Extreme activities

The extensive literature on the economics of crime offers some reason to
believe that poverty and lack of education are connected to illegal activity, especially property crimes. However, although terrorism seems akin to crime, this
literature does not necessarily predict a similar connection between poverty or lack
of education and terrorism.


As emphasized by Becker (1968), individuals should allocate their time between working in the legal job market or working in criminal activities in such a way that maximizes their utility.After accounting for the risk of being caught and penalized, the size of the penalty, and any stigma or moral distress associated with involvement in crime, those who receive higher income from criminal activities would choose involvement in crime. In this model, crime increases as one’s market wage falls relative to the rewards associated with crime, and decreases if the risk of being apprehended after committing a crime or the penalty for being convicted of a crime rises.


Available evidence suggests that individuals are more likely to commit property crimes if they have lower wages or less education.The occurrence of violent crimes, including murders,however, is typically found to be unrelated to economic opportunities.



Terrorism may in some cases offer greater benefits for those with more education. Furthermore,terrorist organizations may prefer to select those who have better education.Apparently, the groups generally reject for suicide bombing missions “those who are under eighteen, who are the sole wage earners in their families, or who are married and have family responsibilities."A high level of educational attainment is probably a signal of one’s commitment to a cause and determination, as well as of one’s ability to prepare for an assignment and carry it off. The demand side of the terrorism phenomenon is often neglected.Suicide bombers are clearly not motivated by the prospect of their own
individual economic gain, although the promise of larger payments to their families may increase the willingness of some to participate in suicide bombing missions.We suspect their primary motivation results from their passionate support for their movement. Eradication of poverty and universal secondary education are unlikely to change these feelings. Indeed, those who are well-off and well-educated may even perceive such feelings more acutely.






Hate crimes are commonly defined as crimes against members of religious, racial or ethnic groups because of their group membership, rather than their characteristics or actions as individuals.





The evidence of a connection between economic conditions and hate crimes
is highly elusive.n. The existence of hate groups was unrelated to the unemployment rate, divorce rate, percentage black or gap in per capita income between
whites and blacks in the county. The share of the adult population with a high
school diploma or higher had a statistically significant, positive association with the probability that a hate group was located in the area.Rather than economic conditions as a cause of hate crimes, this literature points to a breakdown in law enforcement and official sanctioning or encouragement of civil disobedience as potential causes of the occurrence of hate crimes.


Terrorism resembles a violent form of political engagement. More educated people from privileged backgrounds are more likely to participate in politics, probably in part because political involvement requires some minimum level of interest, expertise, commitment to issues and effort, all of which are more likely if people have enough education and income to concern themselves with more than minimum economic subsistence.finding that terrorists are more likely to spring from countries that lack civil rights, if it holds up, is further support for the view that terrorism is a political, not economic, phenomenon. On the demand side, terrorist organizations may prefer educated, committed individuals. In addition, well-educated, middle- or upper-class individuals are better suited to carry out acts of international terrorism than are impoverished illiterates because the terrorists must fit into a foreign environment to be successful.