Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria.

I study the effect of parental leave duration on maternal health in the short- to medium-run leveraging variation in parental leave duration induced by an Austrian policy reform in the year 2000. Using rich administrative data and a regression discontinuity framework, I find that long parental leave of 2.5 years instead of 1.

Baby bonus in Switzerland: Effects on fertility, newborn health, and birth-scheduling.

This paper studies the effect of birth allowances (so-called baby bonus) on fertility, newborn health, and birth-scheduling in Switzerland. Switzerland provides an optimal quasi-experiment: 11 out of 26 cantons introduced a baby bonus during the last 50 years at different points in time. To identify the effect of changes in the baby bonus, we employ an event study with control groups using several administrative data sets on births, stillbirths, and infant deaths in Switzerland from 1969 to 2017.

Womb at work: The missing impact of maternal employment on newborn health.

Parental leave policies across the globe have become much more generous than they used to be. This is also true for prenatal maternal leave. While this may be costly in the short run, little is known about the effect of maternal employment during pregnancy on newborn health.