Martin Habets

I am a PhD student in Economics at the European University Institute in Florence and a research fellow at the Sapienza University of Rome. I work under the supervision of Alessandro Tarozzi and Thomas Crossley. My main research interest is in environmental economics.

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Research

Temperature Variation and Domestic Violence

Abstract: I combine detailed crime reports, independent helpline data, and high-frequency weather records to investigate how temperature variations influence domestic violence (DV) in Mexico City. I find a positive, contemporaneous, and linear relationship between daily temperature and DV, with a 1°C rise leading to a 2.8% increase in DV reports. This effect emerges even under moderate climatic conditions, suggesting continuous risk beyond extreme heat events. My findings rule out that changes in victims’ reporting behavior entirely drive the relationship. Exploiting detailed census data from nearly 2,500 neighborhoods, I show that temperature-induced DV disproportionately affects poorer areas, revealing how environmental stressors exacerbate existing urban inequalities.

Presented at: Maastricht Workshop on Applied Economics of the Environment (2024), 6th QMUL Economics and Finance Workshop (2024), Tor Vergata Ph.D. Conference (2024)

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(with M. Battaglini, E. Patacchini, and V. Leone Sciabolazza)

Abstract: We investigate whether legislators’ personal financial behavior responds to lobbying activity. Building a novel panel at the legislator–sector–quarter level, we link stock transaction disclosures by members of the U.S. Congress to lobbying records indicating when firms seek to influence a legislator’s policy agenda. We ask whether legislators are more likely to trade in sectors where they have recently been lobbied. The project contributes to our understanding of the strategic use of political connections, the private returns to office, and the channels through which influence may operate in legislative settings.

(with L. González)

Abstract: Siblings are key players in children’s network. As siblings grow up together, they interact daily and serve as sources of social support and role models for one another. During a time when they are forming their own identities, the presence of a sister (as opposed to a brother) is thus likely to impact the formation of their gender norms. In this project, I examine the role of sibling gender in contributing to the formation of gender norms, for a very recent cohort of children, aged 12-14, using data from an experiment by Farré et al. (2021).