Measuring The Impact Of Protests On Stock Prices

It’s been nearly four years since mass protest forced Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s resignation after nearly three decades in power, followed by military rule, and less than two years since a second wave of protests ended the one-year presidency of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi. But new research shows that street protests didn’t just upend Egyptian politics, they had a significant effect on Egyptian stock valuations and, later, corporate board composition.

“Using daily variation in the number of protesters, we document that more intense protests in Tahrir Square are associated with lower stock market valuations for firms connected to the group currently in power,” write Daron Acemoglu, Tarek Hassan, and Ahmed Tahoun in their article The Power of...