2017
The Power of Bias in Economics Research
Abstract: We investigate two critical dimensions of the credibility of empirical economics research: statistical power and bias. We survey 159 empirical economics literatures that draw upon 64,076 estimates of economic parameters reported in more than 6,700 empirical studies. Half of the research areas have nearly 90% of their results under‐powered. The median statistical power is 18%, or less. A simple weighted average of those reported results that are adequately powered (power ≥ 80%) reveals that nearly 80% of the re…
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Cited by 651 publications
(705 citation statements)
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“…This is due to three differences between our data and Ioannidis et al. (2017). First, in several cases we include estimates from updated meta‐analyses (see the Online Supplement for details).…”
Section: Resultscontrasting
confidence: 95%
“…This is due to three differences between our data and Ioannidis et al. (2017). First, in several cases we include estimates from updated meta‐analyses (see the Online Supplement for details).…”
Section: Resultscontrasting
confidence: 95%
“…While most research areas have median power below 10%, a substantial share has median power above 80%. This finding is consistent with previous assessments of power in neuroscience (Button et al 2013;Nord et al 2017) and economics (Ioannidis, Stanley, and Doucouliagos 2017). 10 Magnitude and sign.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 92%
“…Importantly, we found that all-cause mortality is lower by almost one-third in patients with heart failure who received influenza vaccination, as compared with those who were not vaccinated. Our results are consistent with a retrospective cohort study of a population >75 years of age without baseline heart failure diagnosis [10] and with 2 recent meta-analyses in patients with underlying cardiovascular disease that showed 50% [5] and 66% [29] reduction in cardiovascular deaths. Respiratory infection is a precipitating factor for heart failure exacerbation [9], and studies have repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in prevention of admissions secondary to influenza like illness and/or lower respiratory tract infection [30].…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 92%
