Best of #econtwitter - Week of November 14, 2021 [1/2]
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Best of #econtwitter - Week of November 14, 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
Stunning results: ↗️ access to clean water via @EvidenceAction's Dispensers for Safe Water reduces child mortality by a stunning 63% against baseline in Kenya. Very cost-effective
This per a new 📄 by @jhaushofer @brandonjoeltan Maertens & Michael Kremer nber.org/papers/w29447
^“Chlorine dispensers from @EvidenceAction appear to save a life for every $2,000 spent on them”
I just finished two papers that I'd been working on for a while! I'll preview the other one tomorrow, but today:
"Are You Smarter Than a Random Expert? The Robust Aggregation of Substitutable Signals", with my advisor @algoclass (Tim Roughgarden) 🧵/20
arxiv.org/abs/2111.03153
Thrilled that our paper has been accepted at REStat! Joint work with the amazing @pa_christensen , @pwfBldgIAQ , and @EricaMyersEcon.
We provide insight into why savings from energy efficiency programs are often lower than expected.
Thread below!
#EconTwitter #energy
1/11
The Review of Economics and Statistics (REStat) @restatjournal
Was Spain’s sex ratio once as severe as India’s?
108.8 boys per hundred girls during 19th century? 🤯
(which is precisely the same as India today)
And why did it change? https://t.co/kMnbBBm3lc
Fran Beltrán @FJBeltranTapia
^more on gender this week: male vs. female Facebook interests; gender differences in economics networks
What’s the effect of monetary policy on people’s consumption, income, saving? Recent HANK models provide valuable theoretical insights, but empirical evidence remained scarce. We therefore use detailed administrative data from Norway to address this question. (2/N)
We find that congress members systematically affect asset prices through social media. Supportive (critical) tweets increase (decrease) the stock prices of the targeted firms. Stock prices react within minutes around the tweet and keep reacting for several days
What are the effects of remedial courses in middle school?
An RD design shows positive effects on the likelihood of taking college credit-bearing courses in high school, college enrollment, enrolling in more selective colleges, persistence in college, and degree attainment.
Social networks inherently affect the *entire* community, and so harms are not always concentrated on the people who use it most.
Design here looks at introduction of FB for *whole* University; finding negative mental health consequences through the social comparison channel.
Daniel Willingham @DTWillingham
^good discussion in the replies
Six tech hubs (San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, San Diego, Denver, and Austin) account for 45% of US software patents since 2015
nber.org/papers/w29456?…
Job market papers
New working paper: “Evidence-Based Decisions and Education Policymakers”
nozominakajima.github.io/files/nakajima…
In a series of experiments, I study how education policymakers in the U.S. use research evidence to inform their decisions.
A summary 🧵 [1/N]
Here's a figure of the main result:
- Policymakers place more weight on bigger studies. They prefer larger samples and more sites.
- Policymakers place more weight on studies conducted in places with similar racial composition and poverty rates as their own jurisdiction. [6/N]
^understated commentary: “This is surprising because all else equal, experimental designs are less susceptible to threats of internal validity than observational studies”
My JMP studies the multi-dimensional effects of police funding cuts in London on crime, police performance and house prices.
The massive austerity cuts forced the police to close >70% police stations since 2010.
The closures reduced police presence near closed stations 👮♂️🚓 2/N
🚨🚨🚨
@xiaolin_econ is on the job market this year, and his remarkable job market paper "Credible Persuasion" (co-authored with Ce Liu) is available for public viewing.
Link here: personal.psu.edu/xul75/papers/J…
and thread below.
1/7
Interesting discussions
Two models for inflation:
1. MACRO: inflation is determined in aggregate (e.g., total stimulus).
2. MICRO: developments in individual markets (e.g., cars) determine inflation.
The later approach isn't entirely irrelevant but vastly overblown in analyzing inflation.
A 🧵
It’s the season to post job-market papers.
1. JMPs are working papers. As with all working papers, they should be open to public discussion and critique.
2. There’s every reason to be civil and generous when discussing JMPs, especially since the author is stressed and busy.
^some discussion here
