Benedikt Janzen

Research

Working Papers

Temperature and Mental Health: Evidence from Helpline Calls [Link]  - R&R (2nd Round) Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Abstract: This paper studies the short-term effects of ambient temperature on mental health using data on nearly half a million helpline calls in Germany. Leveraging location-based routing of helpline calls and random day-to-day weather fluctuations, I find an adverse effect of temperature extremes on mental health as revealed by an increase in the demand for telephone counseling services. On days with an average temperature above 25°C (77°F) and below 0°C (32°F), call volume is 3.7 and 2.3 percent higher, respectively, than on mid-temperature days. Mechanism analysis reveals suggestive evidence of adverse effects of cold temperatures on social well-being and of hot temperatures on psychological well-being. More broadly, the findings of this work contribute to our understanding of how changing climatic conditions will affect population mental health in the near future.

When Weather Wounds Workers: Temperature and Workplace Accidents (with Katharina Drescher) [Link] - R&R Journal of Public Economics

Abstract: We study the effects of temperature on occupational health using administrative data on Swiss occupational accidents from 1996 to 2019. Our results imply that on hot days (Tmax >=  30°C) the number of occupational accidents increases by 7.4% and on ice days (Tmax <  0°C) by 6.3%, relative to mild days. We find that extreme temperatures cause an average of 2,600 workplace accidents each year, costing CHF 91 million annually. We provide suggestive evidence for insufficient sleep on hot days as a mechanism. While extreme temperatures worsen occupational health, we observe limited labor supply adaption for most workers. 

Green Spills: Peer Effects in Pro-Environmental Behaviors (with Patrick Bigler) [Link]

Abstract: This paper studies causal peer effects in pro-environmental behavior using geocoded panel data of 260,000 Swiss households (2008-2019) and instrumental variables methods. Peer behavior has a simultaneous impact on a broad spectrum of energy practices, and manifests itself in different ways contingent upon households' constraints. For instance, we find that solar PV adoption increases neighbors' electricity conservation efforts. This has important implications for renewable energy subsidy evaluation. Back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that accounting for peer effects decreases carbon abatement costs of solar PV subsidies by 20 percent.

Work in Progress

Too hot to sleep (with Patrick Bigler)

Beat the Heat? Temperature, Health and Heat-Health Action Plans

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]