金融与财务学系列讲座之325期

Time：14:00-15:30, Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

Location: Room 603, Starr Building（史带楼603室）

Topic: Escaping Death: Individual Mobility and Female Mortality

Speaker: David Schoenherr

Seoul National University

Abstract: We document that access to individual mobility reduces female mortality using random variation from motorcycle credit lotteries involving about one million individuals. The strongest determinant of reduced female mortality is fewer fatal assaults in public spaces, suggesting mobility enables women to avoid dangerous environments. Access to individual mobility also reduces fatal domestic violence exposure and facilitates transitions from high-mortality risk occupations. For men, motorcycle access yields no net mortality effect; health improvements are offset by increased motorcycle accident fatalities. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the benefits of reduced mortality offset the cost of investing in a motorcycle for women.

Bio: David Schoenherr is an Associate Professor of Finance at Seoul National University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Finance from London Business School in 2017, and joined SNU Business School in September 2023. Prior to joining SNU, he was an Assistant Professor in Economics at Princeton University. He is an applied micro economist and his research focuses on Corporate Finance, Development Economics, Labor Economics, and Political Economy. His work has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics, among others. He received the Brattle Group Distinguished Paper Award in 2019.