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EMERGENT EXTREMISM IN A MULTI‐AGENT MODEL OF RELIGIOUS CLUBS
Author(s) -
MAKOWSKY MICHAEL D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00262.x
Subject(s) - terrorism , civil liberties , economics , quantile regression , population , club , key (lock) , microeconomics , law and economics , econometrics , law , political science , computer security , computer science , sociology , politics , medicine , demography , anatomy
This paper extends the club model of religion to better account for observed patterns of extremism. We adapt existing models to a multi‐agent framework and analyze the distribution of agents and clubs. We find that extremism is more successful when religious groups are able to produce close substitutes for standard goods and that increased access to publicly provided goods can reduce the extremist population share. Quantile regression modeling of data from a multi‐nation survey and institutional indices corresponds to the model's key results. Our findings offer a potential theoretical mechanism behind research linking terrorist origination to civil liberties. ( JEL C63, Z12, H56, D71)