Saurabh Lall's Avatar

Saurabh Lall

@lallsaurabh.bsky.social

I study entrepreneurs trying to do good things. I frequently misspell 'entrepreneur'. Disciplinary nomad. Associate Prof at U of Glasgow. He/Him. Profile photo credit: My 3yo

709 Followers  |  398 Following  |  38 Posts  |  Joined: 13.08.2023
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Posts by Saurabh Lall (@lallsaurabh.bsky.social)

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Migration does not have to be what it is now

Innovation can change what migration *is*β€”more orderly, skilled, integrated, & tangibly beneficial to everyone affected

In 2012 I proposed one way: Global Skill Partnerships

The World Bank just released a major GSP roadmapβ€”> hdl.handle.net/10986/42780

21.02.2025 12:02 β€” πŸ‘ 151    πŸ” 34    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 3

I'm constantly trying (/failing) to get this point across.

If you're a trained expert in a field, then it may be worthwhile to question the scientific consensus of your peers.

If you're not, the scientific consensus is absolutely the best you can do and it's arbitrary foolishness to disregard it.

24.02.2026 16:04 β€” πŸ‘ 3752    πŸ” 853    πŸ’¬ 54    πŸ“Œ 50
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Would anybody like to read one of my long threads about a 2.5bn year old rock, bacteria that could produce oxygen but not consume it, and tank production in wwii

23.02.2026 06:14 β€” πŸ‘ 478    πŸ” 126    πŸ’¬ 20    πŸ“Œ 45

Check out nonprofit and philanthropy specialised journals - Voluntas, NVSQ, Nonprofit management and leadership to start. You may also find research in mainstream public admin journals like PAR, JPART and PA.

19.02.2026 12:33 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

There’s something sad about how many blogposts are simply copy-pasted ChatGPT output now.

It’s not writing, it’s content β€” not voices, but outputs. When the only button you press is for an LLM, blogposts don’t earn applause, they earn scrutiny.

18.02.2026 23:52 β€” πŸ‘ 197    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 14    πŸ“Œ 10
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I've built a new tool!

You can upload your pre-analysis plan or registered report, pre-submission to a registry or journal, and it will screen it for completeness, clarity, and consistency. 1/ 🧡

13.02.2026 20:21 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
It must be very hard to publish null results
Publication practices in the social sciences act as a filter that favors statistically significant results over null findings. While the problem of selection on significance (SoS) is well-known in theory, it has been difficult to measure its scope empirically, and it has been challenging to determine how selection varies across contexts. In this article, we use large language models to extract granular and validated data on about 100,000 articles published in over 150 political science journals from 2010 to 2024. We show that fewer than 2% of articles that rely on statistical methods report null-only findings in their abstracts, while over 90% of papers highlight significant results. To put these findings in perspective, we develop and calibrate a simple model of publication bias. Across a range of plausible assumptions, we find that statistically significant results are estimated to be one to two orders of magnitude more likely to enter the published record than null results. Leveraging metadata extracted from individual articles, we show that the pattern of strong SoS holds across subfields, journals, methods, and time periods. However, a few factors such as pre-registration and randomized experiments correlate with greater acceptance of null results. We conclude by discussing implications for the field and the potential of our new dataset for investigating other questions about political science.

It must be very hard to publish null results Publication practices in the social sciences act as a filter that favors statistically significant results over null findings. While the problem of selection on significance (SoS) is well-known in theory, it has been difficult to measure its scope empirically, and it has been challenging to determine how selection varies across contexts. In this article, we use large language models to extract granular and validated data on about 100,000 articles published in over 150 political science journals from 2010 to 2024. We show that fewer than 2% of articles that rely on statistical methods report null-only findings in their abstracts, while over 90% of papers highlight significant results. To put these findings in perspective, we develop and calibrate a simple model of publication bias. Across a range of plausible assumptions, we find that statistically significant results are estimated to be one to two orders of magnitude more likely to enter the published record than null results. Leveraging metadata extracted from individual articles, we show that the pattern of strong SoS holds across subfields, journals, methods, and time periods. However, a few factors such as pre-registration and randomized experiments correlate with greater acceptance of null results. We conclude by discussing implications for the field and the potential of our new dataset for investigating other questions about political science.

I have a new paper. We look at ~all stats articles in political science post-2010 & show that 94% have abstracts that claim to reject a null. Only 2% present only null results. This is hard to explain unless the research process has a filter that only lets rejections through.

11.02.2026 17:00 β€” πŸ‘ 640    πŸ” 223    πŸ’¬ 30    πŸ“Œ 51
Episode artwork including Kat, Kez and Melanie

Episode artwork including Kat, Kez and Melanie

New #UofGSpotlight episode on 'Work, Ageing and the Employment Rights Act'πŸ’‘

@kezdugdale.bsky.social speaks with Kat Riach about ageing and work then @melaniesimms.bsky.social about employment rights and recent legislation.

