Michael Jetter

Media Attention and Terrorism

Michael Jetter's research addresses political economy topics, such as corruption, terrorism and government size. A particular focus of his current research analyses the relationship between terrorism and media attention. In a curious symbiotic relationship, preliminary research findings suggest that increased media coverage is directly associated with future terrorist attacks. Using natural disasters in the US as an exogenous variation influencing media coverage of contemporaneous terrorist attacks in the rest of the world, the statistical evidence suggests a causal interpretation of the link between increased media coverage and future attacks. Finally, another area of his research analyses gender differences and similarities in competitive behaviour and risk preferences.

In the first five years of his career, Mr Jetter has published ten articles in peer-reviewed journals. Among other journals, he has published in the Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, World Development, Economic Inquiry and the European Journal of Political Economy. He has worked with colleagues and students from Colombia, the United States, England, Bolivia, Ukraine, India and Germany.

After completing his PhD studies in Economics at the University of Memphis (USA) in 2011, Michael Jetter took on an Assistant Professor position at the Universidad EAFIT, a young private University in Medellin (Colombia). Since 2013, he has been a Research Fellow at the Institute of Labor (IZA) in Bonn. In July 2015, he was awarded a Lecturer position in the Economics Department at the University of Western Australia.