Erich Muehlegger

About

Erich Muehlegger is a Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, earned in 2005, and a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Williams College, obtained in 1997. His research specializes in energy, environment, public finance, and industrial organization. Professor Muehlegger conducts research on the economic implications of consumer behavior, focusing on consumer responses to taxes and financial incentives. His work explores topics such as electric vehicle adoption, the impact of fuel taxes, and the effects of regulatory policies on illegal activity and pollution. He teaches courses in strategy, competition and regulation, markets and market failure, and quantitative analysis and empirical methods.

Research topics

• Economics
• Market economy
• Computer Science
• Environmental science
• Environmental economics
• Ecology
• Business
• Psychology
• Criminology
• Industrial organization

Selected publications

• Subsidizing low- and middle-income adoption of electric vehicles: Quasi-experimental evidence from California

  Journal of Public Economics · 2022 · 111 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Microgeographic Evidence from Chicago

  American Economic Journal Applied Economics · 2021 · 107 citations

  A growing literature documents that air pollution adversely impacts health, productivity, and cognition. This paper provides the first evidence of a causal link between air pollution and aggressive behavior, as documented by violent crime. Using the geolocation of crimes in Chicago from 2001–2012, we compare crime upwind and downwind of major highways on days when wind blows orthogonally to the road. Consistent with research linking pollution to aggression, we find that air pollution increases v…

  PublisherDOI

• The Economics of Electric Vehicles

  Review of Environmental Economics and Policy · 2023 · 83 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  We examine the private and public economics of electric vehicles (EVs) and discuss when market forces can be expected to produce the optimal path of EV adoption. Privately, consumer cost savings from EVs vary. Some experience net benefits from choosing gasoline cars, even after accounting for EV subsidies. Publicly, we survey the literature documenting the external costs and benefits of EVs and highlight several themes for optimal policy design. These include (1) promoting regional variation in…

  PublisherDOI

• Future Paths of Electric Vehicle Adoption in the United States: Predictable Determinants, Obstacles, and Opportunities

  Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy · 2022 · 47 citations

  This paper identifies and quantifies major determinants of future electric vehicle demand to inform widely held aspirations for market growth. Our model compares three channels that will affect electric vehicle market share in the United States from 2020 to 2035: intrinsic (no-subsidy) electric vehicle demand growth, net-of-subsidy electric vehicle cost declines (e.g., batteries), and government subsidies. Geographic variation in preferences for sedans and light trucks highlights the importance…

  PublisherDOI

• Future Paths of Electric Vehicle Adoption in the United States: Predictable Determinants, Obstacles and Opportunities

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2021-06-01 · 42 citations

  reportOpen access

  This paper identifies and quantifies major determinants of future electric vehicle (EV) demand in order to inform widely-held aspirations for market growth. Our model compares three channels that will affect EV market share in the United States from 2020-2035: intrinsic (no-subsidy) EV demand growth, net-of-subsidy EV cost declines (e.g. batteries), and government subsidies. Geographic variation in preferences for sedans and light trucks highlights the importance of viable EV alternatives to con…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• David Rapson

  36 shared

• Evan Herrnstadt

  Congressional Budget Office

  13 shared

• Justin Marion

  University of California, Santa Cruz

  11 shared

• Daniel Shoag

  10 shared

• Lucas W. Davis

  University of California, Berkeley

  10 shared

• Richard Sweeney

  Boston College

  8 shared

• Joel Slemrod

  University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

  7 shared

• Don Fullerton

  7 shared

Awards & honors

• Institute for Transportation Studies, National Center for Su…
• National Science Foundation, (SB) 1 Research Grant "Electric…
• Institute for Transportation Studies, Senate Bill (SB) 1 Res…
• Institute for Transportation Studies, Senate Bill (SB) 1 Res…
• Institute for Transportation Studies, Senate Bill (SB) 1 Res…

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