Determinants of terrorism, Transnational terrorism, Counter-terrorism policy, D74, H56, N40,

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in Abstract:As a prerequisite of an appropriate anti-terror strategy, it is indispensable to assess the underlying causes of terror. We examine social and economic conditions in the country of origin of terrorist attacks, claiming that low opportunity costs of terror, e.g., approximated by slow growth and poor institutions raise the likelihood of terror and the willingness in the population to support terror. Using a negative binomial regression model, we are able to show that unfortunate socio-economic conditions in a country are likely to reduce the opportunity costs of potential terrorists and increase the number of terrorist attacks originating from a specific country. Interestingly, this effect is particularly relevant after a certain level of development has been reached. We therefore distinguish between several broad country groups, namely the OECD, Europe and Islamic countries.JEL classification: P16, F15, C25

This contribution tests for causality between financial deepening, trade openness and economic development for 16 Sub-Saharan African countries. An advanced econometric methodology is used to add to existing empirical evidence. Only limited support is found for finance promoting regional development. In particular, support for the popular hypothesis of finance-led growth is not substantial. In general, it is found that financial deepening and trade openness have swayed regional development only marginally. Thus, development strategies prioritizing financial sector or trade liberalization cannot be supported. Instead, a holistic policy approach taking into account other fundamental development factors is advocated.

This article analyzes the causal relationship between terrorism and economic growth, running a series of tests for Granger non-causality with panel data for a maximum of 160 countries from 1970 to 2007. The authors find that the causal relationship between terrorism and growth is heterogeneous over time and across space. They argue that the temporal causal heterogeneity can be explained by shifting geographical and ideological patterns in terrorism associated with the end of the Cold War. Different causal mechanics across countries are ascribed to a variety of country-specific factors (the level of politico-economic development, a country's cultural affiliation, the intensity and persistence of terrorist activity, and the level of political instability). These factors govern a country's robustness to shocks from terrorism and the extent to which terrorism is motivated by economic factors. For the Cold War era, economic growth is found to have swayed terrorism for Latin American countries in intermediate development positions that were politically unstable and experienced strong terrorist activity. For the post-Cold War era, terrorism is found to be detrimental to growth for African and Islamic countries with low levels of political openness, high levels of political instability, and strong terrorist activity. The study's findings help to better understand the conflicting evidence on the terrorism-economy nexus and to give more solid counter-terrorism advice.

We examine the influence of corruption on migration for 111 countries between 1985 and 2000. Robust evidence indicates that corruption is among the push factors of migration, especially fuelling skilled migration. We argue that corruption tends to diminish the returns to education, which is particularly relevant to the better educated.