The Impact of Terrorism on Italian Employment and Business Activity

Despite the growth in research examining direct economic impacts of terrorism, the indirect impact of terrorism on the stability of local economies has generally been overlooked. Using panel data regression models and the most comprehensive open source database on terrorism currently available to researchers, the paper examines the impact of terrorism on employment and business outcomes in Italy from 1985 to 1997. It is found that terrorist attacks reduce the number of firms and employment in the year following an attack. By disaggregating net outcomes into their component gross flows, it is also found that these impacts are primarily attributable to reduced business formations and expansions.