The Effects of Protests on Agents’ Expectations: Evidence from Students’ Demonstrations in Chile

We use a narrative approach to study the effects of protests on agents’ expectations. The “protest shocks” in the case of our study arose from Chile's student demonstrations. The demonstrations, led by university and secondary students, raised demands related to greater involvement of the state in the funding, provision, and regulation of the education sector. We find a negative response in relation to both the consumer confidence index and the business confidence index in the face of those demonstrations. The negative effect of the protests on the consumer confidence index lasted, on average, six months after the demonstrations. The impact of the protests on the business confidence index was more limited, although still negative and statistically significant.