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Economic Inquiry

@ei-sky.bsky.social
124 followers 106 following 108 posts

Published since 1962, the goal of Economic Inquiry is to advance scientific knowledge in the domain of economics. As such we seek to publish work across all fields in economics.

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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This paper proposes a new way to choose regression discontinuity models. Candidate models are evaluated at placebo cutoffs away from the threshold, where the effect is assumed zero. The selected models have lower root mean squared error than the CCT approach in almost every simulation. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Preparing a bid is costly, and only the bidder knows how costly. With buyers privately informed about both their valuation and their entry cost, the revenue-maximizing mechanism is still a posted price, and it screens on a single number: net value, valuation minus entry cost. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The number and the framing are not separate choices. A field experiment on voluntary donations in Costa Rica finds that the same amount performs differently depending on whether it describes others' giving or suggests your own. Low figures favor the first framing, high figures the second. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Public subsidy of minor league ballparks is a $6.81B story. @jcbradbury.com creates the first systematic database of Minor League Baseball stadium subsidies across 134 ballparks, then finds localities cut in MLB's 2021 reorganization were no poorer, undermining the investment rationale. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Why do people play the lottery? This paper shows that if people compare their income to a personal reference point buying tickets can be rational for those who fall short of it. The poorer you feel relative to that target, the stronger the pull. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Offering leniency to whistle-blowers can help catch corruption. Offering it to both sides of a bribe can backfire. This paper shows China's 1997 criminal law reform combined leniency for bribe-givers and bribe-takers — and corruption prosecutions fell sharply afterward. #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Single-factor metrics like income or wealth can paint an incomplete picture of well-being. @cynamon.bsky.social and coauthors propose "sustainable consumption", a unifying metric integrating lifetime resources, taxes, and asset returns to map household economic health. Read: tinyurl.com/sp2e38a4
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Extending Blair & Kaserman (1978): This paper shows that tying and Full Integration are not always equivalent. The authors derive the necessary & sufficient conditions for their equivalence and explore Partial Integration under general production tech. tinyurl.com/4ph6cw2u #econbluesky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
EI has added a new award category this year, Outstanding Data Package. These awards were voted on by our Data Team for data packages that exemplify best practices in research transparency. Authors put a great deal of work into these packages and we believe their efforts should be acknowledged.
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
How do post-Dobbs abortion bans affect social safety nets? Using synthetic DiD, this paper finds total bans led to a 1.57% increase in monthly birth rates and a 4.3% jump in postpartum WIC participation in 2023, resulting in an extra $6.9M in food costs. tinyurl.com/ydb82fyj #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
How do proxy methods alter findings on racial disparities? This paper compares HMDA, voter rolls & name algorithms. The authors finds that matching choices can change empirical conclusions about racial/ethnic disparities depending on which method is used. tinyurl.com/58pjczdh #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Many fiscal models lack micro-validity. This study shows how partial insurance on unemployment and firm entry jointly can drive a positive consumption multiplier. It reconciles theory with data using parameters consistent with micro evidence on job loss and markups. tinyurl.com/56c7xk7c #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Does the pain of paying limit our generosity? While cash is physical and painful to give away, this study finds that mobile payments lead to significantly higher donations. This gap emerged after the COVID-19 lockdown accelerated our familiarity with digital wallets. tinyurl.com/bddsu6x2 #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Should we tax AI or use trade tariffs to protect workers? This study finds that tariffs on AI-using goods actually exacerbate the fall in skilled wages. However, a direct AI tax can neutralize task loss and income distortions if the price of AI is sufficiently low. tinyurl.com/2u6eb8n9 #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
What is the role of global shocks on the debt-growth relationship? @ysleibi.bsky.social and coauthors find that household debt's effect on growth disappears after filtering for global noise, while public & corporate debt exert a persistent and negative effect. tinyurl.com/mv67uyx5 #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Is union decline just about a lack of worker demand? This paper shows that new union locals enter with higher TFP and lower prices, yet this doesn't force incumbents to improve. Moreover entry rates of union locals are low, with high exit rates. tinyurl.com/488e638s #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Do religious beliefs affect responses to fertility incentives? This paper examines the 1982 Soviet Baltic expansion of maternity benefits. The authors find a 24.2% increase in birth probability, with the effect being driven entirely by women from religious childhoods. tinyurl.com/ucrz5n66 #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