Listen and subscribe: uofgspotlight.com 🎧

12.02.2026 09:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm not an audiophile, but making the choice to switch back to wired headphones has massively improved my music experience

12.02.2026 11:30 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œWe measure the impact of increased immigration on mortality among elderly Americans, who rely on the immigrant-intensive [health care] sectors… [we find] striking effects on mortality: a 25% increase in the steady state flow of immigrants to the US would result in 5,000 fewer deaths nationwide.”

09.02.2026 11:34 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

So now we can see the official report of what happened to PEPFAR coverage in 2025 compared to 2024.

14.5m fewer people received testing and counselling (leading to a 400k drop in positive tests)
100,000 fewer on ARVs
1.6m drop in ART patients with documented viral load

28.01.2026 15:42 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

I have used @raulpachecovega.bsky.social's to teach reading and literature reviews to easily 500+ students (mostly undergrads), and I regularly get feedback that they're among the most valuable lessons in my science and teaching writing classes.

Cannot recommend enough.

01.02.2026 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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"Our desperate times have created concerned reactions, so here's a firearm factsheet to consider if you're pondering gun ownership:" armedwithreason.substack.com/p/what-to-kn...

27.01.2026 16:42 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
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US Development Finance Corporation did $3.5bn in business last year.

For comparison, China's Belt and Road investments last year were about $85bn.

www.cgdev.org/blog/looking...
greenfdc.org/china-belt-a...

26.01.2026 16:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

Great list. I've been considering this too, and trying small steps - Libre Office and signing up with Proton Mail.

25.01.2026 09:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Took advice from @parismarx.com a couple weeks ago and it's been great. Most all changes I've made have zero impact on my day-to-day, but mean I'm supporting a wide diversity of non-US platforms. A couple are even a genuine improvement.

Combat both US tech capitulation and Enshittification at once.

21.01.2026 07:49 β€” πŸ‘ 89    πŸ” 41    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0

Studies of mobilization against Bolsonaro and the effective unity of South Korean political elites against an authoritarian power grab by the last president are still underway. So there are several models politicians in the U.S. have.

24.01.2026 21:03 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Interested in learning more about policy and public engagement and develop the skills to engage in media interviews and public-facing writing? Apply for our workshop this summer - www.bridgingthegapproject.org/ipsi

Applications close this Sunday

20.01.2026 18:33 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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If you’re aged 18–30 and have a good business idea, Scotland will back you.

Today I have launched The First Minister’s Start-Up Challenge and applications will open soon.

Β£500 to test your business, and up to Β£5,000 to launch it.

19.01.2026 19:11 β€” πŸ‘ 121    πŸ” 63    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 10
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Blog: The US Halt on Immigrant Visa Processing.

On Wednesday the US announced it was suspending processing for immigrant visa applications in 75 countries home to 2.5 billion people with a combined GNI of $9.9 trillion....

16.01.2026 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œThese findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”

08.01.2026 20:46 β€” πŸ‘ 292    πŸ” 108    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 21
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AI may upend online studies critical to social science Sophisticated bots risk contaminating surveys, games, and other approaches designed to shed light on human behavior

Important considerations if you're collecting data on online platforms such as Prolific. www.science.org/content/arti...

04.01.2026 10:50 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies

Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."

uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...

19.12.2025 17:14 β€” πŸ‘ 197    πŸ” 171    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 19
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P B Mehta writes: MNREGA was the ground beneath our feet. It’s slipping away One of the principal arguments advanced against the MGNREGA is that it raises wages. This concern underlies the clamour to restrict the scheme to the agricultural off-season. But in the context of the...

The Govt of India is dismantling the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and that's a real shame.

19.12.2025 13:08 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

β€œRandomizing newborns to no hepatitis B vaccine at birth in order to evaluate β€œoverall health effects” of an intervention whose primary benefit is already known is indefensible. When benefit is established, withholding an intervention is no longer neutral experimentation; [it is] premeditated harm”

19.12.2025 03:35 β€” πŸ‘ 91    πŸ” 35    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration

www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...

17.12.2025 13:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1626    πŸ” 431    πŸ’¬ 56    πŸ“Œ 60
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Update on Lives Lost from USAID Cuts In this blog, we report on an update to our earlier estimates of the potential mortality impacts of the administration’s aid cuts. A similar approach to our original estimates using financial data to ...

@justsand.bsky.social and I have updated our estimates of lives lost based on cuts to US foreign assistance spending through the end of the fiscal year. They look similar or worse than they did back in June: in the range of 500,000 to 1,000,000 people.

www.cgdev.org/blog/update-...

16.12.2025 18:33 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Post image 13.12.2025 22:24 β€” πŸ‘ 33    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

When I was at NC state, I had lunch with a visiting scholar from Sweden who was visiting US universities for the first time. He described his experience as touring β€œhedge funds with football teams.”

27.11.2025 13:09 β€” πŸ‘ 700    πŸ” 127    πŸ’¬ 13    πŸ“Œ 3