Dustin Avent-Holt
@daventholt.bsky.social
Professor of Sociology at Augusta University. Opinions are my own, not my employer.
Pinned
Dustin Avent-Holt
@daventholt.bsky.social
· Nov 15
What counts as productive? Redefining ‘producers’ in economic discourse, 1890–1960
In this paper, we analyse economic discourse in debates over the production boundary, asking how the boundaries around economic categories change over time. Using a sample of economic textbooks fro...
doi.org
Sharing my new paper in @econsocjournal.bsky.social. We argue that the adoption of national accounts in post-WWII econ transformed debates over what counts as economically productive activity. Read if interested in how economic statistics shape economic theory and discourse. It’s open access.
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
💼 Why do some CEOs earn way more than others?
Henriksen, Poulsen & Avent-Holt find:
– Elite network ties boost CEO pay
– Weak boards enable pay premiums
– Worker wages drop after CEO windfalls
Status drives inequality—from the top down.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
#SER @daventholt.bsky.social
Henriksen, Poulsen & Avent-Holt find:
– Elite network ties boost CEO pay
– Weak boards enable pay premiums
– Worker wages drop after CEO windfalls
Status drives inequality—from the top down.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
#SER @daventholt.bsky.social
Elite corporate networks and CEO compensation: the causes and consequences of CEO pay premiums
Abstract. CEO compensation has expanded dramatically over the past half-century, with network processes playing a pivotal role. We advance research on thes
doi.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
💼 Why do some CEOs earn way more than others?
Henriksen, Poulsen & Avent-Holt find:
– Elite network ties boost CEO pay
– Weak boards enable pay premiums
– Worker wages drop after CEO windfalls
Status drives inequality—from the top down.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
#SER @daventholt.bsky.social
Henriksen, Poulsen & Avent-Holt find:
– Elite network ties boost CEO pay
– Weak boards enable pay premiums
– Worker wages drop after CEO windfalls
Status drives inequality—from the top down.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
#SER @daventholt.bsky.social
Funding awards are down in nearly every division, and total new awards approximate levels of new awards in the early 1990s. 🧪
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades
The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.
www.nytimes.com
May 24, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Funding awards are down in nearly every division, and total new awards approximate levels of new awards in the early 1990s. 🧪
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
The four-day, thirty-two-hour week: analysing organisational success and failure https://osf.io/5mvcq The four-day week signals a shift in how work is organised, but what determines whether that shift takes hold across workplaces? While there is considerable evidence that a four-day week #sociology
May 15, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The four-day, thirty-two-hour week: analysing organisational success and failure https://osf.io/5mvcq The four-day week signals a shift in how work is organised, but what determines whether that shift takes hold across workplaces? While there is considerable evidence that a four-day week #sociology
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
As a reminder here: this is not Trump's money! He is impounding funds illegally based on the most obvious fig leafs to settle grievances. It is an extraordinary abuse of his public office.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...
April 15, 2025 at 12:54 AM
As a reminder here: this is not Trump's money! He is impounding funds illegally based on the most obvious fig leafs to settle grievances. It is an extraordinary abuse of his public office.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/u...
Trump administration canceling National Endowment for the Humanities' grants
www.npr.org/2025/04/10/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/10/n...
Where did U.S. humanities grants go? To projects from a baseball film to AI research
From AI research to historical preservation, programs funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities reach every corner of the U.S. Now the government has terminated those grants.
www.npr.org
April 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Trump administration canceling National Endowment for the Humanities' grants
www.npr.org/2025/04/10/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/10/n...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
"those who credit manufacturing jobs f/ a glorious past America mistake correlation f/ causation. . .In reality, their parents & grandparents had that life b/c of unions, pensions, high marginal tax rates & strong social policies"
🎯 @jessicacalarco.bsky.social
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
🎯 @jessicacalarco.bsky.social
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Opinion | The manufactured nostalgia of Trump’s tariffs
Those who credit manufacturing jobs for a glorious past America mistake correlation for causation.
www.msnbc.com
April 8, 2025 at 1:30 PM
"those who credit manufacturing jobs f/ a glorious past America mistake correlation f/ causation. . .In reality, their parents & grandparents had that life b/c of unions, pensions, high marginal tax rates & strong social policies"
🎯 @jessicacalarco.bsky.social
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
🎯 @jessicacalarco.bsky.social
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
Universities’ current strategy—cower and capitulate—is failing spectacularly. They should go to court. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
April 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Universities’ current strategy—cower and capitulate—is failing spectacularly. They should go to court. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
Wow!
