Research

Published and accepted articles

• Tournaments, Contestant Heterogeneity and Performance (with Daniel Goller)[forthcoming at Journal of Political Economy: Microeconomics]  [Journal Website]

Tournaments are frequently used incentive mechanisms to enhance performance. In this paper, we use field data and show that skill disparities among contestants asymmetrically affect the performance of contestants. Skill disparities have a detrimental effect on the performance of the lower-ability contestant but a positive effect on the performance of the higher-ability contestant. We discuss the potential of different behavioral approaches to explain our findings and discuss the implications of our results for the optimal design of contests. Beyond that, our study reveals two important empirical results: (a) affirmative action-type policies may help to mitigate the adverse effects on lower-ability contestants, and (b) the skill level of potential future contestants in subsequent tournament stages can detrimentally influence the performance of higher-ability contestants but does not affect the lower-ability contestant.

• [WP available here] 

• Early exposure to foreign language training and students' educational trajectories (with Maurizio Strazzeri, Chantal Oggenfuss and Stefan C. Wolter), Economics of Education Review, Volume 108, 2025 [Journal Website]

We estimate the impact of a large curriculum reform in Switzerland that substantially increased the share of foreign language classes in compulsory school on students' subsequent educational choices in upper secondary school. Using administrative student register data and exploiting the staggered implementation of the curriculum reform, we find that exposure to more foreign language classes during compulsory school has only minor effects on educational choices of the overall student population. However, we find substantial effect heterogeneity: while the reform has no effect on the direct educational progression of either low-track female or high-track students, it impedes low-track male students' transition to upper secondary education. The effect of foreign language classes on the educational trajectory of low-track male students is particularly pronounced for students who do not speak at home the school's language of instruction. Finally, we find that female students who start vocational training immediately after compulsory school are more likely to select into training occupations that require higher foreign language skills instead of natural science skills. 

[WP available here]

• Social Ties and Preferences for Competition (with Moritz Janas and Baiba Renerte), Experimental Economics, Volume 28, March 2025[Journal Website]

We conduct an economic experiment to examine the causal impact of social ties on the preference for competition. Participants decide whether to engage in a competition or not. Across four treatments, potential competitors vary based on their relationship with the decision-maker: whether they had a conversation with the decision-maker prior to the competition, whether they are expected to chat after the competition, or both, or neither. We find that the process of chatting promotes social closeness. This increase in social closeness tends to reduce the preference for competition if participants are expected to meet again after the competition. However, it does not change the likelihood of opting for competition if there is no prospect of further interaction. Through this experiment, we thus identify previously undiscovered implications of managerial practices that promote social tie formation, like team-building exercises and options for remote work.

[Draft available here]

• Birthplace Diversity and Team Performance (with Tommy Krieger), Labour Economics, Volume 79, 2022 [Journal Website]

Using hand-collected and web-scraped data on 7208 matches and 3266 players from the highest division of German male football, this paper examines how birthplace diversity affects team performance. The results of two instrumental variable approaches suggest that birthplace diversity has a hump-shaped effect on team performance. To explain our result, we argue that nationally diverse teams have a wider range of skills and face greater communication barriers. 

[ZEW Discussion Paper No. 10-020] 

Working Paper

• Classroom Rank in Math, Occupational choices and Labor market outcomes (with Maddalena Davoli and Maurizio Strazzeri) [JMP]

We examine the impact of students’ classroom rank in math on educational, occupational, and labor-market outcomes. Using Swiss PISA-2012 data linked to administrative student records and income information from tax data, and leveraging variations in achievement distribution across classes, we find that students with higher math ranks are more likely to pursue STEM-related occupations. Through subject-specific survey questions, we provide evidence of the underlying mechanisms at play, and we also demonstrate that parents can serve as important mediators. Furthermore, we show that a higher classroom rank in math increases earnings and the willingness to invest in occupation-specific further education. 

[WP version available here] [JMP available here]

• Far-right mass protests and internal migration (with Tommy Krieger)[2nd Round R & R Journal of Urban Economics]

We examine how far-right mass protests shape cities’ reputation and thus location choices of nationals. To this end, we first exploit that the city of Dresden (Germany) unexpectedly experienced such protests at the turn of the year 2014/2015. Estimates from difference-in-differences and Synthetic Control analyses suggest that the number of (young) German adults who moved from another region to Dresden declined by around 10% due to the far-right mass protests. We complement our first analysis with a conjoint experiment where participants decide between two hypothetical cities. This experiment confirms that far-right rallies have a dissuasive effect and shows that left-wing people react stronger than right-wing people. It also reveals that far-right protests cause security concerns and concerns about finding like-minded people. The latter reaction is only observed for people that do not support the far right.

