Seema Jayachandran

@seema.bsky.social

17K followers 1.1K following 480 posts

Economics professor at Princeton. I study environmental conservation, gender equality, and (too many) other topics in developing countries.
seemajayachandran.com

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Seema Jayachandran is an economist who currently works as Professor of Economics at Princeton University. Her research interests include development economics, health economics, and labor economics. .. more

Economics 30%

Environmental science 23%

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Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · Dec 10

I argue in this piece that the nonprofit sector should be thinking more about the counterfactual when assessing fundraising success: winning a $2M competitive bid over capable peers advances the cause less than convincing someone to donate $1M they'd have spent on a yacht.

The Case for Counterfactual Thinking in Nonprofit Fundraising

When a nonprofit wins a major government contract or foundation grant, it’s cause for celebration. These wins reflect hard work and organizational strength. Yet beneath the success lies a subtle, ofte...

www.cgdev.org

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Michael A. Clemens, Seema Jayachandran , and 7 more Brendan Nyhan, Michael A. Clemens, Seema Jayachandran, Rosemary A. Joyce, Helmut Reisen, Robert Black, Jason Lyall, Molly Scott Cato, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Dan Immergluck

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

Jerome Powell: "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation."

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

This is the second time in three months a DHS agent called a US citizen a "bitch" as he shot her. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...

The video also allegedly shows the CBP agent saying “Do something, bitch” before shots were fired. In private Signal chats, the CBP agent boasted to other officers: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” If he felt comfortable enough communicating that to fellow employees, it speaks to an irredeemable organizational culture.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Seema Jayachandran, James Goodwin

Guy Grossman @guygrossman.bsky.social · 2d

This ad appeared this week on our West Philly block. Read all the way down.

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, David Rothschild, American Library Association , and 7 more Seema Jayachandran, David Rothschild, American Library Association, Frédéric Mérand, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, David R. Miller, Michael Zimmer, Scott A. Imberman, Anne Norton, Magda Teter

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3d

Page One.

@nytimes.com

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Brian A. Nosek, Steve Peers , and 24 more Michael E. Mann, Brian A. Nosek, Steve Peers, Christopher Wright, Andrew Scott, Michael A. Clemens, Seema Jayachandran, David Rothschild, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Helen King, Adam Bonica, Sanford F. Schram, Michelle Everson, Robert C. Richards, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Daniel Kane, Michael D. McDonald, Anne Norton, Daryl Adair, Mark Robinson, Kate Starbird, Simon Lester, Michael Larkin, Colin Woodard, Jesse D. Berman, Ernesto Castañeda, Dunlap

Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 4d

Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.

Reposted by David K. Evans, Todd Pugatch

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 6d

For econ RCTs: Make your pre-analysis plan public in the AEA registry before submitting to a journal. Most people set them as private initially and never update that. If you're lucky, referees ask the editor to nag you. More often, no one knows what's prespecified, increasing chance of rejection.

Reposted by Hugo Mercier, Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller , and 1 more Hugo Mercier, Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller, David Darmofal

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 6d

The Kinsley gaffe to end all Kinsley gaffes

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 7d

Copy Editing Matters, from HHS's release on the new childhood vaccine schedule: All the diseases will still be available to anyone who wants them

Ensures that all the diseases covered by the previous immunization schedule will still be available to anyone who wants them through Affordable Care Act insurance plans and federal insurance programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Vaccines for Children program. Families will not have to purchase them out of pocket. Among peer nations, the U.S. will continue to offer the most childhood vaccines for free to those who want them.

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller, Nicole Guenther Discenza , and 1 more Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller, Nicole Guenther Discenza, David Waldstreicher

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 7d

If the DEA had killed 80 innocent Americans in the course of apprehending one drug dealer, there would be riots. But we are so ghoulishly indifferent to the lives and humanity of people abroad that it's barely even part of the conversation.

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 7d

A reminder that the US killed 80 people in Venezuela, and it would be nice if the US media cared enough to think that the life of a grandmother in Caracas whose building is destroyed by a US bomb matters as much as the life of a person in the US.

Reposted by Serge Guimond, Seema Jayachandran, Ryan Enos , and 5 more Serge Guimond, Seema Jayachandran, Ryan Enos, David R. Miller, Alfie Kohn, David Waldstreicher, Farah Mendlesohn, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 7d

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller, Scott A. Imberman , and 1 more Seema Jayachandran, David R. Miller, Scott A. Imberman, Kirstin Drenkhahn

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 7d

And on this kind of garbage hang the fates of nations

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 7d

WaPo today:

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 8d

"Using the quasi-random timing of Navratri—a major Hindu festival worshipping goddesses—I find that girls born
shortly after the festival receive ~6% more birth vaccinations than girls born just before."

josuedjossou.github.io/navratri-paper.pdf

(stumbled across this, intrigued, haven't read it)

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, Ian Campbell

ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 8d

Endless Column, by Constantin Brâncuși, 1938, 📸 by @stephenmally

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Seema Jayachandran, Ingo Rohlfing , and 3 more Brian A. Nosek, Seema Jayachandran, Ingo Rohlfing, Silvia Secchi, Jacob T. Levy, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Reposted by Caroline Krafft

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 10d

If you're at the ASSA mtgs and are interested in gender gaps in the labor market, please join this session Monday 8 am. To draw out the links between the papers, there will be one discussant, a nice idea suggested by @profnoto.bsky.social; Camille Landais is generously playing this role.

