Research
Publications
(with Berno Buechel and Martin Huber)
European Economic Review, 152, 104377 (2023).
Media coverage (in German): Ökonomenstimme and Alma & George
Does the design of a soda tax matter? Evidence from school children in Europe.
(single-authored)
Empirical Economics, 66, 1867–1901 (2024).
Working papers
(with Martin Huber)
Revise & Resubmit Journal of Population Economics
Abstract
The majority of Swiss children attend mandatory and cost-free kindergarten at four. We examine the effect of this policy on maternal labour market outcomes. Using administrative data, we exploit the birthday cut-off for kindergarten entry in the same or in the following year and apply a non-parametric regression discontinuity design (RDD). We find that mandatory kindergarten has a statistically significant positive effect on the labour market attachment of previously non-employed mothers, increasing their employment probability by 4 percentage points. In contrast, there are no significant effects on other groups or in the total sample of mothers.
The paper was awarded the Gender Prize of the University of Fribourg.
Selected work in progress
The medium-term effect of kindergarten on school performance (single-authored)