I am an economist specialising in mobility, health, environmental, and development economics. I use state of the art experimental, econometric, and machine learning techniques to uncover causal effects of interventions.
Download my CV.
PhD in Economics, 2021
University of Basel, Switzerland
MSc in Economics and Politics, 2014
University of Freiburg, Germany
BCom in Economics and Finance, 2011
University of Auckland, New Zealand
BA in German, 2011
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Pigovian transport pricing was implemented in a large-scale field experiment in urban areas of Switzerland. The pricing varied across time, space and mode of transport. One third of the participants were given a financial incentive to reduce their external costs of transport, whereas others were provided information only or served as a control group. The pricing treatment caused a significant reduction in the external costs of transport. This reduction is a consequence of mode substitution and a shift of departure times. The effect of providing information in the absence of pricing was statistically significant only for subgroups of the sample.
We study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated government measures on individual mobility choices in Switzerland. Our data is based on over 1,600 people for which we observe all trips during eight weeks before the pandemic and until May 2021. We find an overall reduction of travel distances by 60 percent, followed by a gradual recovery during the subsequent re-opening of the economy. Whereas driving distances have almost completely recovered, public transport remains under-used. The introduction of a requirement to wear a mask in public transport had no measurable impact on ridership. The individual travel response to the pandemic varies along socio-economic dimensions such as education and household size, with mobility tool ownership, and with personal values and lifestyles. We find no evidence for a significant substitution of leisure travel to compensate for the reduction in work-related travel.