Three scholars at Columbia, Michigan, & Maryland just introduced a measure of the partisan leanings of employers in the U.S.
The data is constructed by linking voter registrations to online worker profiles.
VRscores capture the political affiliations of 21.8M workers across 2.6M employers.
Three scholars at Columbia, Michigan, & Maryland just introduced a measure of the partisan leanings of employers in the U.S.
The data is constructed by linking voter registrations to online worker profiles.
VRscores capture the political affiliations of 21.8M workers across 2.6M employers.
April 6, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Wow!
Three scholars at Columbia, Michigan, & Maryland just introduced a measure of the partisan leanings of employers in the U.S.
The data is constructed by linking voter registrations to online worker profiles.
VRscores capture the political affiliations of 21.8M workers across 2.6M employers.
Three scholars at Columbia, Michigan, & Maryland just introduced a measure of the partisan leanings of employers in the U.S.
The data is constructed by linking voter registrations to online worker profiles.
VRscores capture the political affiliations of 21.8M workers across 2.6M employers.
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
“At a time when the world is down to a single drug that can reliably cure gonorrhea, the U.S. government has shuttered the country’s premier sexually transmitted diseases laboratory, leaving experts aghast and fearful about what lies ahead.”
www.statnews.com/2025/04/05/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/04/05/c...
CDC’s top laboratory on sexually transmitted diseases is shut by Trump administration
The Trump administration fired everyone in a CDC lab that is crucial to tracking drug-resistant gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases. "We are blind," an expert says.
www.statnews.com
April 6, 2025 at 12:26 PM
“At a time when the world is down to a single drug that can reliably cure gonorrhea, the U.S. government has shuttered the country’s premier sexually transmitted diseases laboratory, leaving experts aghast and fearful about what lies ahead.”
www.statnews.com/2025/04/05/c...
www.statnews.com/2025/04/05/c...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
"I get my news from a broad variety of sources. I follow not only Elon Musk directly but also outlets that screenshot his posts without analysis."
I’m a Free-Thinking Centrist with Only Right-Wing Ideas
You’ve probably wondered about me, the independent thinker in your social network. I’m one part libertarian, one part populist, and one part common...
www.mcsweeneys.net
April 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"I get my news from a broad variety of sources. I follow not only Elon Musk directly but also outlets that screenshot his posts without analysis."
The administration is hobbling the #NEH. State humanities councils are gutted. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/a...
Groups Are Told That Federal Humanities Grants Are Canceled
Letters informed grant recipients that funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities would be redirected to furthering “the president’s agenda.”
www.nytimes.com
April 4, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The administration is hobbling the #NEH. State humanities councils are gutted. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/a...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
This is politics by extortion.
K-12 schools are being forced to choose between getting the federal funding they need and throwing their students under the bus.
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/04/03/t...
K-12 schools are being forced to choose between getting the federal funding they need and throwing their students under the bus.
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/04/03/t...
April 4, 2025 at 10:04 AM
This is politics by extortion.
K-12 schools are being forced to choose between getting the federal funding they need and throwing their students under the bus.
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/04/03/t...
K-12 schools are being forced to choose between getting the federal funding they need and throwing their students under the bus.
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/04/03/t...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
The Tumblr meme factory has kicked into gear
April 4, 2025 at 10:11 AM
The Tumblr meme factory has kicked into gear
If this is how universities reapond to a survey from the Chronicle of Higher Education… #highered www.chronicle.com/article/we-a...
We Asked Colleges How They Would React to Demands From Trump. They Wouldn’t Say.
The possibility became more real on Friday, when Columbia University agreed to make changes in response to a letter from the Trump administration.
www.chronicle.com
March 23, 2025 at 12:38 PM
If this is how universities reapond to a survey from the Chronicle of Higher Education… #highered www.chronicle.com/article/we-a...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
“Columbia’s concessions today strike at core principles of academic freedom and self-governance in the higher education sector,” says Kristen Shahverdian, PEN America's program director for Campus Free Speech.
Full statement: pen.org/press-releas...
Full statement: pen.org/press-releas...
Columbia University’s Concessions Strike at Core Principles of Academic Freedom and Self-Governance - PEN America
Columbia University capitulates to federal government setting dangerous precedents striking at core academic freedoms
pen.org
March 22, 2025 at 1:07 AM
“Columbia’s concessions today strike at core principles of academic freedom and self-governance in the higher education sector,” says Kristen Shahverdian, PEN America's program director for Campus Free Speech.
