Christian Traxler
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chtraxler.bsky.social
Christian Traxler
@chtraxler.bsky.social
Prof of Economics @ Hertie School & BSoE Berlin | Public Econ, Applied Micro, Behavioral | Law #Enforcement, #TaxEvasion, Transportation Policy | #FirstGen
https://www.hertie-school.org/traxler
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_...
October 14, 2025 at 9:32 AM
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.
September 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
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...
September 11, 2025 at 5:58 PM
If you watch closely, you'll also see Wallace & Gromit harvesting cheese #Mondfinsternis #eclipselunar
September 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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)
July 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
We explore (a) discontinuous increases in #speeding #fines at speed cutoffs (see figure) and (b) reforms affecting these discontinuities, to estimate the effect on non-compliance and revenues.

Our results indicate relatively small payment responses...

(2/5)
July 21, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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...
June 11, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Super high levels of negativity on here (unfortunately well-founded). Let me share more positive vibe content...
February 5, 2025 at 6:22 PM
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...
December 16, 2024 at 10:33 AM
Back to the roots. Here's where my academic journey started 29 (!) years ago #univie
November 23, 2024 at 2:56 PM
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]
November 13, 2024 at 6:55 PM
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...
October 4, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Honorary doctorate for Arnold Schwarzenegger, engaging laudatio by Robert Habeck, and "interesting" Q&A, also covering eating cats and dogs... #HertieSchool
September 17, 2024 at 2:33 PM
Great, entertaining 1st RF @rfberlin.bsky.social talk by David Card at @humboldtuni.bsky.social : RCTs, natural experiments, and evidence based policy advice.
September 12, 2024 at 3:15 PM
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...
August 8, 2024 at 2:10 PM
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 👇
February 5, 2024 at 7:12 PM
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.
February 5, 2024 at 7:11 PM
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.]
February 5, 2024 at 7:09 PM
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?
February 5, 2024 at 7:07 PM
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
February 5, 2024 at 7:03 PM
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.
February 5, 2024 at 7:01 PM
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:
February 5, 2024 at 6:56 PM
"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...
February 5, 2024 at 6:55 PM
VWL Studis 2015--2021 ➡️ - 33% !

Quelle doi.org/10.57674/30g...
February 1, 2024 at 7:05 AM
Fines, Non-Payment, and Revenues: Evidence from Speeding Tickets (joint w/ Libor Dusek)

...now out in Journal of Law, Econ, & Organization:
academic.oup.com/jleo/advance...

Pre-print (incl. longer Appendix):
ideas.repec.org/p/bdp/dpaper...

#EconSky 📉📈
November 13, 2023 at 8:17 AM