Christian Traxler
@chtraxler
Prof of Economics @ Hertie School & BSoE Berlin | Public Econ, Applied Micro, Behavioral | Law #Enforcement, #TaxEvasion, Transportation Policy | #FirstGen
Our daily data reveal sharp spikes in fleet exits at the 1st and 3rd registration anniversaries - typical lease endpoints, when many returned cars appear to be exported. Decomposition analysis suggests that exports (rather than scrappage/retirement) are the main driver of fleet exit.
Reduced-form estimates show that lower taxes cut the probability of permanent deregistration by 0.6-1.2pp over a vehicle's first 6 years. 👉 A 10% tax increase would raise the six-year deregistration share by ~2.8% of the baseline rate.
We exploit Germany's 2008/9 circulation tax reform, which created a sharp drop in annual tax liabilities at a registration cutoff. Using novel, administrative micro-data on the universe of vehicles registered in H2-2008, we run a difference-in-discontinuities design.
In a new(ish) paper w/ Markus Gehrsitz ( @unistrathclyde.bsky.social) we study how vehicle taxation shapes 🚗 fleet exit. @cesifo.org Working Paper👉 ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps... Thread👇 (1/5)
Absolutely stunning climbing performances and incredible consistency over 3 weeks🚴♀️🚴♀️🚴♀️. Kudos Felix #Gall. First 🇦🇹 to finish a grand tour GC at #2! #GirodItalia www.domestiquecycling.com/en/news/gall...
My post below aged well (though unliked;-) ). Grande, Felix, grande! #GirodItalia
My colleague Felix Weinhardt @bsoeberlin.bsky.social just released a short but important note that might make you rethink how you interpret your OLS estimates. Worth a look @paulgp.com @p-hunermund.com @ariannaornaghi.bsky.social @conjugateprior.org 👇 opus4.kobv.de/opus4-hsog/f...
Looking fwd to our Polit Econ Lunch Seminar tomorrow, where @aalrababah.bsky.social will present co-authored work on the Political Consequences of the Tour de France🚴♂️ Drop (or cycle) by, if you're in town! Paper👉 osf.io/preprints/so... PELS program👉 www.hertie-school.org/fileadmin/2_...
Later this week, @annabindler.bsky.social & I will host the 16th Transatlantic Workshop on the Economics of Crime #TWEC2025 in Berlin @diw.de We are very much looking forward to many exciting papers, discussions, and keynotes by Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard & Paolo Pinotti.
We're looking forward to hosting the opening of @bsoeberlin.bsky.social' acadmic year @hertieschool.bsky.social on October 8. To join us at this event, which includes (among others) a keynote by Michèle Tertilt on 'The Economics of Women’s Rights', register via👇 www.hertie-school.org/en/events/ev...
If you watch closely, you'll also see Wallace & Gromit harvesting cheese #Mondfinsternis #eclipselunar
Given that (non-)compliance responses are small, the elasticity of revenues wrt fines is high (~0.9): a 100CZK increase in fines translates into ~60CZK higher revenues collected (within 15 days). Might explain why "revenue motivated" authorities find fines attractive. (4/5)
Today we presented the new #MetallRente Study, a representative survey of 2,500 17-27yo young adults in GER. A striking result: instead of ↗️retirement age or ↘️pensions, kids prefer paying more to fund public #pension system. Details @hertieschool.bsky.social at www.hertie-school.org/en/news/rese...
Super high levels of negativity on here (unfortunately well-founded). Let me share more positive vibe content...
Für die @faznet.bsky.social durfte ich Ergebnisse einer gemeinsamen Arbeit mit @libordusekeu.bsky.social aufschreiben. Danke an @neuscheler.bsky.social für die Einladung dazu. Mehr Details gibt's im Paper...👇 ideas.repec.org/p/bdp/dpaper... ...und im Thread👇 bsky.app/profile/chtr...
Back to the roots. Here's where my academic journey started 29 (!) years ago #univie
So if you want to later work with @danzernatalia.bsky.social @jonasjessen.bsky.social @jnimczik.bsky.social @janmarcus.bsky.social or many others (see pic) on exciting projects, do apply and/or reach out to me/any of us! #EconPhD More on the research unit: 👉 tinyurl.com/mu75rywv [2/2]
15th #TWEC Transatlantic Workshop on the Economics of Crime is up & running @ethzurich.bsky.social Thanks to @sergallett.bsky.social & @elliottash.bsky.social for putting together a great program (in the link👇) drive.google.com/file/d/1ipLr...
Honorary doctorate for Arnold Schwarzenegger, engaging laudatio by Robert Habeck, and "interesting" Q&A, also covering eating cats and dogs... #HertieSchool
Great, entertaining 1st RF @rfberlin.bsky.social talk by David Card at @humboldtuni.bsky.social : RCTs, natural experiments, and evidence based policy advice.
New(ish) paper, joint work w/ Eren Aydin & Markus Gehrsitz, out as IZA DP: "Greener Fleet, Cleaner Air: How Low Emission Zones Reduce Pollution" ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps...
The paper discusses a learning/updating framework that rationalizes why swiftness & delay influence payment compliance but does not amplify the specific deterrence effect of speeding tickets - a finding that challenges widely held beliefs, as reflected in our survey 👇
Yet, swiftness matters mechanically! Tickets mailed earlier induce the desirable reduction in speeding earlier - see event analysis estimates below, where the event is defined as the time of the offense. Swift(er) tickets thus produce an important social benefit.
Answer? We do not detect any systematic, statistically significant differences in the speeding reduction between different levels of swiftness or delay. [Note: the seemingly larger drop in the swift group indicated below is neither stat.significant nor robust.]
Second, speeding outcomes. We build upon the event study design from our JEEA paper, where we find that drivers immediately and permanently reduce speeding after receiving a ticket. ➡️ academic.oup.com/jeea/article... Now we ask: how does this effect vary with the delay or swiftness?
Swift tickets tend to increase compliance - provided they are sent *very* swiftly, on the 1st or 2nd day after the offense. Relative to tickets sent between 5 - 14 days, they increase the rate of timely payments by 2 to 4 pp
First, findings on payment compliance: Delayed tickets reduce the rate of timely payments of fines by 5 to 7 pp. Relative to a baseline payment rate of 73 %, this is a 7 to 9 % decline.
Both economists and criminologists think that the swiftness of punishment plays a major role in shaping (specific) deterrence effects. Yet, there’s very little causal evidence on this. This is also reflected in a survey we ran among economists and criminologists:
"The more immediately a punishment is inflicted, the more ... useful it will be." Beccaria (1764) In a new paper with Libor Dusek, we estimate the effects of a swift & delayed punishment on subsequent behavior in a straightforward context: speeding tickets Thread🧵 ideas.repec.org/p/bdp/dpaper...