While inequality rises in the West, Taiwan’s fell by 8.4%. This paper documents that this drop was likely driven by minimum wage hikes. Most of the reduction happened within firms, compressing the lower tail of the distribution while the upper tail remained stable. tinyurl.com/4bdwjnzy #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Does the average EITC effect hide the truth? This paper shows policy impact shifts by income: while credits boost work for low earners, they decrease hours near the phase-out. This heterogeneity across the income distribution proves average effects miss the story. tinyurl.com/yt9vbhzz #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Can tax news influence business cycles? This paper shows that anticipated tax cuts can actually hinder recovery. In supply-driven recessions, they trigger a sharper contraction than in demand-driven ones. Moreover, higher macro uncertainty causes a bigger contraction. tinyurl.com/3rtucnph #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Is remote work a cultural choice? This paper finds that individualism significantly boosts WFH. Using an epidemiological approach, comparing immigrants in the same labor markets, the authors find that a 10-point index increase raises WFH likelihood by ~4pp. tinyurl.com/47tkd2dn #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Does political conflict hurt local tourism? This study on the 2012 China-Japan boycott shows that high-dependency prefectures lost over 27% of Chinese visitor nights. Effects remained significant even 24 months later, highlighting a need for market diversification. tinyurl.com/3j45n435 #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Is "generational wealth" the main driver of the racial gap? This study shows White families' wealth is 6.8x that of Black families, but including DB pensions narrows the gap to 4.4x. However, intergenerational transfers explain little of the disparity. tinyurl.com/3wr8rhdz #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Would a manager hire a firing consultant to let go of a friend? This study finds that social distance significantly shapes delegation decisions. Strengthening workplace ties reduces the likelihood of managers exploiting moral wiggle room to avoid direct responsibility. tinyurl.com/2smvre5r #EconSky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Do labor market frictions matter for monetary policy? This paper shows that frictions can amplify the effect of inflation target shocks but play a minor role in temporary nominal interest shocks. Evidence from the U.S. and the Euro Area corroborates the findings. tinyurl.com/u3x8b5sr #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Do attitudes toward immigration spread? @ofirsin.bsky.social uses the 2013 AP ban on the term "illegal immigrant" and Facebook data to show that attitude changes causally reverberate through social networks. Social ties to ban areas improved immigration attitudes. tinyurl.com/ycxknu4w #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Are women more cooperative in Congress? Building on previous literature, this paper finds that while bipartisan cooperation depends on ideology, in the last decade, women recruited 15% more total co-sponsors than their male colleagues across both parties. tinyurl.com/357zjcjw #econsky #polisci
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Why does household investment (HI) lead the business cycle? This paper finds that the Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE) leads HI by two quarters. Using VAR and Granger causality, the authors show HI transmits these confidence shocks to the broader economy. Read: tinyurl.com/3azvzb8h #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Has the weakening of oil price pass-through to inflation reversed? This paper shows a reversal in pass-through dynamics, finding that second-round effects operating through inflation expectations are an important driver of U.S. core inflation. Read more: tinyurl.com/2vpr3tuw #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Does federal investment in broadband programs actually pay off? This paper analyzes the $2.5B Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) to measure its economic impact, finding through real estate data that the capitalized benefits are 2.8 times the investment costs. Read: tinyurl.com/5xhvnkey #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Does the "poor stay poor" conclusion still hold? This paper uses Markov chains and dynamic development accounting to test relative GDP persistence. The findings confirm that relative income traps remain a robust feature of the cross-country distribution. tinyurl.com/m2hh3xnu #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
From NATO Article 5 to regional R&D, government spending is deeply interdependent. @economicsgamer.bsky.social and coauthors model these fiscal externalities with an extended Barro growth model. Data from 30 nations shows how these spillovers drive under-investment. tinyurl.com/dyxhbr6c #econsky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
How robust is the link between de-prosecution and crime? This paper revisits the Philadelphia case study (Hogan 2022) to explore how different SCM specifications (including donor pool composition and pre-period length) impact the estimated effects on homicide. Read more here: tinyurl.com/mtfy5thd
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Why does performance pay often fail for teachers and doctors? This paper models production uncertainty where workers don't know which efforts actually drive results. They show that even with perfect measurement, output-based incentives can backfire. Read more: tinyurl.com/ykx4w83p #econsky
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Reposted by Economic Inquiry
Wiley Economics, Business, and Finance @wileyeconbiz.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Announcing the Economic Inquiry 2025 Best Article Award! This year’s standout, chosen by our editors: “Is economics self-correcting? Replications in the American Economic Review.” from Jörg Ankel-Peters, Nathan Fiala & Florian Neubauer. Read the open access article here: ow.ly/Getp50YAXAk
Cover of Economic Inquiry journal featuring a digital globe and text about the 2025 Best Article Award for economics research.
