Publication bias and p-hacking in the effect of COVID-19 on learning

Martina Luskova, Nino Buliskeria, Ali Elminejad, Tomas Havranek, Zuzana Irsova, Stepan Jurajda and Marek Kapicka

EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics

Abstract: We revisit a central estimate in the economics of education: the human-capital loss associated with COVID-19 school closures. Estimates of pandemic learning loss may be affected by publication bias, p-hacking, and the mechanical correlation between standardized effect sizes and their standard errors. We conduct a comprehensive multi-method assessment of bias by applying a wide range of correction techniques, including PET-PEESE, three-parameter selection models (3PSM), Robust Bayesian Meta-Analysis (RoBMA), Meta-Analysis Instrumental Variable Estimation (MAIVE), Right-Truncated Meta-Analysis (RTMA), and multi-bias sensitivity analysis. Our preferred specifications, RoBMA and MAIVE, rely on different assumptions yet converge on an effect size of approximately −0.12 SD, equivalent to a learning loss of about 30% of a school year. Although some methods reveal signs of publication bias and selective reporting, these findings do not explain away the central finding: the COVID-19 learning deficit is economically meaningful and statistically robust.

Keywords: Meta-analysis; Publication bias; p-hacking; COVID-19; Learning loss (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C18 I21 I24 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/341461/1/learning.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Publication Bias and P-Hacking in the Effect of COVID-19 on Learning (2026)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:esprep:341461

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in EconStor Preprints from ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().