In an unprecedented move, Manfred Weber (EPP) announced yesterday night to German tabloid BILD that the 2035 CO2 targets for cars and vans (the combustion engine phaseout) would be weakened.

We leverage this exogenous variation in voting costs to test irregularities’ impact on turnout in a DiD design. The increased waiting times, although small and unexpected, suppressed turnout by *0.73 pp.* in the affected voting districts (most conservative estimate).
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Sunk cost fallacy makes effects unlikely. We look at the 2021 federal election in Berlin, where – thanks to a coincidence of administrative mistakes – in 14% of voting districts long queues formed in front of polling stations, some of which even had to close for a while.
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I’m happy to see this short paper with @fluegeldo.bsky.social on unexpected hikes in voting costs out in @thejop.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1086/739405
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Why do chameleons turn green? I argue that they turn green in the hope their repurposed assets provide a competitive advantage in emerging green markets. Manufacturers’ policy positions are not a direct function of their market positions.

Why did some car manufacturers support the phaseout while others resisted it? And why did parts suppliers stand united in their opposition?

I introduce asset specificity as a second dimension besides emissions intensity determining businesses’ political and economic behavior.

New Working Paper!

I present findings from my first PhD case study on the auto sector’s engagement with the EU phaseout of the internal combustion engine.

doi.org/10.31219/osf...

We argue that understanding climate politics as a two-dimensional conflict space is crucial, as climate policies and climate change itself can create winners and losers independently of one another.
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I am excited to announce that I have joined Nuffield College and Blavatnik School of Government in pursuit of my PhD.