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
What happens to fan interest when a football league champion is decided weeks early? Using 20 years of Google search data, this paper tests the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis in European football. Does early crowning kill attention? Read more: tinyurl.com/7rufnvhk #econsky #football
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Is offshoring inherently more volatile than trade? This new study uses Mexican IMMEX data to show that offshoring-related sectors had significantly higher employment volatility when compared to sectors specialized in trade. Read the full analysis here: tinyurl.com/y5xbeta6 #econbluesky #trade
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Why do defenders often outspend attackers, or attackers abandon production entirely? This paper unites the "guns vs. butter" dilemma with attack-defense dynamics. Their new general equilibrium model predicts counter-intuitive outcomes in high-stakes conflicts. Read more: tinyurl.com/p94w9hpe
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Why do carbon taxes fail despite economic consensus? This new experiment tests how peer influence shapes support. They find tax objectors are just as likely to speak up as supporters, and are just as persuasive, leading to sustained low public support. Read here: tinyurl.com/mrfrspat #econbluesky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
At EI, we are lucky to have many amazing academics willing to serve as referees. Our Outstanding Referee Service Award allows us to give special thanks to a few referees every year. For 2025, we give these awards to Wei Qian, Haverford College, and Carlo Pizzinelli, IMF. Thanks again to you both!
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
We are happy to announce the Best Article Award for 2025. This paper examines the impact of papers meant to help reassess previously published papers. These findings are important for our discipline to understand. Congrats to @jrgptrs.bsky.social, Nathan, and Florian! doi.org/10.1111/ecin...
doi.org
Is economics self‐correcting? Replications in the American Economic Review
This paper reviews the impact of replications published as comments in the American Economic Review between 2010 and 2020. We examine their citations and influence on the original papers' (OPs) subse...
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Why might inflation rise after a monetary policy shock? This paper uses a novel sign restriction approach in panel SVARs to isolate the cost channel. They find it's highly potent in emerging economies, leading to a price-puzzle. Read more: tinyurl.com/3ujj3t5a #econbluesky #inflation
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
From Aaron Judge to Shohei Ohtani, contract status changes everything. This new paper shows MLB teams and players manage injuries differently depending on whether a contract is permanent or temporary. Players w/ temporary contracts miss fewer games. Read more: tinyurl.com/y88p4yed #econbluesky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Do combined nudges work better? This paper replicates email and visit interventions at a diverse public university. The interventions boosted enrollment in economics. Surprisingly, multiple concurrent interventions were not more effective than individual ones. Full paper: tinyurl.com/yyrj96tn
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
How do local temps affect city population? This paper revisits Waldinger (2022), finding that the positive temp/size link from the original paper is driven by towns with <1,000 people. Crossing that threshold flips the sign of the effect. Heterogeneity changes the story. tinyurl.com/4n2cfxhn #econ
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Does ownership structure dictate pollution control? Evidence from China shows that state owned companies abate via technology, while credit-constrained private firms are forced to cut output, while facing a 9 times higher abatement cost. Read more here: tinyurl.com/4v4ykfbr #economics #econbluesky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Could the optimal labor tax be 0%? This model suggests that replacing labor taxes with consumption and capital taxes raises worker consumption by 5.7%, with entrepreneurs taking an initial hit. In the long run, 86% of agents benefit from the change. Read more: tinyurl.com/5d4x5fkm #econbluesky
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Reposted by Economic Inquiry
Wiley Economics, Business, and Finance @wileyeconbiz.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Part II of the Symposium from Economic Inquiry on Reproducibility & Replicability in Economics is now available. This symposium spans a range of topics and methodologies, examining where and when prominent papers do or do not survive replication. Read the full symposium: ow.ly/IY8m50Y4zhU
Economic Inquiry

Read the new symposium "Symposium on Reproducibility and Replicability in Economics - Part II."
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
We recently published our first issue of the year! Follow the link below to check out the second part of our Symposium on Reproducibility and Replicability in Economics. It also features several other original articles. Link: tinyurl.com/mr3d7pyj #economics #econbluesky
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Economic Inquiry @ei-sky.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
As the world faces rising conflict, how do we maintain economic ties? Using 70 years of IMF data (1948–2019), this study shows that countries with common DRM membership suffer significantly less trade disruption from war. Read more: tinyurl.com/yd7kz69j #EconSky
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