2003, p. A23.

Krueger, Alan B., and Jitka Maleckova, “Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2003, pp. 119–144.

Berrebi, Claude, “Evidence About the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism Among Palestinians,” Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2007.
(2003 version of the paper can be found at http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/477.pdf)

* Benmelech, Efraim, and Claude Berrebi, “Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2007, pp. 223–238.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 11-52.

Krueger, Alan B., “What Makes a Homegrown Terrorist? Human Capital and Participation in Domestic Islamic Terrorist Groups in the U.S.A.,” Economic Letters, Vol. 101, 2008, pp. 293-296.


3: Macroeconomic Conditions and Terrorism
• The impact of macroeconomic conditions on the frequency of terrorism

* Blomberg, Brock S., Gregory D. Hess, and Akila Weerapana, “Economic Conditions and Terrorism,” European Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 20, No. 2, 2004, pp. 463–478.

* Drakos Konstantinos and Andreas Gofas, “In Search of the Average Transnational Terrorist Attack Venue,” Defence and Peace Economics, 17 (2), 2006, pp. 73-93.

* Abadie, Alberto, “Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism,” American Economic Review, Vol. 96, No. 2, 2006, pp. 50–56.

Enders, Walter, Gary. A. Hoover, and Tood Sandler. “The Changing Nonlinear Relationship between Income and Terrorism” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2015. available online at: http://jcr.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/05/26/0022002714535252.full.pdf+html

Piazza, James, A., “Rooted in Poverty? Terrorism, Poor Economic Development, and Social Cleavages,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2006, pp. 159–177.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 53-104.

Krueger, Alan B., and David D. Laitin. “Kto Kogo? A Cross-Country Study of the Origins and Targets of Terrorism.” in Philip Keefer and Norman Loayza, eds., Terrorism, Economic Development, and Political Openness, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 148–173.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism,” The Journal of Politics, January 2012, Vol. 74 (1), pp. 1-16.


4: The impact of macroeconomic conditions on the quality of terrorism

Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan, “The Quality of Terror,” American Journal of Political Science, 49 (3), 2005, pp. 515-530.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism,” The Journal of Politics, January 2012, Vol. 74 (1), pp. 1-16.

5: Religion, Factions and Terrorism in the Israeli Palestinian Conflict

* Berman, Eli, and D. David Laitin, “Hard Targets: Theory and Evidence on Suicide Attacks,” NBER Working Paper, Cambridge, MA. No. 11740 2005.

* Berman, Eli and David D. Laitin (2008). “Religion, Terrorism and Public Goods: Testing the Club Model,” Journal of Public Economics, 92(10-11), 2008, pp. 1942-1967.

* Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman (2006). “Israel, the Palestinian Factions, and the Cycle of Violence,” American Economic Review, 96(2): 45-49.

Suicide Terror

* Pape, Robert, “The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 97, August 2003, pp. 343–361.

Berko, Anat, The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. [elective reading]

6: Terrorism Risk Across Time and Space – The Israeli Case Study

Berrebi, Claude, and Darius Lakdawalla, “How Does Terrorism Risk Vary Across Space and Time? An Analysis Based on the Israeli Experience,” Defence and Peace Economics, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2007, pp. 113–131.


7: The Economic Consequences of Terrorism
• What Do We Know?

Krugman, Paul “The Costs of Terrorism: What Do We Know?” Princeton University, unpublished, 2004.

• Big vs. Small effect

* Abadie, Alberto, and Javier Gardeazabal, “The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country,” The American Economic Review, Vol. 93, No. 1, 2003, pp. 113–132.

* Abadie, Alberto, and Javier Gardeazabal, “Terrorism and the World Economy” European Economic Review, Vol. 52, 2008, pp. 1–27.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 105-119.

Blomberg, S. Brock, Gregory D.Hess and Athanasios Orphanides "The macroeconomic consequences of terrorism" Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 51, 2004, pp. 1007–1032

• Fear and Response to Terrorism

Becker, S. Gary and Rubinstein, Yona “Fear and the Response to Terrorism: An Economic Analysis” Chicago University, unpublished, 2011. [elective reading]

• The Effect on the Israeli Economy

* Fishelson, Gideon. "Political Events and Economic Trends: the Effects of the Intifada on the Israeli Economy." Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Paper 10-93, Tel Aviv University, unpublished, 1993.

Fielding, David. "Modeling Political Instability and Economic Performance: Israeli Investment during the Intifada." Economica, 70, February 2003, pp. 159 – 186.

Fielding, David. "Counting the Costs of the Intifada: Consumption, Saving and Political Instability in Israel." Public Choice, 116(3-4), September 2003, pp. 297-312.

Eckstein, Z., and D. Tsiddon, “Macroeconomic Consequences of Terror: Theory and the Case of Israel,” Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 51, No. 5, 2004, pp. 971–1002.


8: Financial Markets and Terrorism

Karolyi, G. A. “The consequences of terrorism for financial markets: what do we know?” Canadian Investment Review, 2006, pp. 9–15.

Eldor, Rafi and Melnick, Rafi. "Financial Markets and Terrorism." European Journal of Political Economy, 20(2), 2004, pp. 367-386.

