Round-up: Is love a human universal?

The most interesting articles that came to our attention this week

The effects of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores. Mathilde Holm and colleagues study the impact of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores in Denmark. Comparing the change in test scores for children who experienced dissolution with the change for children who did not experience dissolution, they find that it reduces test scores by up to 6.5% of a standard deviation—a small but significant amount.

The impacts of government ideology on innovation: What are the main implications? Quan-Jing Wang and colleagues study the impact of government ideology on innovation, as measured by trademarks and patent applications. Analysing over-time data on 110 countries from 1995 to 2015, they find that left-wing ruling parties reduce innovation, whereas right-wing ruling parties enhance innovation. The finding holds for multiple measures of government ideology.