At the Chair of Statistics and Econometrics we specialize in the usage of econometric techniques, and especially those related to natural experiments for research in the domains of health, and sometimes education. Additionally, we use methods such as meta-analyses. Most of our research has a clear interdisciplinary component, which often brings us into contact with other fields such as medicine, epidemiology, and psychology. One important branch of our research studies how conditions during our earliest phases of life, such as weather/climate and nutritional circumstances, potentially in combination with conditions later in life, shape our health and affect our economic and human capital outcomes. Other research focuses on topics ranging from the evaluation of aspects of health care systems to the health of the elderly, and the use of digital media in education.
News
06.06.2025: Van Tran receives award from the Netherlands Epidemiological Society (VvE)
In awarding the Poster Award 2025, the VvE cited her visually attractive poster, enthusiastic presentation and the novel topic of her study on "Ramadan during pregnancy and offspring cognitive health: evidence from Muslims in the Netherlands."
25.-27.09.2024: Interdisciplinary workshop “Causal methods in early-life research”
From 25–27 September 2024, we hosted a workshop on “Causal Methods in Early-Life Research.” Experts from economics, epidemiology, medicine, and the social sciences discussed challenges in establishing causality and cross-disciplinary methods. Sessions covered early-life stress, nutrition, and climate, with a keynote by Maya Rossin-Slater (Stanford). The workshop was funded the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA) and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Fabienne Pradella received the Gutenberg Stipend of the City of Mainz for her dissertation on early life events and their impact on health and human capital. The award honors outstanding academic work connected to Mainz. As part of her research, she conducted a survey in Mainz’s obstetric wards on how pregnant Muslims observe Ramadan. Fabienne was a member of the Gutenberg Academy during her doctorate.
17.01.2024: Workshop on Meta-Analyses with Larry Hedges
From January 16–17 2024, we hosted a workshop on systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses, drawing participants from the social and medical sciences. Speakers on systematic reviews included Andranik Tumasjan and Christian Wilke (JGU Mainz). For meta-analyses, we welcomed Eric Hedberg (Abt Associates) and Larry Hedges (Northwestern), a key figure in shaping the contemporary field of meta-analysis.
10.11.2023: The Daily Mail on our research on how retirement affects people’s health
03.09.2023: The Daily Mail on our research on how becoming a grandparent affects people’s health and wellbeing
06.06.2023: Five Questions to Professor van Ewijk
Here you find an interview with Reyn van Ewijk from our faculty’s interview series.
27.03.2023: Science Award of the German Health Economics Association (DGGÖ)
Marc Diederichs and Reyn van Ewijk of the Chair of Statistics and Econometrics, together with their co-authors Ingo Isphording and Nico Pestel, were awarded the Science Award (“Wissenschaftspreis”) 2023 of the German Health Economics Association (DGGÖ). They received this prize for their paper “Schools under mandatory testing can mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2", which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
16.02.2023: International news coverage of our study on Ramadan during Pregnancy
Our work on the 'Mainz Survey Study on Ramadan during Pregnancy' has been featured on several websites worldwide, including Univadis-Medscape, medischcontact.nl, Med India, The Jerusalem Post and Australian Doctor. The project was a collaborative effort between our chair and the Mainz University Medical Center, with the participation of three (former) members of our chair: Reyn van Ewijk, Fabienne Pradella, and Birgit Leimer. The study has recently been published in PLOS One.
01.11.2022 Fabienne Pradella awarded Gutenberg-Stipend for her dissertation
Fabienne Pradella received the Gutenberg Stipend of the City of Mainz for her dissertation on early life events and their impact on health and human capital. The award honors outstanding academic work connected to Mainz. As part of her research, she conducted a survey in Mainz’s obstetric wards on how pregnant Muslims observe Ramadan. Fabienne was a member of the Gutenberg Academy during her doctorate.
01.08.2022: Marc Diederichs returns from a three months research visit to Joshua Angrist at MIT
Joshua Angrist, 2021 Nobel Laureate in Economics, hosted Marc Diederichs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge for a duration of three months. The research visit resulted in a still ongoing collaboration.
24/25.06.2022 International Health Economics Workshop, Tilburg (NL)
16.11.2021: Press release: Schools may contribute to stemming the pandemic
16.11.2021: Pressenachricht: Offene Schulen tragen bei verpflichtender Testung zur Eindämmung der Pandemie bei
21.07.2021: New DFG research grant: “Ramadan during pregnancy: effects on health and fertility across the generations”
28.01.2021: New DFG research grant: “How do prenatal and postnatal circumstances interact in shaping health?”
26.05.2020: Fabienne Pradella joins Gutenberg-Akademie as Junior Member
31.10.2018: American Journal of Epidemiology on our chair’s research on Ramadan during pregnancy
30.09.2018: Fabienne Pradella wins the best poster price at the 2018 DGEpi conference
21.09.2017: Fabienne Pradella wins the best poster price at the 2017 GMDS conference
03.09.2017: Juditha Wójcik wins the CINCH Academy best paper award 2017
05.05.2017: SEAL-Projekt: Frühdiagnose bei Leberzirrhose verbessern
15.03.2017: Inside Story (Australia): Peer pressures. New PISA results confirm that the social makeup of schools affects the performance of individual students
26.08.2016: The Times: Wartime babies grew into healthier adults
19.05.2016: Trouw newspaper: “Thuis bevallen is soms riskanter”
28.05.2016: Interview on home births with Reyn van Ewijk, Radio 1, The Netherlands
08.07.2015: Washington Post: The economics of having your baby at home
27.07.2015: The Conversation: Hospitals are safer than home births – but only if you’re poor
04.04.2015: The Economist: Unequal beginnings
04.04.2015: The Economist: Great expectations