TY - JOUR T1 - Black Lives Matter Protests and Risk Avoidance JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour DO - 10.3368/jhr.0121-11463R1 SP - 0121-11463R1 AU - Dhaval Dave AU - Andrew Friedson AU - Kyutaro Matsuzawa AU - Joseph J. Sabia AU - Samuel Safford Y1 - 2023/05/08 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/05/01/jhr.0121-11463R1.abstract N2 - This study examines the impacts of summer 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests on risk avoidance behaviors. Using daily anonymized smartphone data on social mobility and an event-study approach, we find that net stay-at-home behavior increased following protest onset. This result is consistent with avoidance behaviors in response to perceived risk of COVID-19 infection and protest-related violence. Furthermore, we find that BLM protests reduced local activities that were potentially riskier for infection than outdoor protests: restaurant and bar-going and retail shopping. We conclude that risk avoidance behaviors help to explain why BLM protests did not lead to local COVID-19 spread. ER -