Social Movements and Corporate Opportunities

This award funds three projects that investigate how social movements impact firm performance. The goal is better understanding of how social movements affect not just the targeted organization/s but also other firms that produce inputs that the targeted organizations use. The first project will collect and disseminate a large and innovative data on all firms that are likely to be affected by the activities of social movements. The second project uses this dataset to analyze how social movements affects the production, profits, and stock prices of these firms while the third project will use survey data to try to understand the mechanisms through which the activities mass movements affect firm performance. By offering empirical evidence on the effects of social movements on the economy, justice, and law enforcement spending, this research provides a methodological template for measuring the cost of law enforcement violence in the United States. Additionally, it aims to train graduate students in cutting-edge research methods and interdisciplinary approaches to studying issues. This award funds a research project that combines observational data, natural experiments, and surveys to explore the impact of social movements on firms’ behavior and outcomes. The proposed research consists of three parts. First, the research team constructs a novel dataset of firms that have contracts with organizations that may the targets of these social movements. Second, the researchers will use this detailed data set and several methodologies to study the impacts of social movement agitation on the performance of these firms with a focus on their output, profitability, and stock market valuations. Finally, the researchers survey experts who influence policies to understand the mechanisms through which the activities of social movements influence the targeted organizations as well as businesses that supply them with inputs. The results of our project provide crucial insights into the organizational landscape and the nature of interactions between firms and law enforcement. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.