Benedikt Janzen

Hi!

I am an applied microeconomist working at the intersection of environmental, health, and public economics. My research examines how environmental and social conditions shape behavior and well-being, with a particular interest in externalities and their implications for public policy.

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of Public Economics at the University of Passau and a research scholar at IIASA. I am affiliated with the Institute for Political Economy of Public Policy at WU Vienna.

I received my PhD in Economics from the University of Bern.

CV [Link]

CONTACT

benedikt.janzen@uni-passau.de

University of PassauChair of Public EconomicsInnstraße 2794032 Passau

WORKING PAPERS AND WORK IN PROGRESS

Hazy Dreams: The impact of air pollution on sleep (with Patrick Bigler) [Link]

Abstract: Surprisingly little is known about the causal impact of air pollution on human sleep. We provide quasi-experimental evidence that short-run exposure to particulate matter reduces objectively measured sleep. Using daily district-level data on sleep duration from half a million consumer wearable users in Germany between 2020 to 2022, we show that even relatively low levels of particulate matter air pollution adversely affect sleep. We document that a 10 µg/m3 increase in average daily PM10 concentration reduces sleep duration by about one minute. To strengthen the causal interpretation of our findings, we employ an instrumental variables approach, using local wind direction 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 estimated effects are modest in magnitude, the central role of sleep in human well-being highlights the potential social burden of pollution-induced sleep loss.

Public festivities, crime and health: Evidence from Germany (with Katharina Drescher and Seraphin Schwarzbauer)

MAIN PUBLICATIONS

Bigler, P. & Janzen, B. (2026). Green Spills: Peer effects in pro-environmental behaviors. Journal of Public Economics, 262, 105722. [Link]

2024 Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES) Young Economist Award; 2023 Swiss Association of Energy Economics (SAEE) Student Award

Media Coverage (in German): FAZ, Focus, PV magazine

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

Media Coverage (in German): Deutschlandfunk

Drescher, K., & Janzen, B. (2025). When weather wounds workers: The impact of temperature on workplace accidents. Journal of Public Economics, 241, 105258. [Link]

Media Coverage (in German): Kurier, MDR, Tagesanzeiger, SZ

Bigler, P., & Janzen, B. (2024). Too hot to sleep. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 128, 103063. [Link]

Media Coverage: Financial Times