Research
Research
My research covers various aspects of population economics,
including long-run growth and development, demographic economics, political economy, behavioral economics, and labor economics.
Work in Progress and Discussion Papers
“Recession Experiences Shape Prosocial Attitudes" (joint with Jan Bietenbeck and Petra Thiemann), CRC TRR 190 Discussion Paper 428 and IZA Discussion Paper 16490, revise and resubmit, Journal of Public Economics.
"Non-Additivity of Subjective Expectations over Different Time Intervals" (joint with Peter Haan, Chen Sun and Georg Weizsäcker), CRC TRR 190 Discussion Paper 337,
revise and resubmit, Management Science.
“Longevity and Patience" (joint with Armin Falk and Johannes Hermle), CRC TRR 190 Discussion Paper 201, revise and resubmit, Economic Journal.
"Have Preferences Become More Similar Worldwide?" (joint with Rainer Kotschy), CEPR Discussion Paper 18561.
"Does Demography Determine Democratic Attitudes?" (joint with Rainer Kotschy), CEPR Discussion Paper 17624.
"Covid-19 and the Forces Behind Social Unrest" (joint with Mario Lackner and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer), CEPR Discussion Paper 16756.
"Speed, Quality, and the Optimal Timing of Complex Decisions" (joint with Dainis Zegners and Anthony Strittmatter), CRC TRR 190 Discussion Paper 317.
“Interpreting Time Horizon Effects in Inter-Temporal Choice" (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman), IZA Discussion Paper 6385.
"Knowledge, Education, and Economic Growth: Evidence from the Enlightenment in France" (joint with Lukas Rosenberger).
Publications
"Medication Against Conflict" (joint with Andrea Berlanda, Matteo Cervellati, Elena Esposito, and Dominic Rohner),
Journal of Development Economics, forthcoming.
"Restrictive Fertility Policy and Elderly Suicides: Evidence from China" (joint with Manfei Li),
Journal of Demographic Economics, forthcoming.
"Heterogeneity in Rent-Seeking Contests with Multiple Stages: Theory and Experimental Evidence" (joint with Tanja Hörtnagl, Rudolf Kerschbamer, Regine Oexl, and Rudi Stracke),
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 105, 102029, 2023.
“The Empirics of Economic Growth Over Time and Across Nations: A Unified Growth Perspective" (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Gerrit Meyerheim),
Journal of Economic Growth, 28, 173-224, 2023.
“The Preference Survey Module: A Validated Instrument for Measuring Risk, Time, and Social Preferences” (with Anke Becker, Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Management Science, 69(4), 1935-1950, 2023.
"Human Capital and the Diffusion of Technology" (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Gerrit Meyerheim),
Economics Letters, 226, 111108, 2023.
“Age, Longevity, and Preferences",
Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 24, 100427, 2023.
“Patience and Comparative Development” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Benjamin Enke, Armin Falk, David Huffman, and Gerrit Meyerheim),
Review of Economic Studies, 89(5), 2806-2840, 2022 .
„Epidemic Shocks and Civil Violence", (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Elena Esposito),
Review of Economics and Statistics, 104(4), 780-796, 2022.
“Personality Traits Across the Life Cycle: Disentangling Age, Period, and Cohort Effects" (joint with Bernd Fitzenberger, Gary Mena, and Jan Nimczik),
Economic Journal, 132 (646), 2141-2172, 2022.
“Selection into Experiments: New Evidence on the Role of Preferences, Cognition, and Recruitment Protocols" (joint with Petra Thiemann, Jonathan Schulz, and Christian Thoeni),
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 98, 101871, 2022.
"On the Stability of Risk Preferences: Measurement Matters" (with Joop Adema, Till Nikolka, and Panu Poutvaara),
Economics Letters, 210, 110172, 2022.
“Malaria and Chinese Economic Activities in Africa" (joint with Matteo Cervellati, Elena Esposito, and Song Yuan)
Journal of Development Economics, 154, 102739, 2022.
“Disease and Demographic Development: The Legacy of the Plague” (joint with Fabian Siuda),
Journal of Economic Growth, 26(1), 1-30, 2021.
"Distance to the Pre-Industrial Technological Frontier, Patience, and Economic Development" (joint with Sascha Möhrle),
Economics Letters, 201, 109788, 2021.
