Hi!
I am an applied microeconomist with interest in topics related to environmental and health economics.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Public Economics at the University of Passau and affiliated with the Institute for Political Economy of Public Policy at WU Vienna and the IIASA. I completed my PhD in Economics at the University of Bern in 2024.
CV [Link]
CONTACT
benedikt.janzen@uni-passau.deGreen Spills: Peer effects in pro-environmental behaviors (with Patrick Bigler) [Link] R&R Journal of Public Economics
2024 Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES) Young Economist Award; 2023 Swiss Association of Energy Economics (SAEE) Student Award
Abstract: This paper examines causal peer effects in pro-environmental behavior using geocoded panel data on 260,000 Swiss households from 2008 to 2019 and instrumental variables methods. We find that peer behavior has a simultaneous impact on a broad range of energy-related practices. In particular, we find that peer solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption increases household electricity conservation efforts, with each additional solar PV installation at 100 meters distance to a household reducing a household's annual electricity consumption by 0.2%. We also document peer effects both within and across markets for pro-environmental durable goods, with increased uptake of solar PV and electric vehicles following new solar PV installations nearby. We find suggestive evidence that peer influence manifests itself in different ways contingent upon households' constraints. Our findings have important implications for renewable energy subsidy evaluation. To illustrate this we calculate the marginal value of public funds (MVPF) of the existing solar PV subsidy scheme. In this setting, accounting for peer effects increases welfare by approximately 17%.
Is air pollution keeping us up at night? (with Patrick Bigler)
Abstract: Surprisingly little is known about the causal impact of air pollution on human sleep. Using daily district-level data on sleep duration collected by half a million consumer wearables in Germany from 2020 to 2022, we find that even low levels of particulate matter air pollution adversely impact human sleep. We document that a 10 ppm increase in the average daily PM10 concentration reduces sleep duration on average by 1.1 minutes. To strengthen the causal interpretation of our findings, we employ an instrumental variables approach, using wind as a predictor for local air pollution. Our findings offer a potential mechanism linking air pollution to a wide range of human outcomes. Although the effects we find are small in magnitude, the critical role of sleep in human well-being underscores the substantial social burden of sleep loss caused by air pollution.
Janzen, B. (2025). Temperature and mental health: Evidence from helpline calls. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 12 (6), 1431-1457. [Link]
2023 International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Student Paper 2nd Prize
Drescher, K., & Janzen, B. (2025). When weather wounds workers: The impact of temperature on workplace accidents. Journal of Public Economics, 241, 105258. [Link]
Bigler, P., & Janzen, B. (2024). Too hot to sleep. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 128, 103063. [Link]
Drescher, K., & Janzen, B. (2021). Determinants, persistence, and dynamics of energy poverty: An empirical assessment using German household survey data, Energy Economics, 102, 105433. [Link]
Janzen, B., & Radulescu, D. (2020). Electricity use as a real time indicator of the economic burden of the COVID-19-related lockdown: Evidence from Switzerland, CESifo Economic Studies, 66 (4), 303-321. [Link]
