Has anyone replicated Lisa Cook’s research? Reading several of her papers raises red flags.
For example, in her paper on PPP loans, she argues that blacks had less access than whites because of discrimination by banks. However, in the PPP loan data, self-identified race is only recorded in 10% of observations. She claims to use a sophisticated statistical method (“a Mills Ratio derived from a first-stage Heckman selection approach”) to account for selection bias. Given that data, her principle evidence is a reg x, y of “Black” on “log loan amount.”
Similarly, in her work on the affect of racism on black patent issuance, I don’t think that patents actually record the inventor’s race! She also claims to use a sophisticated statistical method to infer the patent owner’s race.
I’m concerned that there might be academic fraud.