Megan Stevenson
@meganstevenson.bsky.social
economist & legal scholar studying criminal justice issues.
professor of law
professor of economics (by courtesy)
UVA
https://sites.google.com/view/megan-stevenson/home
professor of law
professor of economics (by courtesy)
UVA
https://sites.google.com/view/megan-stevenson/home
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
Watching disabled people around the world mourn Alice is a reminder of the good aspect of the internet. 30 years ago, few people outside of SF would ever have known Alice existed. I never would have met her. The internet connected us all. Let’s honor Alice’s memory by using that power and community.
My social media is wall-to-wall love for the incomparable Alice Wong, and I need more words. What captures sadness and/also affection for a community that knows what's been lost?
November 16, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Alice is the gold standard of what Twitter was when it was great - how you could just find these brilliant, remarkable people with the kind of voices that rarely get platformed or taken seriously, and hear about their lives in their own words without intruding on them or demanding emotional labor
Last words from the inspirational disability activist, Alice Wong.
November 15, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Last words from the inspirational disability activist, Alice Wong.
I'm sad to hear this. Alice Wong was an inspiration, a leader, and a visionary.
Alice Wong, writer and disability activist, has died. She was an educator and a communicator and a warrior who lit the way. I’m grateful to have crossed paths with her. Rest in peace.
November 15, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I'm sad to hear this. Alice Wong was an inspiration, a leader, and a visionary.
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
So amazing to celebrate @payvandahdout.bsky.social on her tenure!! Brilliant scholar, extraordinary teacher, incredible colleague. A wunderkind!!
November 11, 2025 at 11:09 PM
So amazing to celebrate @payvandahdout.bsky.social on her tenure!! Brilliant scholar, extraordinary teacher, incredible colleague. A wunderkind!!
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
Here's a law professor lamenting the fads in legal theory popular among law professors that become popular for a decade or two and then fade away— written in 1950. Specifically, it's Roscoe Pound, reflecting on trends since he became a lawyer in 1890.
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
November 9, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Here's a law professor lamenting the fads in legal theory popular among law professors that become popular for a decade or two and then fade away— written in 1950. Specifically, it's Roscoe Pound, reflecting on trends since he became a lawyer in 1890.
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
jle.aals.org/cgi/viewcont...
When the literature systematically produces massive, unrealistic estimates, we should approach the research design as if there are flashing red lights and blaring sirens warning danger, not a "keep calm and ujive on."
The takeaway seems to be:
Keep calm and UJIVE (unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator) on!
Keep calm and UJIVE (unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator) on!
Excited to post a new working paper with @instrumenthull.bsky.social and Michal Kolesár: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03572
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
November 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
When the literature systematically produces massive, unrealistic estimates, we should approach the research design as if there are flashing red lights and blaring sirens warning danger, not a "keep calm and ujive on."
Strong disagree.
Judge IV is a high-variance, low-power estimator that tends to be extremely biased in the presence of publication bias and specification search. So proceed with caution and take those large effect size estimates with a grain of salt.
Judge IV is a high-variance, low-power estimator that tends to be extremely biased in the presence of publication bias and specification search. So proceed with caution and take those large effect size estimates with a grain of salt.
The takeaway seems to be:
Keep calm and UJIVE (unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator) on!
Keep calm and UJIVE (unbiased jackknife instrumental variables estimator) on!
Excited to post a new working paper with @instrumenthull.bsky.social and Michal Kolesár: arxiv.org/abs/2511.03572
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
Will post a thread on it soon, but if you're interested in judge/examiner designs, I think you'll find this guide very helpful!
November 7, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Strong disagree.
Judge IV is a high-variance, low-power estimator that tends to be extremely biased in the presence of publication bias and specification search. So proceed with caution and take those large effect size estimates with a grain of salt.
Judge IV is a high-variance, low-power estimator that tends to be extremely biased in the presence of publication bias and specification search. So proceed with caution and take those large effect size estimates with a grain of salt.
MEDICAL research. This is such a travesty.
Look at the distribution of z-values from medical research!
November 4, 2025 at 11:00 PM
MEDICAL research. This is such a travesty.
It’s true. Not all of economics is totally insular.
I don't know a single Black economist who doesn't cite widely and source inspiration from history, sociology, gender studies, Black studies, psychology, or a combination of all them.
Stop saying all [fill in field experts] are the same when a search on #bluesky would disprove that in two seconds.
