We provide evidence that motorists respond to short-run fluctuations in fuel prices at the gas pump and not on the road. Employing variants of censored panel regression to control for unobserved heterogeneity and censoring of the dependent variable, we find that the fuel price has a large and...

In this paper, we analyze the effect of light conditions on road accidents and estimate the long run consequences of different time regimes for road safety. Identification is based on variation in light conditions induced by differences in sunrise and sunset times across space and time. We find...

Focusing on individual motorists in car-owning households in Germany, this analysis econometrically investigates the determinants of automobile travel for non-work service activities against the backdrop of two questions: 1) Does gender play a role in determining the probability of car use and...

Railways are a key infrastructure that facilitates trade and regional integration with potential consequences on local development and the environment in hitherto backward regions. In this article, we study the medium- to long-term socio-economic and environmental infrastructure impacts for the...

The concentration of hospital capacities often involves closures of smaller hospital sites. While advocates of hospital concentrations emphasize increased quality of care and cost savings, some people may feel their health care is at risk. In this paper, I analyze the effect of 18 recent...

A large proportion of local pollutants originating from the road transport sector is generated during the so-called cold-start phase of driving, that is, the first few minutes of driving after a car has stood inactive for several hours. Drawing on data from the German Mobility Panel (MOP), this...

This study analyzes the effects of binding speed limits on crash frequency on German motorways. Various geo-spatial data sources are merged to a new data set providing rich information on roadway characteristics for 500-meter segments of large parts of the German motorway network. The empirical...

Air pollution has become an increasing health threat for the local population in many cities around the world. Using high resolution remote sensing data on nightlights and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the years 1998-2013, I study the contemporary nexus between city shape and air pollution...

With more than 3 million new passenger cars sold every year, Germany's automobile industry is a major player on the European car market, and one seen as an important arena for achieving climate protection targets. Using high-resolution car registration data from each state in Germany between...

Drawing on a data set containing 371,082 observations on new and used cars from 2008, this study employs a hedonic model to estimate the determinants of prices in the primary and secondary car markets in Germany. We are specifically interested in identifying those vehicle attributes that are...