Tomas Havranek

Tomas Havranek

Professor of Economics
Charles University, Prague

Research

Selected publications · Teaching · Tools

Papers, data and code are at meta-analysis.cz; the data for each study are in the datasets archive.

Ask AI about my research (experimental)

Current research

  1. Weighted Adjustment Instrumental Variable Estimatorwith Pedro Bom, Petr Cala, Zuzana Irsova, and Heiko RachingerSlides · Experimental option at easymeta.org.
  2. The Residual Discontinuity Test for p-Hackingwith Zuzana Irsova, Pedro Bom, and Heiko RachingerSlides · Also an experimental option at easymeta.org.
  3. Meta-Analysis of Field Studies on Beauty and Professional Successwith Zuzana Irsova, Kseniya Bortnikova, and Frantisek BartosR&R Nature Human Behaviour.
  4. Effect of Exercise on Cognition, Memory, and Executive Function: A Study-Level Meta-Meta-Analysis Across Populations and Exercise Categorieswith Frantisek Bartos, Martina Luskova, Kseniya Bortnikova, Karolina Hozova, Klara Kantova, and Zuzana IrsovaR&R Sports Medicine.
  5. Do Methods Matter in the Meta-Analysis of Partial Correlation Coefficients?with T. D. Stanley, Petr Cala, Hristos Doucouliagos, and Zuzana IrsovaR&R Research Synthesis Methods.
  6. The Elasticity of Substitution between Native and Immigrant Labor: A Meta-Analysiswith Klara Kantova, Zuzana Irsova, and Jiri SchwarzR&R Journal of Economic Surveys.
  7. What Matters in Explaining the Variation in Hedge Fund Performance?with Fan Yang, Zuzana Irsova, and Jiri NovakR&R International Review of Economics and Finance.
  8. The Power of Science: Statistical Power in Published Research Across Five Disciplineswith Yue Wang, Frantisek Bartos, Tom Coupe, Sanghyun Hong, Zuzana Irsova, and W. Robert Reed
  9. Do Decisions about Outliers and Influential Effects Matter? Evidence from 358 Behavioral Science Meta-Analyseswith Zuzana Irsova, Martina Luskova, and T. D. Stanley
  10. Does Multi-Agent Debate Improve AI Feedback on Research Papers?with Zuzana Irsova
  11. Publication Bias and P-Hacking in the Effect of COVID-19 on Learningwith Martina Luskova, Nino Buliskeria, Ali Elminejad, Zuzana Irsova, Stepan Jurajda, and Marek Kapicka
  12. Optimal Inflation Rate: A Meta-Analysiswith Matej Opatrny, Martin Opatrny, Zuzana Irsova, and Mojmir Hampl
  13. Price Elasticity of Electricity Demand: A Meta-Analysiswith Peter Kudela, Zuzana Irsova, Anna Kudelova, and Vojtech Sikl
  14. Trust, Rule of Law, and the Size Premium: Evidence from a Meta-Analysiswith Jiri Schwarz, Zuzana Irsova, and Jiri Novak
  15. Do Female Directors Raise ESG Ratings? A Meta-Analysiswith Karolina Hozova and Zuzana Irsova

Also in progress: attenuation versus publication bias (with John Ioannidis; pre-analysis plan), p-hacking versus publication bias (with Nino Buliskeria), external validity tests for meta-analysis (with Chishio Furukawa), spurious precision across fields (with Frantisek Bartos), and automatic replication of meta-analyses (with Petr Cala).

