Green Spills: Peer effects in pro-environmental behaviors (with Benedikt Janzen) [Revise & Resubmit Journal of Public Economics]

(SAEE junior workshop best presentation award; SAEE best dissertation award 2023, SSES Young Economist Award 2024) 

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.

Trade-labor linkages and international investment: Protectionism in disguise? (with Damian Raess)
Abstract: We estimate the impact of labor clauses in preferential trade agreements on bilateral FDI. Using a structural gravity equation framework, estimated with todays’ standard PPML method, we find that labor clauses, if treated exogenously, significantly decrease global investment. However, the exogeneity of policy variables is doubtful. Applying the identification by fixed effects method, allowing labor clauses to be endogenously determined, the results show that labor clauses promote investment. We find interesting heterogeneity between different kind of country pairs. Investment from relatively low to relatively high as well as investment between relatively similar economies in terms of labor right standards benefits from labor provisions in preferential trade agreements. We find little to no evidence for a harmful impact of labor provisions on investments from high labor right standard economies into low labor right standard economies neglecting developing economies often cited fear of labor clauses potential protectionist impact and their resistance towards the inclusion of said clauses in trade negotiations.

Is Air Pollution keeping us up at night? (with Benedikt Janzen) 

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 microgram/m3 increase in the average daily PM10 concentration reduces sleep duration on average by 1 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 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.

Near-miss climate catastrophe and local adaptation (with Marie Breuillé, Camille Grivault, Sébastien Houde, Julie Le Gallo and Alexandra Verlhiac) 

Abstract: The 2022 forest fire in Landes and Gironde was France's second largest forest fire in the past two centuries. Despite its extensive coverage, the fire had no direct casualties, and few structures were destroyed. The Landes's fire was a near-miss event: its consequences could have been much more catastrophic. In 1949, the same region was subject to the largest and most deadly forest fire on record in France. We investigate whether a salient but near-miss extreme climatic event acts as a catalyst for adaptation strategies. We assemble a rich set of data to investigate households' intentions and actual internal migration decisions. We also link migration outcomes with housing market outcomes. We find evidence of an intention gap, i.e., a difference between intended and actual migrations, and these intentions are mostly supply-side driven. In particular, we observe an increase in listings in the impacted regions, but no strong effect on incoming and outgoing migrations. We also observe a small increase in transactions and an increase in the supply of short-term rentals. Overall, our results suggest that the secondary home housing market was the most impacted, and there are important barriers to internal migrations. 

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

Bigler, P., & Radulescu, D. (2025). Environmental, Redistributive, and Revenue Effects of Policies Promoting Fuel-Efficient and Electric Vehicles. Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 12(5), 1059-1096. [Published version] [CESifo WP] 

Media coverage: SNF - press release , Watson (short) , Watson (extended) , SRF (article),  SRF (audio),  Energate, Le Temps 

Bigler, P. (2025). Magnitude and decomposition of the solar rebound: Evidence from Swiss households. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 133, 103194. [Published Version]

Bigler, P., & Radulescu, D. (2021). Heating system choice among Swiss households: determinants and effects of policy counterfactuals. In Research Handbook on Environmental Sociology (pp. 187-215). Edward Elgar Publishing.