Best of #econtwitter - Week of March 14, 2021
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.
Paper summary threads
Noam Angrist@angrist_noam
📣Excited to share our paper is now *published* in @nature "Measuring human capital using global learning data" w/ Djankov @PennyG_Yale @hpatrinos
nature.com/articles/s4158…
We present learning data in 164 countries from 2000-2017 + explore key Qs in the human capital literature👇
nature.com
Measuring human capital using global learning data
4:14 PM · Mar 10, 2021
107 Reposts · 375 Likes
Arpit Gupta@arpitrage
🎉 Paper with @SVNieuwerburgh now forthcoming at JF.
We develop a new methodology for asset pricing on unlisted assets, and find private equity has less alpha than you may think.
code: github.com/arpitrage/Divi…
substack: arpitrage.substack.com/p/valuing-priv…
4:44 PM · Mar 11, 2021
35 Reposts · 227 Likes
Matthias Doepke@mdoepke
And now for something different:
A paper on how to think about the optimal size of world population from the perspective of souls who go through multiple incarnations.
Sounds crazy, you say? Hear me out.
(thread)
3:27 PM · Mar 12, 2021
148 Reposts · 639 Likes
Nathan Wilmers@natewilmers
After 5 years of work, @AeppliClem and I finally have a working paper on our inequality project, using restricted-use BLS data. Originally, we wanted to see whether it's really occupation or really workplace that explains rising inequality. Turns out, it's neither. (1/10)
10:40 PM · Mar 9, 2021
57 Reposts · 249 Likes
Francisco Roldán@fqroldan
🚨🚨NEW PAPER ALERT🚨🚨
Why do countries finance themselves by issuing debt without indexation? Joint work with @francisco_roch fresh out of the oven.
IMF Working Paper: imf.org/en/Publication…
Ungated: fqroldan.github.io/resources/SCI_…
Francisco Roch @francisco_roch
Just released. Our new IMF working paper on Uncertainty Premia, Sovereign Default Risk, and State-Contingent Debt. Joint with @fqroldan Check it out!
https://t.co/dkwdmK1uM3
3:54 PM · Mar 13, 2021
7 Reposts · 67 Likes
Nageeb Ali@SNageebAli
Many of us are struck by polarization + distrust today. Lots of great angles to this being studied in econ + poli sci.
Chloe, Lucas, Max, & I ask a basic question:
Do people know to trust others when prefs are aligned + not to do so when they are not?
3:32 PM · Mar 9, 2021
8 Likes
Brian Albrecht@BrianCAlbrecht
Excited to post a working paper with @omareconomics and @PeterBoettke on the Hayek Hypothesis (a favorite topic of mine!)
We show how recent theoretical work and field experiments shed new light on the hypothesis, often (but not always) supporting Hayek
briancalbrecht.com/Al-Ubaydli_Boe…
3:29 PM · Mar 11, 2021
24 Reposts · 64 Likes
Michael Eddy@MichaelEddy
. @m_sendhil @supKaur @suannaoh @FrankSchilbach finds more evidence that poverty hurts job performance. Large effects (6% productivity ↗️!) just from paying wage more regularly in Odisha, India. #pacdev @BeckerFriedman repec.bfi.uchicago.edu/RePEc/pdfs/BFI…
6:13 PM · Mar 12, 2021
9 Reposts · 33 Likes
Anna Stansbury@annastansbury
ATTN faculty: How you perceive your relationship with your PhD advisees is often *not* how they perceive it.
AEA Journals @AEAjournals
Forthcoming in the JEL: "Graduate Student Mental Health: Lessons from American Economics Departments" by Valentin Bolotnyy, Matthew Basilico, and Paul Barreira. https://t.co/oQO3jx3G2c
4:29 AM · Mar 12, 2021
63 Reposts · 278 Likes
Laurent Bouton@laurent_bouton
NEW: paper w/ @MicaelCastanhe1 & @GGenicot (bit.ly/3chEDp2) accepted at JEEA. Quite timely for the debate about reforming the Electoral College. Ttime for a thread! 👉
bit.ly
BCG_PR_vs_MAJ_JEEA_2021_02_01.pdf
5:29 PM · Mar 12, 2021
7 Reposts · 50 Likes
Michael Rubens@MichRubens
I examine how consolidation in the Chinese tobacco industry affected cigarette price markups, input price markdowns, and TFP. This setting is interesting bc consolidation was the result of a policy that forced firms to exit based on size, which creates a natural experiment. 2/8
5:49 PM · Mar 8, 2021
4 Likes
More: barriers to female entrepreneurship in India, US voting rights, more US voting rights, micromobility
Public goods
Alex Albright@AllbriteAllday
💻 Just updated the "Resources" page on my website! 💻
Need some toy data and/or R code examples? I gotchu.
thelittledataset.com/data_code/
Also included: links to online resources on finding data, data visualization, using R, and some random econ topics too
#EconTwitter #Rstats
5:54 PM · Mar 9, 2021
46 Reposts · 227 Likes
Simon Mongey@Simon_Mongey
Fwiw, I put slides of my honors undergraduate macroeconomics class online here: simonmongey.com/teaching--note…. Similar level as @KurlatPablo's book, with pre-reqs in calculus and algebra and two courses in micro. Syllabus and key ideas below:
12:18 AM · Mar 9, 2021
60 Reposts · 256 Likes
Rashad Ahmed@RashadAhmed334
Hi #EconTwitter particularly macro-finance & int'l macro folks: Data for the global flight-to-safety (FTS) index series is now available on my website - daily and monthly frequency indices, 2000-2019: sites.google.com/view/rashad-ah…. 1/n
sites.google.com
Rashad Ahmed - Data
5:43 PM · Mar 9, 2021
5 Reposts · 19 Likes
Interesting discussions
Michael Clemens@m_clem
A thread of remarkable research on the economics of international migration that I've discovered recently.
I'll add to this regularly in the days ahead, in no particular order. I'm summarizing frontier findings, not presenting unquestionable truths.
Pour a ☕ and join me—>
2:44 PM · Feb 25, 2021
222 Reposts · 649 Likes
Ricardo Dahis@rdahis
My two cents on the academic job market after going through it. 🧵
Usual caveats apply: my own personal experience, and it may be suffering from recency bias. Lots of people have written about it so I'll try not to be repetitive. #EconTwitter
12:52 AM · Mar 10, 2021
48 Reposts · 329 Likes
Shengwu Li@ShengwuLi
@harry_toulouse @ash_craig This article convinced me that we should welcome PhD admits who are mean-preserving spreads of the usual file. Even in top programs, having all the ‘technical’ credentials is far from a sufficient condition for graduates to produce research.
aeaweb.org
The Research Productivity of New PhDs in Economics: The Surprisingly High Non-success of the Successful
1:23 AM · Mar 12, 2021
1 Repost · 25 Likes
^paper is based on data from graduates up through 2000 — needs an update, given the rise of coauthoring
Arindrajit Dube@arindube
I think it's really unfortunate that applied researchers feel paralyzed to use difference-in-differences method. It's by far the most useful tool in the applied toolkit.
And recent methodological developments do not change that fact.
1/
Lindsey Bullinger @lindsbullinger
Anyone else feel this way?
Working on lots of DD papers these days. And each time
I sit down to work on them, I feel paralyzed bc I feel like I’m doing it all wrong. 1/5
3:46 AM · Mar 12, 2021
25 Reposts · 179 Likes
Chris Blattman@cblatts
Academics: What are the best sabbatical ideas you’ve had or seen colleagues do?
9:14 PM · Mar 12, 2021
7 Reposts · 46 Likes