Professor Stefan Bauernschuster

Stefan Bauernschuster is Professor of Public Economics at the University of Passau since 2013. He is also research professor at the ifo Institute Munich, CESifo Research Fellow, IZA Research Fellow and a member of the committee for social policy of the German Economic Association. Furthermore, he is one the principal investigators of the DFG Research Training Group 2720 "Digital Platform Ecosystems (DPE) – Digital platform-based value creation and its implications for data exchange, organisation and socio-economic development". In his research, he uses micro-econometric methods to answer policy relevant questions in the fields of labor, population, health and education economics.

'My research typically deals with the role of the state in market economies. Often, I investigate how policies influence decisions made by individuals in the areas of work, family and health. For my empirical analyses, I rely on rich individual-level administrative data and data from large-scale surveys. For some recent projects, I used, for example, detailed data on all individual hospitalisations in Germany (including information on the exact diagnosis, the age and gender of the patient), on all individual births (including information on birth weight and height as well as the age of the mother), or on all individual road accidents recorded by the police (including information on the type of accident, on fatalities, injuries and material damage). Sometimes, I also work with newly digitised historical data to analyse socio-economically relevant questions from the past.

I am fascinated by questions that are not only of academic interest but also carry significant political relevance. Methodologically, I use quasi-experimental identification strategies to uncover genuine cause-and-effect relationships instead of just describing naive partial correlations. Identifying true causal effects allows us to make a sound evaluation of policies, which enables us to objectively assess policies without having to rely on ideological or political doctrines and unverified apparent truths.

In my research, I often work at the intersection of economics and other disciplines, such as law, history or political science. I find it exciting to add my economic perspective on topics that resonate with colleagues in other disciplines and to learn how they work and think about these topics.'

Related research

Professor Bauernschuster has conducted numerous empirical studies on the role of institutions in the context of socio-economic transformation.

More on Professor Stefan Bauernschuster’s research.

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Do Transit Strikes Affect Public Health?

In a study appearing in the February 2017 issue of the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, researchers Stefan Bauernschuster, Timo Hener, and Helmut Rainer studied 71 transit strikes across five major German cities. They found that strikes can lead to some serious health problems for a city’s residents. Video: American Economic Association

Research stories

The Research Training Group "Digital Platform Ecosystems" will be the University’s pivotal hub for leading-edge, international, and interdisciplinary research and advanced academic qualifications around a central phenomenon of the digital economy.

Stefan Bauernschuster from the University of Passau and Christian Traxler from the Hertie School argue that a speed limit would not only lead to fewer deaths and injuries, but also has positive effects for those living in the vicinity of highways.

Young economist Dr Katrin Huber examines in her doctoral thesis the effect of labour market and family policy on partnerships and on the development of children - and has received an award for her work.

Economist Carlo Schwarz from Bocconi University is Stefan Bauernschuster’s guest in our #PassauDPE keynote series. He studies the effects of Social Media on the real world – and will present new research insights.

In the distinguished keynote series 'Digital Platform Ecosystems (DPE)', internationally outstanding researchers have presented their latest findings.

The coronavirus crisis is affecting everyone, but digital platforms such as Airbnb are still managing to cope better than traditional business areas. Why is this? We asked researchers at our University who are working on the sharing economy.

A law reform is lowering barriers in divorce law in Mexican states. The young economist Dr. Aixa García-Ramos shows in a study that the reform is also having a side effect which was not intended by the legislators.

Taking Austria as an example, we show that this minimum legal drinking age, which has been set very low in terms of international comparison, causes particular harm to young people from socially disadvantaged families. By a team of economists from…

Our study substantiates that the first system of general compulsory health insurance saved lives, primarily through the dissemination of exclusive medical knowledge. By Professor Stefan Bauernschuster

Professor Stefan Bauernschuster and Dr. Ramona Rekers have spent four years evaluating millions of datasets to show that speed trap campaigns are only effective in the short term.

Professor Stefan Bauernschuster

Related research

Do Transit Strikes Affect Public Health?

Research stories

New DFG Research Training Group to be established at the University of Passau

Speed limits improve health outcomes and protect our climate

Award-winning doctoral thesis: All you need is love?

How Twitter affects elections

#PassauDPE: Distinguished keynote series on 'Digital Platform Ecosystems'

When managers see red with digital platform competition

More divorces, but also more intimate partner violence

Alcohol at 16 – statutory licence to indulge in binge drinking

Positive side effect of Bismarck's health insurance system

Knowledge Hidden in Mountains of Data