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

A growing literature has concluded that terrorism affects the economy, yet less is known about its impact on individual welfare. This article estimates the impact of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing on well-being, exploiting representative daily data from the American Time Use Survey and Well-Being...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Economic journal (London) Vol. 130; no. 631; pp. 2065 - 2104
Main Authors Clark, Andrew E., Stancanelli, Elena, Doyle, Orla
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Academic 01.10.2020
Subjects
Economics and Finance
Humanities and Social Sciences
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Summary:A growing literature has concluded that terrorism affects the economy, yet less is known about its impact on individual welfare. This article estimates the impact of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing on well-being, exploiting representative daily data from the American Time Use Survey and Well-Being Supplement. Using a combined regression discontinuity and differences-in-differences design, with the 2012 Boston marathon as a counterfactual, we find an immediate reduction in well-being of a third of a standard deviation. In particular, happiness declined sharply and negative emotions rose significantly. While the effects do not persist beyond one week, they may entail adverse health and economic consequences.
ISSN:0013-0133
1468-0297
DOI:10.1093/ej/ueaa053