Stop saying all [fill in field experts] are the same when a search on #bluesky would disprove that in two seconds.
October 29, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It’s true. Not all of economics is totally insular.
New project asking whether incarceration really prevents crime via incapacitation, or just shifts it behind bars. With @aurelieouss.bsky.social @emmaharrington.bsky.social and Hannah Shaffer
How extensive is crime in prisons? Prof. @meganstevenson.bsky.social received a $610,000 grant to study the phenomenon.
Professor Receives Grant to Study Impact of Incarceration on Crime
Professor Megan Stevenson of the University of Virginia School of Law has received a $610,000 grant to study the impact of incarceration on crime, including a survey of how extensive violent crime occ...
www.law.virginia.edu
October 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM
New project asking whether incarceration really prevents crime via incapacitation, or just shifts it behind bars. With @aurelieouss.bsky.social @emmaharrington.bsky.social and Hannah Shaffer
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
How extensive is crime in prisons? Prof. @meganstevenson.bsky.social received a $610,000 grant to study the phenomenon.
Professor Receives Grant to Study Impact of Incarceration on Crime
Professor Megan Stevenson of the University of Virginia School of Law has received a $610,000 grant to study the impact of incarceration on crime, including a survey of how extensive violent crime occ...
www.law.virginia.edu
October 21, 2025 at 2:27 PM
How extensive is crime in prisons? Prof. @meganstevenson.bsky.social received a $610,000 grant to study the phenomenon.
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
goddamn is there anything Wikipedia editors can’t do www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/n...
Wikipedia Volunteers Avert Tragedy by Taking Down Gunman at Conference
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:53 AM
goddamn is there anything Wikipedia editors can’t do www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/n...
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
I was born in 1972. The replacement rate he's panicked about has been below 2.1% for almost every year of my life.
If you're really worried about the population falling, giving immigrants a path to citizenship is an obvious and easy solution.
Unless there's ... something about them you don't like?
If you're really worried about the population falling, giving immigrants a path to citizenship is an obvious and easy solution.
Unless there's ... something about them you don't like?
RFK Jr: "When my uncle was president, the fertility rate in this country was 3.5%. Today it is 1.6%. The replacement rate -- in other words the amount of fertility you need to keep your population even -- is 2.1%. We are below replacement. That is a national security threat to our country."
October 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I was born in 1972. The replacement rate he's panicked about has been below 2.1% for almost every year of my life.
If you're really worried about the population falling, giving immigrants a path to citizenship is an obvious and easy solution.
Unless there's ... something about them you don't like?
If you're really worried about the population falling, giving immigrants a path to citizenship is an obvious and easy solution.
Unless there's ... something about them you don't like?
Ok but degree of niceness should not be a citation criteria. Agree with the rest though.
October 16, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Ok but degree of niceness should not be a citation criteria. Agree with the rest though.
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
1. Many of you have seen a graph purporting to show trans identification has decreased in recent years.
Matt Walsh and Elon Musk celebrated it as a victory over "transgenderism."
Turns out, the entire graph is based on an egregious math and statistics error.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Matt Walsh and Elon Musk celebrated it as a victory over "transgenderism."
Turns out, the entire graph is based on an egregious math and statistics error.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Fact Check: No, There Is Not A New Survey Showing Trans Identity Is Decreasing
The claim, which originates from far-right professor Eric Kaufmann, appears to have made a glaring error: the survey actually shows more people have come out, not fewer.
www.erininthemorning.com
October 15, 2025 at 9:21 PM
1. Many of you have seen a graph purporting to show trans identification has decreased in recent years.
Matt Walsh and Elon Musk celebrated it as a victory over "transgenderism."
Turns out, the entire graph is based on an egregious math and statistics error.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Matt Walsh and Elon Musk celebrated it as a victory over "transgenderism."
Turns out, the entire graph is based on an egregious math and statistics error.
Subscribe to support our journalism.
Worth a read
Unsurprisingly fantastic, nuanced piece by Dave Pozen and Jed Britton-Purdy. Read it! www.bostonreview.net/articles/wha...
What Are We Living Through? - Boston Review
Three competing narratives of the second Trump administration.
www.bostonreview.net
October 15, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Worth a read
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
Attacks on the federal workforce are also attacks on Black workers, who are overrepresented in the public sector.
Black unemployment is 7.5%. I'm reminded of Coates' observation that Black Americans regularly experience conditions that would be considered a crisis if whites faced them.
