Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

George Melios

@gmelios.bsky.social

460 followers 640 following 35 posts

Working on the intersection of econ, polsci and behavioural science. Applying causal inference to study what people believe and how they behave. Currently at LSE and RHUL

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

Read the full paper here 👉 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

And see the coverage by @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social:t.co/N4kE3L0mXl

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/study-finds-well-designed-benefits-dont-discourage-people-from-working

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

Interpretation:
Well-designed, work-neutral disability benefits do not reduce labor market participation.
The small positive effects under strict assessors likely reflect filtering out strategic claims, not large behavioral responses.

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

📊 Results:
•Expanding access (mental health) → no reduction in employment, if anything small positive effects
•Restricting access (minor physical disabilities) → no gains in employment
•Stricter assessors → small but significant ↑ in employment

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

Using UK panel data (2009–2019) & quasi-experimental variation from the DLA→PIP reform, we estimate employment effects for:
•Mental health conditions (gained eligibility)
•Minor physical disabilities (lost eligibility)
•Regions with stricter vs lenient assessors

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

PIP is unique. It covers the extra costs of disability but has no earnings tests & no work incapacity requirements. This design lets us isolate pure income effects without substitution distortions.

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

Most disability benefits combine income support + work restrictions. That makes it hard to know: do people work less because they can, or because policy forces them not to?

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · 11d

🚨 New working paper alert!
As part of our Horizon Europe BENEFITS project, @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social and I study whether disability benefits necessarily discourage work — using the UK’s Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reform as a natural experiment.
🧵

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

Available at www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

“Sleeping with the enemy”: partisanship and tolerance in online dating | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core

“Sleeping with the enemy”: partisanship and tolerance in online dating

www.cambridge.org

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

Takeaway: politics matters in private life—but signaling openness can bridge divides. Surfacing “tolerance” on platforms might reduce partisan sorting

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

Gender splits: Men penalized “progressive” profiles; women rewarded them. Women also showed a stronger in‑party preference than men

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

Counter‑stereotypes: Conservatives were more open to out‑partisans who defied stereotypes (e.g., White/Traditional/Non‑veg Labour). Labour respondents tended to prefer stereotypical Tories—except they liked progressive Tories

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

But tolerance is even stronger. Profiles saying “open to match with anyone” gained +19.9 pp—the largest effect; similar in size to being attractive. It’s not just avoiding “No Tories/No Labour” profiles. Even among co‑partisans, people preferred tolerant over intolerant profiles

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

Headline: Co‑partisanship is powerful. Co‑partisan profiles were picked +18.2 pp more often than out‑partisans

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

We ran a visual conjoint with 3,000 UK daters (18–40). Profiles varied party (Labour/Tory), a clear “tolerance” cue, ideology, race, education, diet, height, and facial attractiveness—using real photos to mirror apps

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 5

🚨📢 New paper out in @psrm.bsky.social with Yara Sleiman & Paul Dolan: “Sleeping with the enemy: partisanship and tolerance in online dating”. How much do politics shape who we swipe?

Reposted by George Melios

Bouke Klein Teeselink @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social · Jun 30

Just out! ERNOP's practitioner summary of my paper with @gmelios.bsky.social, showing that 🇺🇸 Partisans reduce charitable giving by ~4.5 % when their own party is in power, as faith in government crowds out private help, whereas opposition to government motivates private giving.

tinyurl.com/ernop1

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · May 29

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Weather to Protest: The Effect of Black Lives Matter Protests on the 2020 Presidential Election - Political Behavior

Do mass mobilizations drive social change? This paper explores this question by studying how the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s death influenced the 2020 U.S. presidential electi...

link.springer.com

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · May 29

An interesting collection of opinions @theguardian.com on whether and how the 2020 BLM protests change the world. Covers our work with @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social on @polbehavior.bsky.social. Link on the first comment

The Guardian @theguardian.com · May 25

How did 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement change the world? Our panel responds

How did 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement change the world? Our panel responds

Five years ago, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis. Writers and activists from Brazil to Berlin talk about the protests, hope and disappointment that followed

www.theguardian.com

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Mar 4

New paper out in @polbehavior.bsky.social. We focus on an important and timely question. Do protests matter? Do they drive social change? @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social summarises our work nicely in the following thread.

Bouke Klein Teeselink @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social · Mar 4

1/ 📣 PUBLICATION ALERT: Our paper on the effect of BLM protests on the 2020 presidential election has been published in @polbehavior.bsky.social ! Joint work with my great friend and co-author @gmelios.bsky.social

#Polisky #Econsky

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Feb 14

Great summary of our paper!

Bouke Klein Teeselink @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social · Feb 13

Great blog about our recently published paper with @gmelios.bsky.social!

Our research suggests that current Republicans’ efforts to dismantle government agencies might spur rising Democratic donations to support charities providing those services.
www.kcl.ac.uk/news/people-...

#EconSky #PoliSky

People who oppose party in power 'donate significantly more to charity'

A new study has revealed that political party loyalty has a significant impact on charitable giving, as Americans donate considerably more money to charity when they oppose the party in power, while r...

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Dec 10

Very excited to be in Vienna yesterday for the kick-off meeting of our new Horizon Europe grant "MultiPod" on promoting political participation and creating the "Public Space for Citizen Deliberation" in Europe!

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Nov 13

Check out our new publication. Excellently summarised by @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social

Bouke Klein Teeselink @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social · Nov 13

🎉 Publication alert, joint with @gmelios.bsky.social!

Our paper examines how alignment with the government affects charitable giving. It has just been accepted in Public Choice.

Find out about our findings below!

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 18

Thanks to @bkleinteeselink.bsky.social for the great collaboration on this project. Looking forward to continuing this line of research! #PoliticalScience #Polarization #AmericanPolitics

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 18

Why do these findings matter? A lack of trust in government when the "other side" is in power can hinder democratic functioning. It makes it harder for citizens to hold their own party accountable and can lead to efforts to undermine opposing governments. 🏛️

George Melios @gmelios.bsky.social · Sep 18

Why? Highly educated people show a stronger president-in-power effect, and they've increasingly shifted towards identifying as Democrats over time.