John Holbein
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johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein
@johnholbein1.bsky.social

Associate Professor of Public Policy, Politics, and Education @UVA.

I share social science.

Political science 58%
Sociology 13%
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Did you know that your siblings can influence whether you vote?

Well, because of our new working paper you do!

@mike-bloem.bsky.social, @jonisaacsmith.bsky.social, sam imlay

The author of this paper is Simon Greenhill.

simondgreenhill.github.io

"Noise Pollution and Infant Health"

simondgreenhill.github.io/Greenhill_No...

Nighttime noise pollution is very harmful for infant health.

Why?

Disruptions to maternal sleep.

Look at the variation in sound pollution by the distance to the nearest rail line.

The costs of noise pollution in terms of harms to infant health are largest Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans.

Look at this map, which plots predicted median nighttime noise levels in NYC, San Francisco, and Denver.

Look at this beautiful map, which plots predicted median nighttime noise levels in the U.S.

The negative effects of noise on infant health are largest where it is loudest.

Look at the variation in noise levels people are exposed to over the course of the day/week.

Fascinating!

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol

Noise pollution from electric passenger rail harms babies' health.

"I estimate that the annual cost of noise pollution due to harms to health at birth is $9.8 billion."

Black, Hispanic, and the poorest Americans disproportionately bear these costs.

This is such a cool paper!

When firms unionize it makes their workers become even more liberal.

"Does Distance from Home Matter in Prison? Effects on Visitation and Recidivism"

daniellenemschoff.github.io/files/nemsch...
We should probably be placing incarcerated people in prisons closest to their homes.

Why?

Assigning individuals to prisons closer to their home reduces recidivism.

Really?

Yep. Being placed close to one's home increases social contacts that appear to reduce reoffending.

"Social Capital in the United Kingdom: Evidence from Six Billion Friendships"

osf.io/preprints/so...

Poor folks have (comparatively) few rich friends on Facebook.

A word of wisdom from @cdsamii.bsky.social re credibility revolution and survey experiments: your conjoint or list experiment is not a policy intervention with real causal effects -- it's a measurement tool.

A lot of smart folks are still confused about it for some reason!

cyrussamii.com?p=4168

thanks for writing the paper!
"Prediction Markets? The Accuracy and Efficiency of $2.4 Billion in the 2024 Presidential Election"

osf.io/preprints/so...

Go home prediction markets: you’re drunk

Political prediction markets moved billions in 2024, but new evidence shows they weren’t very accurate or efficient

PredictIt beat chance 93% of the time

Kalshi? 78%

Polymarket? 67%

Big price divergences, weak/negative correlations, & rampant arbitrage

Reposted by David Darmofal

I ❤️ cool metascience.
"[Political science] studies without an explicit identification strategy...constitute nearly 40% of empirical quantitative work."

Source: "Nightmare neighbours: Proximity to gambling shops and gambling harms"

Evidence comes from the U.K.

osf.io/preprints/so...
Living near a gambling establishment increases the likelihood of people becoming problematic gamblers.

Empirical papers by subfield.