The Impact of Terrorism on Individual 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 paper 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 half a standard deviation. In particular, happiness declined sharply and stress rose significantly. While the effects do not persist beyond one week, they may entail adverse health and economic consequences.
Associate Professor Orla Doyle‘s core focus of research is a micro analysis of human behaviour. Her areas of expertise include the economics of human development, health economics, labour economics, political behaviour, early child development and education, and methods for evaluating policy interventions. Over the last eight years Orla has developed, led, and consolidated a large research programme dedicated to evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood intervention programmes using experimental and quasi-experimental designs. I have a particular interest in developing and applying new statistical and methodology techniques to improve the internal and external validity of randomised controlled trials.