“Income Shocks, Inequality, and Democracy” (joint with Rainer Kotschy),
Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 123(1), 295-326, 2021.
„Life Cycle Patterns of Cognitive Performance Over the Long Run” (joint with Anthony Strittmatter and Dainis Zegners),
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 117 (44), 27255-27261, 2020.
“Aging, Proximity to Death, and Religiosity” (joint with Marie Lechler),
Population and Development Review, 46(4), 735-755, 2020.
“The Demographic Dividend Is More Than an Education Dividend” (joint with Rainer Kotschy and Patricio Suarez-Urtaza),
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 117(42), 25982-25984, 2020.
“Are Competitors Forward Looking in Strategic Interactions? Field Evidence from Multistage Tournaments” (joint with Mario Lackner, Rudi Stracke, and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 179, 544-565, 2020.
“Temperature Extremes, Global Warming, and Armed Conflict – New Insights From High Resolution Data” (joint with Miriam Breckner),
World Development, 123, 104624, 1-14, 2019.
“Individual Life Horizon Influences Attitudes Toward Democracy” (joint with Marie Lechler),
American Political Science Review, 113(3), 860-867, 2019.
“The Timing of the Demographic Transition and Economic Growth” (joint with Matteo Cervellati, and Gerrit Meyerheim),
Economics Letters, 181, 43-46, 2019.
“Can Education Compensate the Effect of Population Aging on Macroeconomic Performance?” (joint with Rainer Kotschy),
Economic Policy, 33(96), 587-634, 2018.
“Global Evidence on Economic Preferences” (joint with Armin Falk, Anke Becker, Thomas Dohmen, Benjamin Enke and David Huffman),
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133(4), 1645–1692, 2018.
“Long-Term Exposure to Malaria and Violence in Africa” (joint with Matteo Cervellati, Elena Esposito, and Simona Valmori),
Economic Policy, 33(95), 403-446, 2018.
“On the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Risk Preference” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32(2), 115-134, 2018.
“Pathogens, Weather Shocks, and Civil Conflicts" (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Simona Valmori),
Economic Journal, 127 (607), 2581–2616, 2017.
“The Role of Salience in Performance Schemes: Evidence from a Field Experiment” (joint with Florian Englmaier and Andreas Roider),
Management Science, 63(12), 4061-4080, 2017.
“Risk Attitudes Across the Life Course"(joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, Bart Golsteyn and David Huffman),
Economic Journal, 127(605), F95-F116, 2017
“Coping with Complexity -- Experimental Evidence for Narrow Bracketing in Multi-Stage Contests” (joint with Rudi Stracke and Rudolf Kerschbamer),
European Economic Review, 98, 264-281, 2017.
“Long Term Exposure to Malaria and Development: Disaggregate Evidence for Contemporaneous Africa"(joint with Matteo Cervellati and Elena Esposito),
Journal of Demographic Economics, 83(1), 129-148, 2017.
“Demographic Dynamics and Long-Run Development: Insights for the Secular Stagnation Debate” (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Klaus F. Zimmermann),
Journal of Population Economics, 30, 401-432, 2017.
“Democracy, Inequality, and Institutional Quality” (joint with Rainer Kotschy),
European Economic Review, 91, 209-229, 2017.
“Resilience to Natural Disasters – Insurance Penetration, Institutions, and Disaster Types” (joint with Miriam Breckner, Florian Englmaier and Till Stowasser),
Economics Letters, 148, 106-110, 2016.
“Critical Junctures and Economic Development: Evidence from the Adoption of Constitutions Among American Indian Nations” (joint with Randall Akee and Miriam Jorgensen), Journal of Comparative Economics, 43(4), 844-861, 2015.
“The Economic and Demographic Transition, Mortality, and Comparative Development” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 7(3), 189-225, 2015.
“Human Capital and Growth: Specification Matters” (joint with Thomas Vischer),
Economica, 82(326), 368-390, 2015.
“Incentives and Selection in Promotion Contests: Is It Possible to Kill Two Birds With One Stone?” (joint with Rudi Stracke, Wolfgang Höchtl, and Rudolf Kerschbamer),
Managerial and Decision Economics, 36(5), 275-285, 2015.
