Replication Talk Costs Lives: Why are Economists so Concerned About the Reputational Effects of Replications?

Michael Clemens' recent working paper The Meaning of Failed Replications: A Review and Proposal echoes concerns expressed by some replicatees and economists more generally about the potentially damaging effects of a claim of null replication on reputations (or similar concerns in social psychology. I disagree with Clemens' core argument that replication should be distinguished from robustness testing in part because a null replication bears...