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “The Impact of Terrorism on the Defense Industry,” Economica, Vol. 77(307), 2010, pp. 518-543.



9: The Economic Cost of Harboring Terrorism

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor “The Economic Cost of Harboring Terrorism,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 54 (2), 2010, pp. 331-353.

10: Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes in the Israeli-Palestinian Context
• Theory

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “On Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2006, pp. 899–925.

• Empirical evidence

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “Are Voters Sensitive to Terrorism? Direct Evidence from the Israeli Electorate,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 102, Issue 3, August 2008, pp 279–301.

11: Terrorism and Public Opinion

Gould, Eric D., and Esteban F. Klor, “Does Terrorism Work?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2010, pp. 1459-1510.

* Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan, and Eric Dickson, “The Propaganda of the Deed: Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Mobilization,” American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 51, April 2006, pp. 364–381.

* Bloom, Mia. , “Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public Support, Market Share, and Outbidding,” Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 119, Spring 2004, pp. 61–88.

Jaeger, David A., Esteban F. Klor, Sami H. Miaari and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Struggle for Palestinians Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada,” Journal of Public Economics, April 2012, 96 (3-4): 354-368.

* Li, Quan, “Does Democracy Promote or Reduce Transnational Terrorist Incidents?” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 49 (2), 2005, pp. 278-297.

Krueger, Alan B., and Jitka Maleckova, “Attitudes and Action: Public Opinion and the Occurrence of International Terrorism” Science, September 2009, pp. 1534-1536.

Avi Ben Bassat, Momi Dahan, Benny Geys and Esteban F. Klor, “The Impact of the Economic Costs of Conflict on Individuals’ Political Attitudes,” Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, August 2012, 18 (2): Article 4


12: The Effectiveness of Counterterrorism

* Enders, Walter, and Todd Sandler, “The Effectiveness of Antiterrorism Policies: A Vector-Autoregression Intervention Analysis,” American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. 4, 1993, pp. 829–844.

Zussman, Asaf and Zussman, Noam. "Assassinations: Evaluating the Effectiveness: of a Counterterrorism Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(2), Spring 2006, pp. 193 - 206.

Benmelech, Efraim, Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “Counter-Suicide-Terrorism: Evidence from House Demolitions,” Journal of Politics, 77(1) January 2015.

Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Cycle of Violence? An Empirical Analysis of Fatalities in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict,” American Economic Review, 98(4), 2008, pp. 1591-1604.

Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman, “The Shape of Things to Come? On the Dynamics of Suicide Attacks and Targeted Killings,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2009, Vol. 4, pp. 315–342.

* Jaeger, David A. and M. Daniele Paserman (2006). “Israel, the Palestinian Factions, and the Cycle of Violence,” American Economic Review, 96(2): 45-49.

13: The Rationality of Terrorists and Terrorism
• Mental health and irrationality

Berko, Anat, The Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers, Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007. [elective reading]

Merari, Ariel (2006). “Psychological Aspects of Suicide Terrorism.” in Bruce Bongar et al., eds., Psychology of Terrorism, New York: Oxford University Press. [elective reading]

* Kruglanski, A. W., and S. Fishman, “The Psychology of Terrorism: ‘Syndrome’ Versus ‘Tool’ Perspectives,” Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2006, pp. 193–215.

• Definition of a rational choice actor
• Tactical and operational level rationality



Choice of targets and Timing of attacks
Berrebi, Claude, and Darius Lakdawalla, “How Does Terrorism Risk Vary Across Space and Time? An Analysis Based on the Israeli Experience,” Defence and Peace Economics, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2007, pp. 113–131.

Claude Berrebi, and Esteban F. Klor, “On Terrorism and Electoral Outcomes: Theory and Evidence from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2006, pp. 899–925.

Choice of tactic
Berman, Eli, and D. David Laitin, “Hard Targets: Theory and Evidence on Suicide Attacks,” NBER Working Paper, Cambridge, MA.No. 11740 2005.
Human capital considerations
Benmelech, Efraim, and Claude Berrebi, “Human Capital and the Productivity of Suicide Bombers,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 21, No. 3, 2007, pp. 223–238.

• Strategic level rationality

Gould, D. Eric and Esteban F. Klor, “Does Terrorism Work?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2010, pp. 1459-1510.

Berrebi, Claude (2009). “The Economics of Terrorism and Counterterrorism: What Matters, and is Rational-Choice Theory Helpful?” in Paul K. Davis and Kim R. Cragin (eds.) Social Science for Counterterrorism, California, RAND Press.

Krueger, Alan B., What Makes a Terrorist: Economics and the Roots of Terrorism, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007, pp. 119-142.

Economic warfare
Pursuit of territorial liberation goals

14: The Social Science Knowledge of Terrorism: What Are We Missing?

Paul K. Davis and Kim R. Cragin, Social Science for Counterterrorism, 2009, Santa Monica, CA: RAND Press.


* : For articles preceded by “*” only the abstract, introduction and summary are mandatory readings before the specified class (i.e. the remaining of the article is considered elective reading for that lesson).

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 70 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 30 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information:
Additional bonus points ("stars") will be credited for correctly answering questions in class (questions will rely on material from the assigned readings).