The Economics of Security: A European Perspective

Abstract:     
This special issue addresses a range of fundamental issues related to security economics, which is defined as the study of the causes, forms, and effects of the human drivers of insecurity, which include terrorism and organized crime as well as the related policies. Most of the papers of this special issue reflect the general emphasis on various aspects of terrorism and counterterrorism in research on security economics.

Several of the authors also address further sources of insecurity including considerations of organized crime and political violence. A common concern in this special issue is the role of security policies as another source of potential insecurity. As the papers will demonstrate, security policies themselves impact significantly the society and the economy, and hence represent another human-induced driver of insecurity. Designing more growth-compatible security policies to achieve ‘secure growth’ is, hence, a challenge of the post-9/11 world akin to the challenge to achieve ‘green growth’ in the presence of climate change. Finally, this special issue does not explicitly address issues of war or genocide, though such an analysis would share many interesting features.

Keywords: economics of security, defence, terrorism, organized crime, security policy, insecurity

Accepted Paper Series