Civil unrest and firm performance: evidence from Chile

Abstract

This investigation is the first to analyze how civil unrest impacts the performance of companies. Using a panel composed of 99 non-financial firms listed on the Santiago de Chile Stock Exchange during the period between the first quarter of 2017 and 2020 we find that civil unrest negatively impacts firm performance. This effect is asymmetric among the different industrial sectors with the Trade and Industrial sectors being the most adversely affected. On the other hand, the Agriculture-fishing and Utilities sectors show a better performance.