Is Squatting a Good Business for the Security Industry? A Case Analysis from Spain

29 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2021

Date Written: February 25, 2021

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relation between the rise of the squatter movement in Spain and the evolution of firms involved into the security and surveillance business. We hypothesize that the upsurge of this phenomenon might benefit the evolution of these companies. Using Google searches to measure the citizens’ attention and concerns to the squatter movement, we analyze their impact on the evolution of the unique security company listed in the Spanish stock market: Prosegur. The empirical analysis points out to a positive and significant relationship, which is robust to the inclusion of other market variables. Moreover, we find out that this relationship disappears or turns negative for other types of firms and for the stock market in general, suggesting that our measure of attention to the squatter movement might actually be a proxy for an impairment of the rule of law in Spain.

Keywords: Squatter movement, security business, Google searches, Prosegur, stock markets

JEL Classification: G40, G18, G10

Suggested Citation

González-Fernández, Marcos and González-Velasco, Carmen, Is Squatting a Good Business for the Security Industry? A Case Analysis from Spain (February 25, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3792884 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3792884

Marcos González-Fernández (Contact Author)

Universidad de León ( email )

Leon, 24071
Spain

Carmen González-Velasco

Universidad de León ( email )

Leon, 24071
Spain

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