Full statement: pen.org/press-releas...
Full statement: pen.org/press-releas...
“What is really happening here is an attack on the American faith in knowledge as a value and a public good that has served us well.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...
Opinion | The View Inside Trump’s Assault on Universities (Gift Article)
The Trump administration’s attacks on universities will lead to the permanent diminishment of vital American institutions.
www.nytimes.com
March 16, 2025 at 9:22 PM
“What is really happening here is an attack on the American faith in knowledge as a value and a public good that has served us well.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/o...
A lot of comments on the attempt to dismantle an academic department. Equally alarming is the demand to centralize power into the university president.
I’m told this is a real letter. It basically says, “We’ll destroy Columbia unless you destroy it first.”
March 14, 2025 at 10:26 AM
A lot of comments on the attempt to dismantle an academic department. Equally alarming is the demand to centralize power into the university president.
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
"Why Welcoming the Nazis is Better for the People of France" by Marshal Philippe Petain.
March 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
"Why Welcoming the Nazis is Better for the People of France" by Marshal Philippe Petain.
Trump targeting the NEH.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/a...
Chair of National Endowment for the Humanities Leaves at Trump’s ‘Direction’
Shelly C. Lowe, a scholar of higher education and the first Native American to lead the agency, was appointed by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
www.nytimes.com
March 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Trump targeting the NEH.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/a...
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
The Trump administration has terminated $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University, spurring the nation’s top spender on research and development to plan layoffs and cancel health projects
Johns Hopkins Plans Staff Layoffs After $800 Million Grant Cuts
Local and international health research efforts are already winding down as the university braces for even more potential cuts.
www.wsj.com
March 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
The Trump administration has terminated $800 million in grants to Johns Hopkins University, spurring the nation’s top spender on research and development to plan layoffs and cancel health projects
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
Information produced by the state is a public good. This administration seems dead set on destroying basically all public goods, from public health to education to weather forecasting. It’s breathtaking in its simplicity and its harm.
I’ve heard from an extremely reliable source that the entire National Center for Education Statistics is **gone**
New — Absolute bloodbath at US Dept. of Education in light of today’s Reduction in Force (RIF) announcement.
Hearing from department sources that offices in Dallas, Boston, New York, SF, Philly and Cleveland have all been shut down. Some staff in remaining offices fired, too.
Hearing from department sources that offices in Dallas, Boston, New York, SF, Philly and Cleveland have all been shut down. Some staff in remaining offices fired, too.
March 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Information produced by the state is a public good. This administration seems dead set on destroying basically all public goods, from public health to education to weather forecasting. It’s breathtaking in its simplicity and its harm.
Because the military is not a social institution I guess… 🧪
The U.S. Department of Defense is ending all of its funding for social science research, stopping 91 ongoing studies related to threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation. scim.ag/4hqu6HA
Pentagon abruptly ends all funding for social science research
More than 90 studies on threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation are halted
scim.ag
March 11, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Because the military is not a social institution I guess… 🧪
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
“It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment...Therefore, the award is terminated.”
NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake
The order covers more than 40 awards to researchers around the country seeking to understand why vaccine acceptance has declined.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 10, 2025 at 11:11 PM
“It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment...Therefore, the award is terminated.”
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
Pure scientific censorship. Welcome to the American Soviet Society …https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00703-1
@academicsky
@academicsky
Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants
Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by Nature.
www.nature.com
March 9, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Pure scientific censorship. Welcome to the American Soviet Society …https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00703-1
@academicsky
@academicsky
Reposted by Dustin Avent-Holt
School meals are more than just food—they're an investment in our future. My article for @newstatesman.com explains how a mission-oriented approach can tackle food insecurity while catalysing innovation across sectors for sustainable food systems and economic growth.
Read more ➡️ buff.ly/igLY61e
Read more ➡️ buff.ly/igLY61e
A mission for a better country and economy
Universal school meals are not just good social policy. They can help shape dynamic markets that are green and inclusive
buff.ly
March 7, 2025 at 10:38 AM
School meals are more than just food—they're an investment in our future. My article for @newstatesman.com explains how a mission-oriented approach can tackle food insecurity while catalysing innovation across sectors for sustainable food systems and economic growth.
Read more ➡️ buff.ly/igLY61e
Read more ➡️ buff.ly/igLY61e