P-hacking and Significance Stars

Costanza Naguib

Diskussionsschriften from Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft

Abstract: In mid-2016, all journals of the American Economic Association (AEA) stopped including significance stars in their regression tables. This policy aimed to reduce the emphasis on statistical significance and shift focus toward the broader economic importance of research findings. This study examines the impact of this change on p-hacking and publication bias. The findings indicate some reduction in the bunching of the reported test statistics just beyond the 5%-significance threshold in the treated journals after 2016. However, the effect is modest.

Keywords: p-hacking; significance stars; publication bias; difference-in-difference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A11 A14 C13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sog
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