Comments that criticize or correct a published study are 20-40% less likely than regular papers that have a female author; in life sciences pre-prints women are missing by 20-40% in failed replications compared to regular papers

Voicing Disagreement in Science: Missing Women. David Klinowski. The Review of Economics and Statistics, March 15 2023. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01322

Abstract: This paper examines the authorship of post-publication criticisms in the scientific literature, with a focus on gender differences. Bibliometrics from journals in the natural and social sciences show that comments that criticize or correct a published study are 20-40% less likely than regular papers to have a female author. In preprints in the life sciences, prior to peer review, women are missing by 20-40% in failed replications compared to regular papers, but are not missing in successful replications. In an experiment, I then find large gender differences in willingness to point out and penalize a mistake in someone's work.

I23, J16, D91

Catholic and Protestant cities had shared comparable numbers of scientists per capita prior to the Counter-Reformation, but Catholic cities experienced a cataclysmic relative decline at C-R implementation

Cabello, Matias, The Counter-Reformation, Science, and Long-Term Growth: A Black Legend? (March 15, 2023). SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4389708

Abstract: To identify effects of science on growth in the long-term, we need a shock to science which is sufficiently persistent. Was the Counter-Reformation—the Catholic reaction to Protestantism—such a shock? Did it harm science, unintentionally but enduringly, and thereby depress economic growth, as some historians have claimed? This paper presents vast evidence in favor of this contested narrative. It finds that, across Europe, Catholic and Protestant cities had shared comparable numbers of scientists per capita prior to the Counter-Reformation, but Catholic cities experienced a cataclysmic relative decline precisely when the Counter-Reformation was implemented, especially among more heavily treated units. It then shows that the shock persisted in the long term, largely thanks to the reactivation of Counter-Reformation-rooted policies centuries later. Finally, it exploits this persistence to estimate long-term growth effects and confirms them using alternative variance unrelated to the Counter-Reformation. Overall, the Counter-Reformation appears to be one of the largest shocks to science in human history.

Keywords: Science, long-term economic growth, Catholicism, Counter-Reformation, Inquisition, Spanish Empire, censorship, dictatorships, conservatism, political economy, causes of persistence

JEL Classification: N00, P00, N10, O11, O10, O30, O43, Z12, F50