TY  - JOUR
AU  - Benmelech,Efraim
AU  - Berrebi,Claude
TI  - Attack Assignments in Terror Organizations and The Productivity of Suicide Bombers
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12910
PY  - 2007
Y2  - February 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12910
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12910.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Efraim Benmelech
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847/491-4462
Fax: 847/491-5719
E-Mail: e-benmelech@kellogg.northwestern.edu

Claude Berrebi
The Federmann School of
Public Policy and Government
Hebrew University
Mount Scopus
Jerusalem ISRAEL 91905
E-Mail: Claude_Berrebi@rand.org
AB  - This paper studies the relation between human capital of suicide bombers and outcomes of their suicide attacks. We argue that human capital is an important factor in the production of terrorism, and that if terrorists behave rationally we should observe that more able suicide bombers are assigned to more important targets. We use a unique data set detailing the biographies of Palestinian suicide bombers, the targets they attack, and the number of people that they kill and injure to validate the theoretical predictions and estimate the returns to human capital in suicide bombing. Our empirical analysis suggests that older and more educated suicide bombers are being assigned by their terror organization to more important targets. We find that more educated and older suicide bombers are less likely to fail in their mission, and are more likely to cause increased casualties when they attack.
ER  -