Best of #econtwitter - Week of October 31, 2021 [2/2]
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 two of two, this week. Part one is here.
Paper summary threads
![Twitter avatar for @_alice_evans](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/_alice_evans.jpg)
How has women’s status changed over the past 5000 years?
Harnessing @Wikipedia & machine learning, @arash_nekoei & Sinn have chronicled the patriarchy.
Exception for Ancient Egypt, our societies were male dominated for millennia
This work is phenomenal
voxeu.org/article/origin…
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFCxMYULWEAIRw0A.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @Jabaluck](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/Jabaluck.jpg)
Does health insurance save lives? While there are dozens of studies with a wide range of estimates, the best studies consistently suggest that the answer is yes and the magnitude is considerable.
^thread; more
![Twitter avatar for @arjun_ramani3](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/arjun_ramani3.jpg)
Second, in the age of big data, working with others is a growing necessity. We divided economists into three groups (collaborators, lab leaders, and lone wolves). Collaborators benefited most from Covid-they are able to work with others best suited to the problems at hand
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFCtsEG8X0AABv6O.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @MichaelDPlant](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/MichaelDPlant.jpg)
@HappierLivesIns has a new analysis comparing the cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy and cash transfers in low-income countries in terms of subjective well-being (happierlivesinstitute.org/overview.html). In our dataset, we find the former is 12x (95% CI: 4, 27) more cost-effective. Thread 1/N
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFCoTYgaXEAIeMlu.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @paulnovosad](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/paulnovosad.jpg)
Amazing graph from @ShariJEli's talk on pensions in the Union Army.
The two red lines mark the period where a surgeon's certification was needed to rule whether disability was acquired during service.
Before and after, surgeons had no discretion. individual.utoronto.ca/shari_eli/USCT…
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFC4lygSXsAIFjTV.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @AlvaroLaParra](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/AlvaroLaParra.jpg)
New working paper! @Nadsfp, Félix Muñoz, and I had some fun looking at recent trends in publications in economic history. Is the discipline becoming more integrated into economics? Probably yes... BUT more so in North America than in Europe 1/12 drive.google.com/file/d/1uWBfIW…
![Abstract: This article analyzes economic history's integration into economics using a unique dataset containing 11,143 articles published between 1980 and 2019 by 919 economic historians from leading organizations in the field and biographical information about the authors. Using a probit regression, we find that since 1980 economic historians have increased their likelihood of publishing in Economics or Finance journals (EFJ) by 12 points. The integration of economic history into economics is more marked in North America than in Europe because North America-based scholars are more likely to be trained in Economics. In contrast, scholars trained in Economic History programs still represent a significant share of the Europe-based sample. Network visualizations confirm the regional differences in the practice of Economic History: EFJ and authors are much more central in North American scholars' citations. Although our findings support Margo's claim that economic history is increasingly i](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFC4J6aWVkAA35M6.png)
^also: geographic distribution of econ paper authorship
![Twitter avatar for @MichieldeHaas](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/MichieldeHaas.jpg)
I’m very happy to see that my paper "The Failure of Cotton Imperialism in Africa: Seasonal Constraints and Contrasting Outcomes in French West Africa and British Uganda" has found a home in the pages of the Journal of Economic History. A thread👇 doi.org/10.1017/S00220…
![Twitter avatar for @JPubEcon](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/JPubEcon.jpg)
Should students borrow less for college?
An informational outreach campaign led students to reduced borrowing, which led to worse academic performance and higher default rates.
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFCk0ZJHXIA8USYj.png)
More: CBT in Ghana; health insurance markets; structural model of Indian marriage market; household credit as stimulus; household information choice in Krusell-Smith; poverty and human development; frequent flyers and moral hazard
Public goods
![Twitter avatar for @pqblair](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/pqblair.jpg)
Good morning Job Market Candidates, I would like to help by promoting your Job Market Paper. To participate record a 2min video of you JMP and upload here bit.ly/JMP-covid19 (by 10/31). I will tweet out the videos that I receive starting next week.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,h_314,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F190b2c71-6aec-4238-a6cc-53f7d8022586_1200x630.png)
![Twitter avatar for @patrissimo](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/patrissimo.jpg)
Super excited for the new Open Zone Map by @AdrianopleGroup - the largest dataset of SEZs ever made, presented in an explorable interactive map. Give it a try at:
openzonemap.com
![Twitter avatar for @KatarinaSerlet](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_40/KatarinaSerlet.jpg)
Katarina Serlet @KatarinaSerlet
![Twitter avatar for @egor_malkov](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/egor_malkov.jpg)
❗️❗️❗️ New Data Alert ❗️❗️❗️
Hello #EconTwitter and #PoliSciTwitter.
I digitized and translated the statistical reports from the Russian Empire spanning 1863-1917.
Details: sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/emal…
Please, contact me if you have any questions or interested in collaboration. [1/3]
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,h_314,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7194b937-23c0-4996-9487-2d6b8f0fab06_137x137.png)
![Twitter avatar for @ShuheiKitamura](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/ShuheiKitamura.jpg)
The spatial and temporal coverage of the WHBD is summarized in these figures. To the author's best knowledge, the overall coverage (temporal and spatial) of the WHBD is the largest among existing historical conflict data.
(6/9)
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFDBDT4YUUAgHUhT.jpg)
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.substack.com%2Fmedia%2FFDBDT4ZVEAgYU53.jpg)
^“I would like to introduce "World Historical Battles Database (WHBD)", which contains information on about 8,000 battles in world history from ancient times to the present day.”
Interesting discussions
^recommended