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Here is a new paper by Sara Abrahamsson.  Perhaps there is Norwegian exceptionalism at work, but the results reflect my expectations reasonably closely.  The basic setting is that smart phones were banned in middle school, but at varying (and exogenous) rates around the country.  Here are some of the core findings, noting that reading the […] The post The Norwegian ban on smart phones...

Take a look at how the number of federal regulations and policies governing research at universities has dramatically increased over the years. This adding an enormous cost of doing research. (Source COGR) pic.twitter.com/ezqAsLUIIj — Denis Wirtz (@deniswirtz) April 20, 2024 Via Matt Yglesias. The post Deregulate our universities appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsJust replace “healthcare” and “hospital” with “higher ... by JK...

Dobbs, of course, was the Supreme Court decision saying that the constitution does not provide a right to abortion, thus leading to restrictions on abortion in many states. The pictures is from The Economist, the original paper is here. The post Tying the Knot appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Mark Bahner. Cool. You play “Most National ... by mikeInThe716In reply...

Two economists from the Harvard Growth Lab (Shah and Sturzenegger) estimate that the average transport costs for those who are employed in South Africa is equal to 57% of net wages when time to commute is accounted for. Here is the whole John McDermott tweet storm, in part that is the spatial legacy from the […] The post South Africa fact of the day...

When I post about the skyrocketing price of housing and the need to build, commentators (include some of the most astute commentators on MR), will sometimes object by pointing to the increasing and historically high number of houses per capita. They question how this aligns with rising prices and wave vaguely towards factors like monopoly […] The post Why a Housing Shortage Exists Despite...

All of this is from Devin Pope, in response to Lyman Stone (and myself).  Here was my original post on the paper, concerning the degree of religious attendance.  I won’t double indent, but here is Devin and Devin alone: “I’m super grateful for Lyman’s willingness to engage with my recent research on measuring religious worship […] The post Response from Devin Pope, on religious...

Only rarely: Recent social movements stand out by their spontaneous nature and lack of stable leadership, raising doubts on their ability to generate political change. This article provides systematic evidence on the effects of protests on public opinion and political attitudes. Drawing on a database covering the quasi-universe of protests held in the United States, […] The post Do protests matter? appeared first on...

Many people have flipped coins but few have stopped to ponder the statistical and physical intricacies of the process. In a preregistered study we collected 350,757 coin flips to test the counterintuitive prediction from a physics model of human coin tossing developed by Diaconis, Holmes, and Montgomery (D-H-M; 2007). The model asserts that when people […] The post Fair coins aren’t fair appeared first...

Collaborations in economics across genders increased (12.5% increase of women coauthors per 100 men-authored papers) after #MeToo . But senior researchers reduced their new collaborations with junior women by 33% per 100 senior-authored papers. https://t.co/zIxDF2Hukx pic.twitter.com/2YplnMTFoy — Florian Ederer (@florianederer) April 7, 2024 The post Economists do it with models? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         Comments“And 2004-2020 is a long time horizon during...

Africa's debt crisis is back to where it was in the late 1990s, with almost one fifth of government revenues now used to service foreign loans. The cost is being counted in crumbling clinics and schools, and economic stagnation pic.twitter.com/3zAGRC6ule — Patrick Watt (@WattPatrick) April 2, 2024 The post Is an African debt crisis returning? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIs california yimby...

There are pronounced racial, ethnic, and gender gaps in income in the U.S. We investigate whether these correspond with differences in competitiveness, risk tolerance, and confidence relative to performance in a large, stratified sample of the U.S. prime-age population. We find substantial differences in all three traits across Black, Hispanic, and White males and females. […] The post Disparities in psychological traits and incomes...

The full paper title is “Has Intergenerational Progress Stalled? Income Growth Over Five Generations of Americans,” by Kevin Corrinth and Jeff Larrimore.  Here is the abstract: We find that each of the past four generations of Americans was better off than the previous one, using a post-tax, post-transfer income measure constructed annually from 1963-2022 based […] The post New results on intergenerational progress appeared...

