Research

You can also find my articles on my Google Scholar profile.

Publications

Shared e-scooter services and road safety: Evidence from six European countries, European Economic Review 160 (2023): 104593. (with Simon Heß and Johannes Kassinger)
We estimate the causal effect of shared e-scooter services on traffic accidents by exploiting the variation in the availability of e-scooter services induced by the staggered rollout across 93 cities in six countries. Police-reported accidents involving personal injuries in the average month increased by around 8.2% after shared e-scooters were introduced. Effects are large during summer and insignificant during winter. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals the largest estimated effects for cities with limited cycling infrastructure, while no effects are detectable in cities with high bike-lane density. This difference suggests that public policy can play a crucial role in mitigating accidents related to e-scooters and, more generally, to changes in urban mobility.

Bridging Seasonal Disconnectivity in Rural Rwanda: Economic and Environmental Impacts of Trailbridges. (Draft on request)
I measure the impact of trailbridges connecting rural Rwandan villages on remote-sensed developmental and ecological outcomes. Modern trailbridges provide safe and consistent commutes to work, school, markets and healthcare. To identify the causal effect of increasing villagers’ mobility, I use variation in bridge construction timing and feasibility to compare villages in similar need of a bridge. The average treatment effect is a 3% increase in population, a 15% increase in night time light, a 17% increase in maize-cultivated area, and a 40% reduction in deforestation, indicative of improved biomass fuel market efficiency due to trade. Comparing villages on either side of the bridge by distance to all-weather roads reveals consistent effects. These findings underscore the value of completing missing pedestrian links with affordable infrastructure in fostering socio-economic development and environmental sustainability.
Presentations: German Development Economics Conference, Hannover 2024; Frankfurt-Heidelberg-Mannheim Development Workshop, Frankfurt 2023; Frankfurt-Heidelberg-Mannheim Development Workshop, Heidelberg 2022