About this resource

    Type of resources
    Primary Source, Reading
    Education level(s)
    College / Upper Division (Undergraduates)
    Primary user(s)
    Student
    Subject area(s)
    Applied Science, Social Science
    Language(s)
    English
    Cluster
    Replication and Meta-Research, Replication Crisis and Credibility Revolution
    Last updated
    29 October 2026
    Primary SourceReading

    Star wars: The empirics strike back

    By M. Sangnier, Y. Zylberberg

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    Level College / Upper Division (Undergraduates) · For Student · Language English

    Abstract

    Using 50,000 tests published in the AER, JPE, and QJE, we identify a residual in the distribution of tests that cannot be explained solely by journals favoring rejection of the null hypothesis. We observe a two-humped camel shape with missing p-values between 0.25 and 0.10 that can be retrieved just after the 0.05 threshold and represent 10-20 percent of marginally rejected tests. Our interpretation is that researchers inflate the value of just-rejected tests by choosing “significant” specifications. We propose a method to measure this residual and describe how it varies by article and author characteristics

    Keywords Reproducibility Crisis and Credibility Revolution