Black unemployment is 7.5%. I'm reminded of Coates' observation that Black Americans regularly experience conditions that would be considered a crisis if whites faced them.
Black Unemployment Is Surging Again. This Time Is Different.
www.nytimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Attacks on the federal workforce are also attacks on Black workers, who are overrepresented in the public sector.
Black unemployment is 7.5%. I'm reminded of Coates' observation that Black Americans regularly experience conditions that would be considered a crisis if whites faced them.
Black unemployment is 7.5%. I'm reminded of Coates' observation that Black Americans regularly experience conditions that would be considered a crisis if whites faced them.
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
#SREE2025 had a really thought-provoking keynote Thursday evening by UVA Law professor @meganstevenson.bsky.social, on why so many RCTs fail to find effects (or fail to replicate when they do show initial effects).
This is basically what she said at SREE:
www.law.virginia.edu/news/202403/...
This is basically what she said at SREE:
www.law.virginia.edu/news/202403/...
Professor’s Research Shows Many Criminal Justice Reforms Don’t Work
Most interventions and reforms in criminal justice have little enduring impact, argues University of Virginia School of Law professor Megan T. Stevenson in a new article that reviews 50 years of data.
www.law.virginia.edu
October 12, 2025 at 2:01 PM
#SREE2025 had a really thought-provoking keynote Thursday evening by UVA Law professor @meganstevenson.bsky.social, on why so many RCTs fail to find effects (or fail to replicate when they do show initial effects).
This is basically what she said at SREE:
www.law.virginia.edu/news/202403/...
This is basically what she said at SREE:
www.law.virginia.edu/news/202403/...
Honored to be giving the Hedges Lecture at SREE tomorrow 😊
Topic: “What RCTs Teach us about the Structure of the Social World”
Topic: “What RCTs Teach us about the Structure of the Social World”
October 8, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Honored to be giving the Hedges Lecture at SREE tomorrow 😊
Topic: “What RCTs Teach us about the Structure of the Social World”
Topic: “What RCTs Teach us about the Structure of the Social World”
I’m at an Airbnb and the host is conservative Christian. We talked about trans people a bit and his view was as you would expect. I told him about intersex people and showed him a pic of Alicia Roth Wiegel. Mind BLOWN.
October 4, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I’m at an Airbnb and the host is conservative Christian. We talked about trans people a bit and his view was as you would expect. I told him about intersex people and showed him a pic of Alicia Roth Wiegel. Mind BLOWN.
This is worth a listen: fascinating explanation of why tick populations have been exploding
youtu.be/8Pfy6XBp0QY?...
youtu.be/8Pfy6XBp0QY?...
Why Are Tick Populations Exploding?
YouTube video by Learn Your Land
youtu.be
October 3, 2025 at 7:41 PM
This is worth a listen: fascinating explanation of why tick populations have been exploding
youtu.be/8Pfy6XBp0QY?...
youtu.be/8Pfy6XBp0QY?...
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.
regrettably if you try to point this out online you'll get yelled out by 79208 journalists going OH SO YOU WANT JOURNALISTS TO STARVE??? even if you're, say, a journalist yourself, and point out that while there are clearly no easy answers, the status quo isn't exactly working for society
September 29, 2025 at 1:19 PM
This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.
Reposted by Megan Stevenson
Very excited to see my podcast with John Parman about our review of the racial segregation literature is out! Listen to “Reviewing Residential Segregation” here: www.aeaweb.org/research/rac... via @aeajournals.bsky.social
Reviewing residential segregation
Trevon Logan and John Parman discuss the meaning of segregation and how it has shaped US history.
www.aeaweb.org
September 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Very excited to see my podcast with John Parman about our review of the racial segregation literature is out! Listen to “Reviewing Residential Segregation” here: www.aeaweb.org/research/rac... via @aeajournals.bsky.social
This is cool. Large, high-quality RCT shows that an over-the-counter antihistamine nasal spray protects against catching Covid.
Previous in vitro studies on azelastine had already suggested antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. ‘This clinical trial is the first to demonstrate a protective effect in a real-world setting.'
Clinical study shows that nasal spray containing azelastine reduces risk of coronavirus infection by two-thirds
A research team at Saarland University has demonstrated in a clinical study that a widely used anti-allergy nasal spray containing the active ingredient azelastine can significantly reduce the risk of...
www.eurekalert.org
September 4, 2025 at 7:28 AM
This is cool. Large, high-quality RCT shows that an over-the-counter antihistamine nasal spray protects against catching Covid.