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 10d

You draft the tweet when you submit an NBER paper, but I swear I didn't write this ungrammatical tweet.

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran

NBER @nber.org · 10d

Reviewing how much power do women have in their households in developing countries and why household power matters, from @seema.bsky.social and Alessandra Voena www.nber.org/papers/w34605

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, Eric Goldman, Karen Benjamin Guzzo , and 5 more Seema Jayachandran, Eric Goldman, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Adrian Daub, Michael D. McDonald, Brian Keegan, Michael Jones‐Correa, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Dag. @3fecta.bsky.social · 12d

This should not be shrugged aside. They have stopped with the fake 22 million illegal immigrants things and are flat out saying we want to deport 10's of millions of citizens and legal residents from "third world countries" Basically they are advocating removing 1/3 of the population on a gov site.

Homeland security post The peace of a nation no longer besieged by the third world. A photo of an old 70's tan car on the beach with palm trees swaying in the wind as the surf comes in. with the text America After 100 million deportations.

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran, Peter Gratton

dillo (wiglet tuttle) @dillo.media · 12d

pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written

E-mail Addresses That Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone
by Michael Ward

MikeUnderscore2004@yahoo.com

MikeAtYahooDotCom@hotmail.com

Mike_WardAllOneWord@yahoo.com

AAAAAThatsSixAs@yahoo.com

One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSecondSpelledOut@hotmail.com

Reposted by Matthias Doepke

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 12d

New NBER working paper with Alessandra Voena on women's power in the household in LMICs.

I'd never found a review article on this topic that met my needs as a PhD class reading, so we sought to fill this gap.

NBER : www.nber.org/papers/w34605
Ungated: seemajayachandran.com/womens_power_JEL.pdf

Abstract of "Women's Power in the Household": We examine women's household power in low- and middle-income countries, synthesizing theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence on its measurement, determinants, and consequences. We define women's household power as their influence over household choices, distinguishing it from broader empowerment concepts. We review economic models, including unitary, collective, and bargaining frameworks, and map these to empirical approaches. We then discuss measurement methods such as structural estimation of consumption allocation, survey measures, and laboratory experiments. On the determinants of women's power, we find that some approaches, such as transfers targeted to women, show mixed results, while others, such as increasing women's control over their earnings, show clearer positive impacts. On the effects of women's power, we pay special attention to children's human capital. Few studies provide strong evidence that mothers invest more in children than fathers do, but collectively the evidence suggests such an effect. We conclude by highlighting research and methodological gaps.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Seema Jayachandran, Mark D. White , and 1 more Brendan Nyhan, Seema Jayachandran, Mark D. White, Jacob T. Levy

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 14d

“Rather than dismantling the excesses of the woke era, the new Trump-friendly programs and policies simply repurposed them to serve a different ideological agenda. The result is a new orthodoxy even more stifling than the last.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...

Opinion | Harvard’s New Campus Orthodoxy Is Even More Stifling Than the Old

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Raphaël Soubeyran

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 18d

Brilliant little online tool: Spin the globe and see what your life would have been like had you gotten a different draw in the place-of-birth lottery

h/t @leightjessica.bsky.social on LinkedIn

Birth Lottery

If you were reborn today, where would you land? And how would that change your life?

www.givingwhatwecan.org

Reposted by Menzie Chinn, Seema Jayachandran

Adam Shapiro @adamshap.bsky.social · 18d

Tariff offset tax

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 21d

Laquan McDonald

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21d

watched part of a pod save interview with rahm emanuel and that guy is genuinely delusional if he thinks he is going to go anywhere in a democratic presidential primary

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran

Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 21d

As of today, I don't think it should be called the Streisand effect anymore. Congrats, Barbra, you're free.

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 21d

How terribly sad. I only spent time with him once, for a couple of days many years ago, but he made a lasting impression on me as an incredibly good-natured person. RIP.

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21d

watched part of a pod save interview with rahm emanuel and that guy is genuinely delusional if he thinks he is going to go anywhere in a democratic presidential primary

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran

lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 21d

they're calling it The Second News Story That's Definitely Going Away

Reposted by Seema Jayachandran

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 21d

Trump is now trying to name while classes of Navy ships after himself: “Trump has for years advocated for revamping America’s fleet of warships, which he has said are ‘terrible-looking.’” Via WSJ