Event study methodology in politics – a systematic literature review
Event study methodology in politics – a systematic literature review

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the first systematic literature review of event study methodology applied to political events. Following PRISMA guidelines, 133 studies (1997-2024) were analysed to uncover methodological patterns. The findings show that nearly three-quarters of the papers rely on a single expected return model. The market model accounts for close to one-half of all identified model specifications, indicating its simplicity and practical applicability. Symmetric event windows, mainly shorter configurations like (−1, +1) are preferred; most of the studies test multiple lengths. Estimation periods vary (5–300 trading days), though many papers offer little validation for their choices. The review highlights methodological patterns and gaps: reliance on simple models, short symmetric windows, and inconsistent reporting. As a response, it proposes a best-practice framework to support transparency, comparability, and theoretical integration to advance methodology in this domain.

• Details
• Contents