selected publications

Natural Disaster and Risk-Sharing Behavior: Evidence from Rural Bangladesh
(with Islam, A., Leister, M., and Mahmud, M.)
in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 61, 2020: pp. 67-99
[WP version] [online appendix]

African Leaders and the Geography of China’s Foreign Assistance
(together with Dreher, A., Fuchs, A., Hodler, R., Parks, B.C., and Tierney, M.J.)
in Journal of Development Economics, 140, 2019: pp. 44-71.
[data & code] [WP version]

Ethnic Favoritism: An Axiom of Politics?
(with De Luca, G., Hodler, R., and Valsecchi, M.) in Journal of Development Economics, 132, 2018: pp. 115–129.

Does Federal Assistance Crowd Out Private Demand for Insurance?
(with Kousky, C. and Michel-Kerjan, E.) in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 87, 2018: pp. 150-184.

Does Democracy Drive Income in the World, 1500-2000?
(with Madsen, J.B. and Skalil, A.) in European Economic Review, 78, 2015: pp. 175-195.
[data & code] [online appendix]

Intergovernmental Interaction in Compliance With an International Environmental Agreement
(with Borsky, S.) in Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2(2), 2015: pp. 161-203.
[data & code]

Regional Favoritism
(with Hodler, R.) in Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(2), 2014: 995-1033.
[Global Nighttime Lights Data at ADM2 level 1992-2013 (.csv)]

Valuing Flood Disasters using the Life Satisfaction Approach
(with Luchinger, S.) in Journal of Public Economics, 93, 2009: pp. 620-633.

all publications

Institutions and the resource curse: New insights from causal machine learning
(with Hodler, R. and Lechner, M.)
PLOSE ONE , June 2023
[data & code]

Religiosity and Terrorism: Evidence from Ramadan Fasting
(with Hodler, R. and Strittmatter, A.)
Journal of Peace Research , April 2023
[WP version]

Reducing Bias in Preference Elicitation for Environmental Public Goods.
(with Brent, D., Gangadharan, L., Leroux, A.)
in Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 66(2), 2022: pp. 280-308
[data & code] [WP version] [online appendix]

Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects
(with Dreher, A., Fuchs, A., Hodler, R., Parks, B.C., and Tierney, M.J. )
in World Development, 139, 2021: pp.
[data & code] [WP version]

Natural Disaster and Risk-Sharing Behavior: Evidence from Rural Bangladesh
(with Islam, A., Leister, M., and Mahmud, M.)
in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 61, 2020: pp. 67-99
[WP version] [online appendix]

Irrelevant Factors in Judicial Decision-Making: Bad News from the Front and the Imposition of the Death Penalty in Nazi Germany (with Geerling, W., Magee, G., and Smyth, R.) in Economic Inquiry, 58(3), 2020: pp. 1450–1468.

Expropriations, Property Confiscations and New Offshore Entities: Evidence from the Panama Papers. (with Bayer, R.-C., Hodler, R., and Strittmatter, A.) in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 171, 2020: pp. 132-152.

African Leaders and the Geography of China’s Foreign Assistance
(together with Dreher, A., Fuchs, A., Hodler, R., Parks, B.C., and Tierney, M.J.)
in Journal of Development Economics, 140, 2019: pp. 44-71.
Media: ABC News Radio (Interview), The Economist, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC, World Finance
[data & code] [WP version]

Political Extremism and Economic Activity
(with Rao, M. and Tombazos, C.) in Economics Letters, 170, 2018: pp. 59-62.
[data & code]

Ethnic Favoritism: An Axiom of Politics?
(with De Luca, G., Hodler, R., and Valsecchi, M.) in Journal of Development Economics, 132, 2018: pp. 115-129.
Media: VOX-EU

Does Federal Assistance Crowd Out Private Demand for Insurance?
(with Kousky, C. and Michel-Kerjan, E.) in Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 87, 2018: pp 150-184.

Ethnic Politics and the Diffusion of Mobile Technology in Africa
(with Hodler, R.) in Economics Letters, 159, 2017: pp. 78-81.

Reproductive Behaviour at the End of the World: The Effect of the Cuban Missile Crisis on U.S. Fertility
(with Wang, L. C.) in Applied Economics, 49(56), 2017: pp. 5722-5727.

Valuing Environmental Services Provided by Local Stormwater Management
(with Brent, D., Gangadharan, L., Lassiter, A., and Leroux, A.) in Water Resources Research, 53(6), 2017: pp. 4907-4921.

