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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Main Authors: Abebe, Girum, Bundervoet, Tom, Wieser, Christina
Format: Brief
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
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
id okr-10986-34966
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-349662021-04-23T14:02:13Z 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 Abebe, Girum Bundervoet, Tom Wieser, Christina ENTERPRISE SURVEY CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT SALES REVENUE PROPERTY DAMAGE SUPPLY CHAIN INTERNET ACCESS RIOTS 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. 2021-01-05T19:47:38Z 2021-01-05T19:47:38Z 2020-12-21 Brief 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 English Monitoring COVID-19 Impacts on Firms in Ethiopia; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Africa Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE) Ethiopia
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ENTERPRISE SURVEY
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SALES REVENUE
PROPERTY DAMAGE
SUPPLY CHAIN
INTERNET ACCESS
RIOTS
spellingShingle ENTERPRISE SURVEY
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SALES REVENUE
PROPERTY DAMAGE
SUPPLY CHAIN
INTERNET ACCESS
RIOTS
Abebe, Girum
Bundervoet, Tom
Wieser, Christina
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
geographic_facet Africa
Africa Eastern and Southern (AFE)
Ethiopia
relation Monitoring COVID-19 Impacts on Firms in Ethiopia;
description 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.
format Brief
author Abebe, Girum
Bundervoet, Tom
Wieser, Christina
author_facet Abebe, Girum
Bundervoet, Tom
Wieser, Christina
author_sort Abebe, Girum
title 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
title_short 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
title_full 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
title_fullStr 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
title_full_unstemmed 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
title_sort 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
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url 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
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