Dorsch Presents Alternative Model that Identifies Relationship between Economic Shocks and Mass Protests

Assistant Professor Michael Dorsch recently co-authored an article in Public Choice exploring an alternative explanation for political instability in autocracies. In their model, Dorsch and his colleagues Karl Dunz and Paul Maarek demonstrate that adverse macroeconomic shocks are more likely to lead to mass political protests and revolutionary activity in regimes that impose restrictive regulations on the private sector.  In an econometric analysis of instances of mass political protests in autocracies from 1970 – 2008, they demonstrate substantial statistical support for the idea that political instability in autocracies is caused by adverse macro shocks, and to a larger extent when market-distorting regulations are in place.

The full article, “Macro shocks and costly political action in non-democracies,” is available online here.