Best of #econtwitter - Week of August 15, 2021 [1/2]
Welcome readers old and new to this week’s edition of Best of Econtwitter. Thanks to those sharing suggestions, over email or on Twitter @just_economics.
This is part one of two, this week; part two is here.
Paper summary threads
Can changing labor market returns help explain observed trends in cognitive skills in developed countries? Our new @nberpubs WP, with @santiagohermo @SeimSeim and Jesse Shapiro, argues they can.
#EconTwitter @SU_Economics @Brown_Economics
nber.org/papers/w29135
A short thread:
We start by documenting the Flynn effect in our data (left fig, 1st row) and noting that returns to both logical reasoning and vocabulary knowledge skills have *fallen* over time (2nd row). Moreover, the *relative* return to vocabulary knowledge fell by 40 log points. 7/10
What a graph! High-income parents teach their children independence, low-income parents teach obedience.
Source: WVS via Acemoglu
nber.org/papers/w29125#…
Theory: parents teach traits that are optimal for the expected work evironment of their kids— limiting upward mobility.
College students assigned to a 7:30am intro course are 10% less likely to major in that subject. A similar effect is found for fatigue-inducing back-to-back courses.
Why? Attribution bias.
Students appear to misattribute their bad experience to the subject rather than fatigue
I have a new paper with Adam Guren and Tim McQuade on house prices: nber.org/papers/w29140. Not the recent COVID boom, but the 2000s cycle. Here is why we think there is more to say about this episode.
^useful comments and discussion
Happy to share a new working paper w/ @Apoorva__Lal @lockhartm @zu_gary: bit.ly/replicateiv We replicated >60 papers using IV strategies published in APSR, AJPS, and JOP and find troubling patterns of weaker IVs, wrong inference, and failure of exclusion restrictions.
The paper includes the single best overview of the pollution literature I've seen, written with policymakers in mind.
Here's a handy breakdown of the best studies:
I’m happy to share that my JMP on 𝗟𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗹 finally has a conditional accept at @restatjournal. It only took 6 years and now I just have to submit the final version!
A 🧵 below on contributions to policy and methodology, link here:
cseveren.github.io/files/Severen_…
[1/N] Gyourko and @jkrimmel's zoning tax JUE is a clear, creative, and overall great paper. It's awesome to have a quick graph when someone's skeptical about zoning mattering.
Some thoughts, and I'm curious to hear other people's ideas about the paper:
NBER @nberpubs
Paper "Asset Pricing with Fading Memory" with @DanielZYXu now forthcoming in the RFS 😀. Quick summary: (1/n)
Review of Financial Studies @RevOfFinStudies
You know those policies that some universities have that admit the top X% of each high school in the state?
They're really good for disadvantaged students.
They increase graduation rates and annual salaries of disadvantaged students *a lot*.
zacharybleemer.com/wp-content/upl…
Interesting discussions
A new memo from our AEA ad hoc committee on the job market has been posted. Happily, there is continued evidence of a major rebound in the demand for PhD economists. Summary w/ graphs follows... 1/7
#EconTwitter #EconJobMarket @AEAInformation @JOE_listings @EconSpark @AEACSWEP
As of 2021-07-30, the # of job openings on JOE for full-time academic jobs in the US is up 58.5% compared to same time in 2020 and is even up 25.6% compared to this time in 2019 (which was pre-COVID). #EconTwitter #EconJobMarket 2/7
^this is data on demand, but open question: data on supply
Academics: Any advice on being PhD program coordinator? Marketing your program? Evaluating apps? Reaching group decisions? I'm interested in all of your tips & advice!
@johnjhorton @jenniferdoleac Marketing: 1) tweet about your program
2) make sure webpage about program is up to date/accurate, prospective/admitted student really scour this stuff
3) check to make sure details on app are what you want (it took me several yrs to get GMAT off UM b-sch oriented app). 1/