[ZEW Discussion Paper No. 25-045 ] [ifo Dresden berichtet] 

• Spillover Effects in Performance Evaluations (with Michael Lechner) [submitted]

This article investigates how coworker performance impacts individual performance evaluations at the workplace and thus examines a complementary channel, alongside productivity gains and learning effects, how coworkers shape career advancement. Using high-quality football match data, we isolate a component of individual performance from collaborative effects. Applying causal machine learning methods, we account for assortative matching of workers. Coworker performance significantly affects manager decisions and third-party expert evaluations. We characterize the most and least affected workers by spillover effects and demonstrate that spillover effects depend on reference points, with only positive deviations from a reference point creating positive spillover effects.

[WP available here]

• The Costs of Coming Out (with Riccardo di Francesco) [submitted]

The fear of social stigma and discrimination leads many individuals worldwide to hesitate in openly disclosing their sexual orientation. Due to the large costs of concealing identity, it is crucial to understand the extent of anti-LGB sentiments and reactions to coming out. However, disclosing one's sexual orientation is a personal choice, complicating data access and introducing endogeneity issues. This paper tackles these challenges by using an innovative data source from a popular online video game together with a natural experiment. We exploit exogenous variation in the identity of a playable character to identify the effects of disclosure on players' revealed preferences for that character. Leveraging detailed daily data, we monitor players' preferences for the character across diverse regions globally and employ synthetic control methods to isolate the effect of the disclosure on players' preferences. Our findings reveal a substantial and persistent negative impact of coming out. To strengthen the plausibility of social stigma as the primary explanation for the estimated effects, we systematically address and eliminate several alternative game-related channels.

[WP available here]

• High-Stakes in Higher Education - Evidence from Academic Probation (with Michael Dörsam) [submitted]

Universities in many countries have introduced early requirements that students need to fulfill to be allowed to proceed. Yet, their effectiveness is disputed because of concerns that they harm graduation chances. We study the impact of a last-chance exam mechanism applying a quasi-experimental design. We exploit the discontinuity in treatment status around the promotion cutoff and show that exposure to a last-chance exam increases early dropout. Graduation chances are on average not affected. However, we do find small negative effects for female students’ and low-ability students’ graduation chances. Further performance measures are largely unaffected.

[WP available here]

Work in Progress

• Stereotypes in beliefs about productivity relevant skills (with Daniel Goller and Stefan Wolter)

We study how beliefs about productivity-relevant skills are formed and quantify the extent to which they are shaped by gender stereotypes. Using rich Swiss aptitude test data with repeated belief elicitation across multiple skill domains, we trace stereotype-driven distortions and difficulty-induced misestimation along the entire ability distribution. The repeated measures allow us to construct individual-level indices capturing how strongly each student’s beliefs reflect prevailing stereotypes, which we then link to their full compulsory school histories. This framework enables us to investigate both the origins of distorted beliefs and their consequences for educational trajectories and, eventually, labor-market outcomes. 

[Draft coming soon]

• Information frictions, metacognition and labor market outcomes  (with Daniel Goller and Stefan Wolter)

We study how imperfect self-knowledge about one’s abilities shapes early occupational choices and leads to horizontal mismatch. Using rich Swiss aptitude test data, we compare students’ perceived and actual skills to measure individual metacognitive accuracy and trace how these information frictions evolve when students receive more precise feedback. Our framework shows that students with larger information frictions are more likely to choose a poorly matched occupation and are more likely to revise their choices once better information arrives. This work highlights how early gaps in self-assessment can generate persistent inefficiencies in educational and career trajectories.

[Draft coming soon]

• Teamwork or how teams work: - The value of coworker complementarities in team production  (with Riccardo di Francesco)

Teamwork is highly prevelant in modern organizations. However, evidence how the joint distribution of skills shapes productivity is limited. We study how the distribution of skills within teams shapes productivity, focusing on the value of coworker complementarities in skills. Using rich professional soccer data, including detailed match actions, performance metrics, and comprehensive skill profiles, we observe workers in varying team compositions and precisely measure team output. This allows us to identify which combinations of skills make teams more effective, when specialization pays off, and which workers make others better. Our goal is to uncover the micro-foundations of teamwork and provide evidence on the value of complementary skills, and the characteristics of valuable team players.

[Draft coming soon]

• Skin tone discrimination in the recognition for teamwork 

• Peer exposure in school and horizontal mismatch 

• Designing efficient feedback rules to overcome behavioral barriers (with Moritz Janas)

• What can time tell? - The value of response time in large-scale achievement tests (with Daniel Goller)