“The Effect of Life Expectancy on Education and Population Dynamics” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Empirical Economics, 48(4), 1445-1478, 2015.
“Democratizing for Peace? The Effect of Democratization on Civil Conflicts” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Oxford Economic Papers, 66(3), 774-797, 2014.
“Income, Inequality, and the Stability of Democracy: Another Look at the Lipset Hypothesis” (joint with Florian Jung),
European Journal of Political Economy, 35, 52-74, 2014.
“Optimal Prizes in Dynamic Elimination Contests: Theory and Experimental Evidence” (joint with Rudi Stracke, Wolfgang Höchtl, and Rudolf Kerschbamer),
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 102, 43-58, 2014.
“Civil Conflict, Democratization, and Growth: Violent Democratization as Critical Juncture” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 116(2), 482-505, 2014.
“Violence During Democratization and the Quality of Democratic Institutions”, (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Piergiuseppe Fortunato),
European Economic Review, 66, 226-247, 2014.
“Income and Democracy: Comment” (joint with Matteo Cervellati, Florian Jung, and Thomas Vischer),
American Economic Review, 104(2), 707-719, 2014.
“Life Expectancy, Schooling, and Lifetime Labor Supply: Theory and Evidence Revisited” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Econometrica 81(5), 2055-2086, 2013.
“Health and Economic Development: Evidence from the Introduction of Public Health Care” (joint with Anthony Strittmatter),
Journal of Population Economics, 26(4), 1549-1584, 2013.
“Validating an Ultra-Short Survey Measure of Patience” (joint with Thomas Vischer, Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman, Jürgen Schupp and Gert G. Wagner),
Economics Letters,120, 142-145, 2013.
“Consensual and Conflictual Democratization” (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Piergiuseppe Fortunato),
B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics,12(1) (Contributions), Article 33, 2012.
“The Distribution of Infectious Diseases and Extrinsic Mortality Across Countries” (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Simona Valmori),
Mathematical Population Studies 19(2), 73-93, 2012.
“The Intergenerational Transmission of Risk and Trust Attitudes” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Review of Economic Studies 79(2), 645-677, 2012.
“Central Bank Independence and Stock Market Returns in Emerging Economies” (joint with Thomas Förch),
Economics Letters, 115, 77-80, 2012.
“Optimal Seedings in Elimination Tournaments” (joint with Christian Groh, Benny Moldovanu und Aner Sela),
Economic Theory, 49(1), 59-80, 2012.
“Disease and Development: The Role of Life Expectancy Reconsidered” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Economics Letters 113, 269-272, 2011.
“Individual Risk Attitudes: Measurement, Determinants and Behavioral Consequences” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman, Jürgen Schupp and Gerd Wagner), Journal of the European Economic Association 9(3), 522-550, 2011.
“Life Expectancy and Economic Growth: The Role of the Demographic Transition” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
Journal of Economic Growth, 16(2), 99-133, 2011.
“Relative versus Absolute Income, Joy of Winning, and Gender: Brain Imaging Evidence” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, Klaus Fliessbach, and Bernd Weber),
Journal of Public Economics 95, 3-4, 279-285, 2011.
“Are Risk Aversion and Impatience Related to Cognitive Ability?”, (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
American Economic Review, 100(3), 1238-1260, 2010.
“Direct Evidence on Risk Attitudes and Migration” (joint with David Jaeger, Holger Bonin, Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Review of Economics and Statistics, 92(3), 684-689, 2010.
"Collecting Genetic Samples in Population Wide (Panel) Surveys: Feasibility, Nonresponse, and Selectivity" (joint with Matthias Schonlau, Martin Reuter, Jürgen Schupp, Christian Montag, Bernd Weber, Thomas Dohmen, Nico A. Siegel, Gert G. Wagner and Armin Falk),
Survey Research Methods, 4(2), 121-126, 2010.
“Biased Probability Judgment: Representative Evidence for Pervasiveness and Economic Consequences” (with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman, and Felix Marklein), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 72, 903-915, 2009.
“Heterogeneity and Performance in Tournaments: A Test for Incentive Effects using Professional Tennis Data”,
Applied Economics, 41(25), 3199-3208, 2009.
