Best of #econtwitter - Week of September 12, 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
![Twitter avatar for @nhendren82](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/nhendren82.jpg)
My new working paper out today with @djh1202 shows how adverse selection has unraveled private markets for financial alternatives to student debt that would reduce the risk of investing in college.
scholar.harvard.edu/files/hendren/…
Thread summary below: (1/n)
^gif. More in “education-related gifs”:
![Twitter avatar for @edpolicywonk](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/edpolicywonk.jpg)
Our exploratory #RDD results show this course, using anti-racist curricula and pedagogy, sustained gains throughout HS in attendance and credits earned & additional evidence of an increase in college matriculation using @NSClearinghouse data
![Image](https://substackcdn.com/video/upload/e_loop,vs_40/qpljahjypomiojoapw3b.gif)
![Twitter avatar for @mikepesko](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/mikepesko.jpg)
We estimate continuous-treatment DD models to find that #ecig taxes reduce ecig use & raise #cigarette use.
Doubling existing #ecig taxes would reduce youth use by 12% but raise current #cigarette use by 8%, with particularly large increases for regular #cigarette users.
7/13
![Twitter avatar for @andy_garin](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/andy_garin.jpg)
The data make clear that IC work has a distinct high-end and low-end. Here’s the distribution of work within earnings groups:
4/9
![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%2FE-nV54SWYAc62NV.jpg)
^IC = independent contractors
![Twitter avatar for @hhsievertsen](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/hhsievertsen.jpg)
Hi #Econtwitter!
happy to share a revised version of ⬇️ with @CmfValente & @Maheshcpuri
To recap:
>400 000 children die from blood infections every year 😢
- 2 RCTs: chlorhexidine can prevent this for 0.23USD/dose 👍
- 3 subsequent RCTs: no effect 😕
➡️slow/no roll-out
1/10
![Twitter avatar for @hhsievertsen](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_40/hhsievertsen.jpg)
Hans Henrik Sievertsen @hhsievertsen
![Twitter avatar for @page_eco](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/page_eco.jpg)
Fascinating evolution of stated preferences for a partner during the 20th century: personality criteria progressively replaced economic criteria.
Data from matrimonial ads in 🇫🇷.
ht @j_vechbany
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
![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%2FE-2Hhs1VIAcY4r-.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%2FE-2Hhs4VcAMT0c6.jpg)
^trends in agreeableness?
![Twitter avatar for @mattsclancy](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/mattsclancy.jpg)
When the USSR collapsed, some subfields of non-Soviet mathematics got a surprise infusion of new ideas.
Agrawal, Goldfarb, and Teodoris show that as the burden of knowledge grew in these subfields, mathematicians specialized relatively more and formed bigger teams! 1/3
![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%2FE-2IpKOWUAQjk3C.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @Jonheathcote](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/Jonheathcote.jpg)
New/old paper with Hitoshi Tsujiyama now forthcoming. Paper tackles an old question – the shape of the optimal income tax schedule. Should marginal rates be flat (Friedman / Mirrlees), U-shaped in income (Diamond / Saez) or increasing (actual tax code)? 1/
![Twitter avatar for @ProfDesmondAng](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/ProfDesmondAng.jpg)
How does police violence affect public cooperation w/ law enforcement? In a new WP w/ @PankaBencsik @jmb112485 @EDerenoncourt, we find large declines in crime-reporting after the murder of George Floyd. Across 8 cities, 911 calls per gunshot drop by 50% & total calls by 25%. 1/5
![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%2FE-3RlIKWQAIvbDT.png)
![Twitter avatar for @daveholtz](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/daveholtz.jpg)
🚨 New research just published in @NatureHumBehav: We analyzed the collaboration patterns of 61k+ @Microsoft employees to estimate the causal effects of firm-wide remote work (RW).
nature.com/articles/s4156…
1/
![](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%2F5eeab026-f332-419f-9a07-709d8e0bbb35_685x395.png)
![Twitter avatar for @claudferraz](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/claudferraz.jpg)
1/4 What happens when there are limits imposed on the amount of money that politicians can spend on their campaigns? In this paper forthcoming in @AEAjournals aeaweb.org/articles?id=10… we examine the effects on political entry, selection, and behavior of local politicians in Brasil
![](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%2F8c80feca-3514-4547-897b-f9cf9ec97f77_625x625.png)
More: education-job loss association; Vietnamese development; decomposition of income gains; Korean development; broadband reduces poverty; fairness views
Public goods
![Twitter avatar for @kylefbutts](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/kylefbutts.jpg)
🚨 Beamer Slides Template 🚨
My attempt at making beautiful beamer slides easy. h/t to @paulgp's beamer tips for a lot of inspiration.
pdf preview: raw.githubusercontent.com/kylebutts/temp…
source code: github.com/kylebutts/temp…
Details...
![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%2FE-tXmdBVUAA8iEC.png)
Interesting discussions
![Twitter avatar for @cawley_john](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/cawley_john.jpg)
As of 2021-09-05, the # of job openings on JOE for full-time academic jobs in the US is up 102.8% compared to same time in 2020 (!) and is even up 20.8% compared to this time in 2019 (which was pre-COVID). #EconTwitter #EconJobMarket 2/6
![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%2FE-84ZE-XMAEjzkO.png)
![Twitter avatar for @fatihguvenen](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/fatihguvenen.jpg)
Happy Labor Day!
Some food for thought about *lifetime* employment rate. A mini thread:
12.6% of US men work < 1/2 of prime-age years (25-55)
"Working" = Earnings > $2K in a year. A very low bar.
If "working" = $10K: 19.5% of men work <1/2
#econtwitter (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%2FE-oNFf7XsAwk00t.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @ckcarruthers](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/ckcarruthers.jpg)
Big news from Economics of Education Review - expedited, no-revision review track is now live and ready for submissions.
![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%2FE-7VBp0XMB4Sh_M.jpg)
![Twitter avatar for @ben_golub](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/ben_golub.jpg)
What are our best submissions to the scientific hall of fame of "we figured out how this real thing works"
Proposals:
(i) prices;
(ii) adverse selection e.g., why markets with private information don't work so well;
(iii) mixed Nash in penalty kicks
others?
![Twitter avatar for @CaltechEconThry](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_40/CaltechEconThry.jpg)
CaltechEconTheory @CaltechEconThry