New research from a Harvard University professor refutes a widely cited study that concluded black newborns had better survival rates when cared for by black doctors.
When factoring in infants’ birth weights, Harvard Kennedy School Professor George Borjas (pictured left) and Manhattan Institute fellow Robert VerBruggen (pictured right) found the conclusion of the 2020 study fell apart.
“Robert and I are both interested in the fragility of empirical results in social science,” Borjas told The College Fix in a recent email. “We both found that by doing the statistical analysis and adding a bunch of controls, the result in the original paper disappeared.”
Their research, published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” journal Sept. 16, used the same data as the 2020 study to replicate the findings, but also controlled for low birth weights.