John B. Holbein Profile picture
Associate Professor of Public Policy, Politics, Education @UVA Co-author of "Making Young Voters" I share social science. @johnholbein@econtwitter.net
Apr 15 4 tweets 2 min read
How many people go to church weekly?

Surveys say it's about 1 in 5 Americans.

Cell phone tracker data say it's actually closer to 1 in 20 Americans.

Fascinating new working paper!

nber.org/papers/w32334



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Week to week variation in religious attendance according to cell phone tracking data. Image
Jun 19, 2023 11 tweets 8 min read
Can you guess what happens when you give kids food stamps?

...
...
...
...

They...

⚫live longer,
⚫invest more in human capital,
⚫are more economically self-sufficient,
⚫live in better neighborhoods,
⚫are less likely to be incarcerated.

academic.oup.com/restud/advance… Image "Food Stamps’ transfer of resources to families is a highly cost-effective investment in young children."

Source: "Is the Social Safety Net a Long-Term Investment? Large-Scale Evidence from the Food Stamps Program"

restud.com/is-the-social-…
Mar 13, 2023 5 tweets 3 min read
Running a study where you use names to signal race?

Be careful! Names signal more than just race alone.

But (!), fret not; we have pre-tested 600+ names for perceptions of race/class/citizenship.

Paper: nature.com/articles/s4159…

Data: github.com/jaeyk/validate… ImageImageImage by @cdcrabtree, @JaeJaeykim2, @smgaddis, myself, Guage, and Marx.
Nov 4, 2022 10 tweets 6 min read
My latest working paper with @hjghassell.

Punchline: we show that despite prior research claims to the contrary, mass shootings have little effect on electoral outcomes in the U.S.

A short thread 1/n

dropbox.com/s/kanzrjmdzf0y… We have two goals in our new paper:

1.) explore the question of whether mass shootings affect election outcomes in the United States

2.) Provide an overview/application of recent advances in the diff-in-diffs space. 2/n

dropbox.com/s/kanzrjmdzf0y…
Jul 17, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Anyone else feel like social scientists actually know far less than we think we know? I was thinking about this in the context of all of the failures to replicate many findings in social science fields in recent years.

And how before those replication failures occurred, we were so very certain that we knew something about the world.
Feb 25, 2022 7 tweets 2 min read
This is your periodic reminder that the graduation regalia for PhDs in Finland is a top hat and a sword. ImageImage "The Doctor's Sword is a symbol for the scientist's fight for what he or she, in rigorous research, has found to be good, right and true." Image
Feb 23, 2022 6 tweets 1 min read
PhDs who leave the academy are *definitively* not failures. But, all too often, the academy fails them. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

If PhD programs are, truly, going to prepare students for non-academic jobs, they should, at minimum, stop sending signals—overtly or covertly—that non-academic jobs are inferior.
Dec 20, 2021 35 tweets 10 min read
Americans are less likely to respond to emails from African Americans.

My new research with @rayblock1, @cdcrabtree, @QuinMonson just dropped at PNAS (@PNASNews).

Here's what we did, what we found, and why it matters. 1/n

pnas.org/content/118/52… We have ample evidence that African Americans face violent and overt forms of discrimination.

Need I say more?

2/n
Oct 12, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Look at the gender breakdown of who speaks in popular films! Image If it's too hard to see, here's the takeaway: men dominate spoken work in popular films. Image
Oct 9, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
the spread of COVID-19 visualized It's impossible to look at this and not think, "we had this thing beat in the Spring of 2021..."
Jul 21, 2021 4 tweets 3 min read
My latest (with @KalMunis, Bradshaw, Rabinowitz, and Ialongo) is out today at Prevention Science.

Using a RCT, we show that high quality childhood education programs increase voter turnout in adulthood *a lot*.

link.springer.com/article/10.100… This new article conceptually replicates/extends my previously published 2017 article at the @apsrjournal that shows that helping kids develop their "noncognitive" skills has long term payoffs in terms of increasing adult voter turnout.

cambridge.org/core/journals/…
Jul 19, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
Can you guess what happens when an adult entertainment establishment opens in a neighborhood?

Sex crimes decline by 13% as a direct result.

Why?

"Potential sex offenders frequent [adult entertainment] establishments rather than committing [sex] crimes"

academic.oup.com/ej/advance-art… "The Effect of Adult Entertainment Establishments on Sex Crime: Evidence from New York City"

academic.oup.com/ej/advance-art…
Jan 17, 2021 9 tweets 7 min read
Does raising the minimum wage reduce the number of low-wage jobs?

No.

"We also find no evidence of disemployment when we consider higher levels of minimum wages."

academic.oup.com/qje/article/13… ImageImageImageImage Minimum wage increases reduce crime.

nber.org/papers/w25116 ImageImageImageImage
Jan 10, 2021 69 tweets 16 min read
"No one could have seen this coming." Image "No one could have seen this coming." Image