The Long-Term Health Effects of Mass Political Violence: Evidence from China’s Cultural Revolution
(with Islam, A. and Smyth, R.) in Social Indicators Research, 132, 2017: pp. 257-272.

Aid, Catastrophes, and the Samaritan’s Dilemma
(with Schwindt, M.) in Economica, 82(332), 2016: pp. 624-645.

Media, Democracy, and Government Action: Prevention vs. Palliation in the Time of Cholera [WP version]
(with Choe, C.) in European Journal of Political Economy, 41, 2016: pp. 75-93.

Corporate Demand for Insurance: An Empirical Analysis of the U.S. Market for Catastrophe and Non-Catastrophe Risks [NBER WP]
(with Michel-Kerjan, E. and Kunreuther, H.) in Journal of Risk and Insurance, 82(3), 2015: pp. 505-530.

Does Democracy Drive Income in the World, 1500-2000?
(with Madsen, J.B. and Skalil, A.) in European Economic Review, 78, 2015: pp. 175-195.
[data & code] [online appendix]
Media: El Espectador (in Spanish)

Gold and Silver Mining in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Land Titles and Agricultural Productivity
(with Islam, R. and Madsen, J.B.) in European Journal of Political Economy, 39, 2015: pp. 150-166.

Genetic Distance, Ethnic Identity and Labour Market Outcomes [WP version]
(with Islam, A.) in Journal of Population Economics, 28(3), 2015: pp. 845-868.

Intergovernmental Interaction in Compliance With an International Environmental Agreement [WP version]
(with Borsky, S.) in Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2(2), 2015: pp. 161-203.

Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: A Subnational Analysis
(with Hodler, R.) in Economics Letters, 124(3), 2014: pp. 530-533.
[data & code]

Regional Favoritism
(with Hodler, R.) in Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(2), 2014: pp. 995-1033.
QJE Highly-Cited Articles published in 2014
Media: NBC, CBS Washington, Huffington Post, Wired, Yahoo, AOL (Video), France24, TSF, NZZ VOX-EU
[Global Nighttime Lights Data at ADM2 level 1992-2013 (.csv)]

The Media and Discretionary Behaviour of Bureaucrats
in Applied Economics Letters, 20(10), 2013: pp. 945-948.
[Online appendix] [data & code]

Uncertainty of Governmental Relief and the Crowding out of Insurance
(with Schwarze, R., Schwindt, M. & Zahn, F.) in Environmental and Resource Economics, 54(2), 2013: pp. 179-200.

On the Channel and Type of International Disaster Aid
(with Schwindt, M.) in European Journal of Political Economy, 28, 2012: pp. 119-131.
[Online appendix] Data that matches UN-FTS Emergency Aid with EM-DAT disasters [.csv] [.dta]

Effects of Government Intervention in the Market for Corporate Terrorism Insurance
(with Michel-Kerjan, E.) in European Journal of Political Economy, 27, 2011: pp. S122-S132.

Oil and the Duration of Dictatorships
(with Crespo-Cuaresma, J. and Oberhofer, H.) in Public Choice, 148, 2011: 505-530.
Media: Foreign Policy

Natural Hazard Insurance in Europe - Tailored Responses to Climate Change Needed
(with Schwarze, R., Schwindt, M., Weck-Hannemann, H., Zahn, F. & Wagner, G.) in Environmental Policy and Governance 21, 2011: 14-30.

Flooding Effects on Capital, Labour and Productivity Within European Firms
(with Leiter, A. & Oberhofer, H.) in Environmental and Resource Economics, 43(3), 2009: pp. 333-350.

Valuing Flood Disasters using the Life Satisfaction Approach
(with Luchinger, S.) in Journal of Public Economics, 93, 2009: pp. 620-633.

The Hedonics of Hedonism - Estimating the Value of Risk-Taking Activities [WP version]
(with Borsky, S.) in Kyklos 62(2), 2009: pp. 210-225.

Institutions and the Losses from Natural Disasters
in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 8, 2008: pp. 627-634.
Reprinted in Skidmore, M. (2017) The Economics of Natural Disasters, Series no. 335 The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics series, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Empirischer Vergleich der Risikotransfersysteme fur Naturkatastrophen in Deutschland Osterreich und der Schweiz
(with Schwindt, M., Schwarze, R. & Weck-Hannemann, H.) in Vierteljahreshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 77(4), 2008: pp. 1-16.

Charity Hazard - A real Hazard to Natural Disaster Insurance? [WP version]
(with Weck-Hannemann, H.) in Environmental Hazards 7, 2007: pp. 321-329.