✋ Hi!

I am Max, and I am a first-year Economics PhD student at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna).

📝 Research

Vashold, L., Pirich, G., Heinze, M., & Kuschnig, N. (2024). Mines-Rivers-Yields: Downstream Mining Impacts on Agriculture in Africa. Vienna University of Economics and Business. Department of Economics Working Paper Series No. 368. https://doi.org/10.57938/7598a00e-3d24-4691-823e-aeb76032ae44 · 💻 View Extended Slides · 💻 View Compact Slides

Abstract: Minerals are essential to fuel the green transition, can foster local employment and facilitate economic development. However, their extraction is linked to several negative social and environmental externalities. These are particularly poorly understood in a development context, undermining efforts to address and internalize them. In this paper, we exploit the discontinuous locations of mines along rivers and their basins to identify causal effects on agricultural yields in Africa. We find considerable impacts on vegetation and yields downstream, which are mediated by water pollution and only dissipate slowly with distance. Our findings suggest that pollution from mines may play a role in the limited adoption of intensive agriculture. They underscore an urgent need for domestic regulations and international governance to limit negative externalities from mining in vulnerable regions.

👨‍🏫 Teaching

Winter Semester 2024/25 · Macroeconomics (B.Sc. level, as co-lecturer) · View Syllabus

Summer Semester 2025 · Econometrics I (B.Sc. level, as lecturer)

📦 Miscellaneous

🥗 This Week’s Scraped Lunch Menus · Tables containing current lunch options from different WU campus places.

📐 Interactive Charts for Teaching Introductory Macroeconomics · Charts of introductory Macro models (based on the textbook by Blanchard) with interactive sliders.

💻 More Colorful Beamer Template [External Link] · The more colorful version of the (messy) LaTeX Beamer template I use.

💻 Less Colorful Beamer Template [External Link] · The less colorful version of the (messy) LaTeX Beamer template I use.