globaltrends SPRI

We propose a concept of grassroots socio-political risk (SPR) and provide the globaltrends SPRI as a measure. The globaltrends SPRI is based on individual-level issue salience using data from Google Trends. Our concept provides a bottom-up complement to established measures that focus more on political institutional players and the institutional constraints they face. The globaltrends SPRI can serve to predict institutional change in a country initiated by a popular majority of individuals. In contrast to existing measures, the globaltrends SPRI measure captures issue salience directly among individuals rather than media or analyst reports. As such, it is uniquely representative of socio-political sentiment, timely, and widely available. Our concept and measure offer novel opportunities for international business researchers. Refer to the accompanying paper (available from the authors) for further information on the index construction.