The Short-Run Economic Impact of Summer 2020 Protests in Addis Ababa : A Brief Look at the Evidence from a High-Frequency Phone Survey of Firms
It is long recognized that instability is inimical to economic growth. Instability produces uncertainty, amplifies risks, undercuts high-return investment, and diverts public policy towards short-term and quick-fix policies. Instability, accompanie...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/669751608613046664/Monitoring-COVID-19-Impacts-on-Firms-in-Ethiopia-Results-from-a-High-Frequency-Phone-Survey-of-Firms http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34966 |
| Summary: | It is long recognized that instability
is inimical to economic growth. Instability produces
uncertainty, amplifies risks, undercuts high-return
investment, and diverts public policy towards short-term and
quick-fix policies. Instability, accompanied by violent
protest and riots, not only impacts current productive
assets but also thwarts physical and human capital
accumulation, weakening future growth. In the last two
years, non-state conflict, civil unrest, and violent protest
was rife in Ethiopia. While such conflicts are known to be
barriers to a peaceful political and economic transition,
little is known about how they have impacted the private
sector. In this brief, we examine the economic impact of one
specific event that led to the outburst of violent protests
on firms in Ethiopia. This paper also shows that the
internet shutdown affected a large share of SML firms than
own-account firms. Not surprisingly perhaps, young and large
firms are more likely to run businesses that depend on an
online presence. Authors also see sector differences in the
impact of internet shutdown on businesses. About 12 percent
of firms in the industry sector and 6 percent of firms in
the service sector report to have experienced disruptions to
the business due to the internet shutdown. There is,
however, little variation in the impact of internet shutdown
on male, and female-owned firms. |
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