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The Influence of General Strikes against Government on Stock Market Behavior

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  • Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski
  • Brendan John Lambe
  • Alexandra Dias

Abstract

Using a sample of 76 countries, this paper examines the impact of major strikes against government and its policies on stock market behavior. An occurrence of a general strike is detrimental to the value of equities, as documented by the ceteris paribus 6.11% fall in dollar‐denominated stock market indices of the affected countries. This event is also accompanied by a statistically significant increase in risk, as measured by the standard deviation of returns and Value‐at‐Risk metrics. Taken together, these results imply that general strikes have serious ramifications for stock market investors.

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  • Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski & Brendan John Lambe & Alexandra Dias, 2020. "The Influence of General Strikes against Government on Stock Market Behavior," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(1), pages 72-99, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:67:y:2020:i:1:p:72-99
    DOI: 10.1111/sjpe.12224
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