Selected publications

Full publication list · Scopus

Labor economics

  1. Publication Bias and Model Uncertainty in Measuring the Effect of Class Size on Achievement2026 · with Matej Opatrny, Zuzana Irsova, and Milan ScasnyJournal of Labor Economics, forthcoming.
  2. Publication and Attenuation Biases in Measuring Skill Substitution2024 · with Zuzana Irsova, Lubica Laslopova, and Olesia ZeynalovaReview of Economics and Statistics 106(5), 1187–1200.
  3. Intertemporal Substitution in Labor Supply: A Meta-Analysis2023 · with Ali Elminejad, Roman Horvath, and Zuzana IrsovaReview of Economic Dynamics 51, 1095–1113.
  4. Measuring Capital-Labor Substitution: The Importance of Method Choices and Publication Bias2022 · with Sebastian Gechert, Zuzana Irsova, and Dominika KolcunovaReview of Economic Dynamics 45, 55–82.

International economics

  1. Estimating the Armington Elasticity: The Importance of Study Design and Publication Bias2020 · with Josef Bajzik, Zuzana Irsova, and Jiri SchwarzJournal of International Economics 127, 103383.
  2. Do Borders Really Slash Trade? A Meta-Analysis2017 · with Zuzana IrsovaIMF Economic Review 65(2), 365–396.
  3. Cross-Country Heterogeneity in Intertemporal Substitution2015 · with Roman Horvath, Zuzana Irsova, and Marek RusnakJournal of International Economics 96(1), 100–118.
  4. Estimating Vertical Spillovers from FDI: Why Results Vary and What the True Effect Is2011 · with Zuzana IrsovaJournal of International Economics 85(2), 234–244.

Macroeconomics

  1. When Does Monetary Policy Sway House Prices? A Meta-Analysis2023 · with Dominika Ehrenbergerova and Josef BajzikIMF Economic Review 71, 538–573.
  2. Do Consumers Really Follow a Rule of Thumb? Three Thousand Estimates from 144 Studies Say "Probably Not"2020 · with Anna SokolovaReview of Economic Dynamics 35(1), 97–122.
  3. Habit Formation in Consumption: A Meta-Analysis2017 · with Marek Rusnak and Anna SokolovaEuropean Economic Review 95, 142–167.
  4. Measuring Intertemporal Substitution: The Importance of Method Choices and Selective Reporting2015Journal of the European Economic Association 13(6), 1180–1204.
  5. How to Solve the Price Puzzle? A Meta-Analysis2013 · with Marek Rusnak and Roman HorvathJournal of Money, Credit and Banking 45(1), 37–70.

Experimental and financial economics

  1. Financial Incentives and Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Experiments in Economics2026 · with Petr Cala, Zuzana Irsova, Martina Luskova, Jindrich Matousek, and Jiri NovakJournal of Political Economy Microeconomics, forthcoming.
  2. Individual Discount Rates: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Evidence2022 · with Jindrich Matousek and Zuzana IrsovaExperimental Economics 25(1), 318–358.
  3. How Puzzling Is the Forward Premium Puzzle? A Meta-Analysis2021 · with Diana Zigraiova, Zuzana Irsova, and Jiri NovakEuropean Economic Review 134, 103714.

Meta-research

  1. Reproducibility and Robustness of Economics and Political Science Research2026 · with Abel Brodeur and others (one of 347 authors)Nature 652, 151–156.
  2. Spurious Precision in Meta-Analysis of Observational Research2025 · with Zuzana Irsova, Pedro Bom, and Heiko RachingerNature Communications 16, 8454.
  3. Reducing the biases of the conventional meta-analysis of correlations2025 · with T. D. Stanley and Hristos DoucouliagosResearch Synthesis Methods 16, 42–59.

Teaching

I also give specialized courses on meta-analysis: a full university course at the University of Canterbury (2025), two days for policy economists in Stockholm (2025), a three-hour course at the University of Osaka (2026) and a PhD workshop session in Chemnitz (2026). The slides, code, data and, where available, recordings and transcripts are free at meta-analysis.cz/teaching.

Tools

EasyMeta lets you run your own meta-analysis online. To stress-test a paper before referees do, use our MAD app: four AI models read it in different roles and cross-examine each other. For Claude Code, our paper-workshop has referees from rival traditions argue over the paper and then rebuild it. All our tools, including a pre-review for ERC proposals, are on one page.