Economics research has largely overlooked non-binary individuals. We aim to jump-start the literature by providing data on several economically-important beliefs and preferences. Among many results, non-binary individuals report more gender-based discrimination and express different career and life aspirations, including less desire for children. Anti-non-binary sentiment is stronger than anti-LGBT sentiment, and strongest among men. Non-binary […] The post Non-binary gender economics appeared first on...

China’s admission into the WTO in 2001 heralded a new era of globalization, increasing both import competition in domestic markets and foreign opportunities for US firms. In the aggregate, the average annual profitability of US public firms during the post globalization period (2003-2019) increased by 11.5% of the corresponding pre-globalization period (1984-2002) profitability. This increase […] The post Which U.S. firms have grown in...

Here is the link, via the wisdom of Garett Jones.  And OK, which nations have the cultural inferiority complexes?  The ones that rate themselves highly, or the converse? The post Which nations have cultural inferiority complexes? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Tzar Simeon. They still have slavery in Bulgaria ... by RobPIn reply to Anti-Gnostic. They think they have it...

We investigate how the gender gap in confidence affects the views that evaluators (e.g., employers) hold about men and women. We find the confidence gap is contagious, causing evaluators to form overly pessimistic beliefs about women. This result arises even though the confidence gap is expected and even though the confidence gap shouldn’t be contagious […] The post The Gender Gap in Confidence: Expected...

This is one of the most fascinating charts I’ve ever seen. Been staring at it all morning trying to draw assumptions from it pic.twitter.com/vG01VRNExu — Ben Little (@TRUmav) February 19, 2024 The post Map of the day model this mother distance what else besides population density appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Sure. So they’re about average, as I expected by...

Both rightists and leftists assume that the U.S. spends far lower to combat social problems (poverty, healthcare, education) than peer nations, but that is not true. pic.twitter.com/CXdVDNWb6p — David (@Data_David1) February 18, 2024 Here Robin Hanson notes that social spending as a percent of gdp tends to rise almost universally: Key question: will these trends […] The post I am tired of making this...

That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one excerpt: The human and economic costs of recessions are deep and well-documented. They can also have real health benefits, however, and seldom are they expressed so starkly as in this sentence in a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research: “The Great Recession provided one in twenty-five 55-year-olds […] The post Do recessions benefit our health? appeared...

WEF 2002: The world could face lithium shortages by 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says, while Credit Suisse thinks demand could treble between 2020 and 2025, meaning “supply would be stretched”. Reuters 2023:  Lithium producers are growing anxious that delays in mine permitting, staffing shortages and inflation may hinder their ability to supply enough […] The post Lithium appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION....

That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit: California’s highest income tax rate is 13.3%. That is in addition to a top federal tax rate of 37%. California also has a state sales tax rate of 7.25%, and many localities impose a smaller sales tax. So if a wealthy person earns and […] The post The California tax burden is driving...

Shanhong Luo, a professor at Fayetteville State University, studies the factors behind attraction between romantic partners, including the norms that govern relationships. In a paper published in 2023 in Psychological Reports, a peer-reviewed journal, Dr. Luo and a team of researchers surveyed 552 heterosexual college students in Wilmington, N.C., and asked them whether they expected men or […] The post Sticky norms appeared first on Marginal...

Correlations between spouses Extraversion: r= .005Neuroticism: .082Height: .227Weight: .154Education: .5Political party: .6 "Mates tend to be positively but weakly concordant on personality and physical traits, but concordance of political attitudes is extremely high" pic.twitter.com/BmdpySfakh — Rob Henderson (@robkhenderson) February 10, 2024 The post Correlations between spouses appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to joan. “Women don't change their beliefs or ... by...

We measure college graduate quality—the average human capital of a college’s graduates—for graduates from 2,800 colleges in 48 countries. Graduates of colleges in the richest countries have 50% more human capital than graduates of colleges in the poorest countries. Migration reinforces these differences: emigrants from poorer countries are highly positively selected on human capital. Finally, […] The post The Global Distribution of College Graduate...