Title: Terrorism and business

Authors: Bruno S. Frey

Addresses: Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 30, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract: Deterrence has been a crucial element in fighting terrorism, both in politics and in rational choice analyses of terrorism. However, there are two strategies that are superior to deterrence. The first one is to make terrorist attacks less devastating and less attractive to terrorists through decentralisation. The second one is to raise the opportunity cost – rather than the material cost – for terrorists. These alternative strategies will effectively dissuade potential terrorists. It is here argued that they not only apply to society as a whole but can also usefully be applied by business enterprises.

Keywords: terrorism; deterrence; decentralisation; opportunity cost; business; enterprises.

DOI: 10.1504/GBER.2008.019016

Global Business and Economics Review, 2008 Vol.10 No.2, pp.172 - 183

Published online: 27 Jun 2008 *

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