“Gender Differentials in Skill Use and Skill Formation in the Aftermath of Vocational Training” (joint with René Fahr),
Applied Economics Letters, 16(9), 885-889, 2009.
“Did the Hartz Reforms Speed Up Job the Matching Process? A Macroeconomic Evaluation Using Empirical Matching Functions” (joint with René Fahr),
German Economic Review, 10(3), 284-316, 2009.
“Homo Reciprocans: Survey Evidence on Behavioral Outcomes” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Economic Journal, 119(535), 562-612, 2009.
“Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development” (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Piergiuseppe Fortunato),
Economic Journal, 118(531), 1354-1384, 2008.
“Are All Democracies Equally Good? The Role of Interactions Between Political Environment and Inequality for Rule of Law” (with Matteo Cervellati and Piergiuseppe Fortunato), Economics Letters 99(3), 552-556, 2008.
“Representative Trust and Reciprocity: Prevalence and Determinants” (joint with Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk and David Huffman),
Economic Inquiry, 46(1), 84-90, 2008.
“Human Capital Accumulation, Education, and Earnings Inequality”,
Applied Economics Quarterly, 54(1), 7-26, 2008.
“Real and Nominal Wage Rigidities and the Rate of Inflation: Evidence from West-German Micro-Data” (joint with Holger Bonin, Lorenz Goette, and Thomas Bauer),
Economic Journal, 117, F508-F529, 2007.
“Wage Rigidity: Measurement, Causes and Consequences” (joint with Lorenz Goette and Thomas Bauer),
Economic Journal, 117, F499-F507, 2007.
“Social Comparison Affects Reward-related Brain Activity in the Human Ventral Striatum” (joint with Klaus Fließbach, Bernd Weber, Peter Trautner, Thomas Dohmen, Christian E. Elger and Armin Falk),
Science, 318, 1305-1308, 2007.
“Cross-Sectional Earnings Risk and Occupational Sorting: The Role of Risk Attitudes” (joint with Holger Bonin, Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, and David Huffman),
Labour Economics, 14(6), 926-937, 2007.
“Empirical Matching Functions: Searchers, Vacancies and (Un-)Biased Elasticities”,
Economica, 74 (295), 537-560, 2007.
“Spatial Mobility and Competition for Jobs: Some Theory and Evidence for Western Germany” (joint with René Fahr),
Regional Science and Urban Economics, 36, 803-825, 2006.
“Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und Demokratie: Ist Demokratie ein Wohlstandsmotor oder ein Wohlstandsprodukt?“ (“Economic Development and Democracy: Is Democracy an Engine of Economic Development, or a Product of Economic Development?“),
Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 7(4), 471-499, 2006.
“Regional Dependencies in Job Creation: An Efficiency Analysis for Western Germany” (joint with René Fahr),
Applied Economics 38 (10), 1193-1206, 2006.
“A Dynamic Theory of Endogenous Political Institutions” (joint with Matteo Cervellati and Piergiuseppe Fortunato), in: Institutions, Development, and Economic Growth (ed. by Theo Eicher and Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa), MIT Press, Cambridge MA, ch. 8, 215-248, 2006.
“Human Capital Formation, Life Expectancy, and the Process of Development” (joint with Matteo Cervellati),
American Economic Review 95(5), 1653-1672, 2005.
“Job and Vacancy Competition in Empirical Matching Functions” (joint with René Fahr),
Labour Economics 12(6), 773-780, 2005.
“Occupational Job Creation: Patterns and Implications” (joint with René Fahr),
Oxford Economic Papers 56(3), 407-436, 2004.
Book
Aggregate Returns to Individual Decisions: Education, Development, and Search, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, 2003
Edited Books and Collected Volumes
The Routledge Handbook of the Economics of Ageing (joint with Alfonso Sousa-Poza and David E. Bloom), Routledge, 2023.
Demographic Change and Long-Run Development (joint with Matteo Cervellati), MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2017.
Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2015: Health, Education, and Retirement over the Prolonged Life Cycle (joint with Michael Kuhn and Alexia Prskawetz), Vienna Institute for Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2016.
Guest Editor of the Special Issue (Conference Volume) of Labour Economics 16(6), 2009.