Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP6084
Authors: Holger Bonin; Amelie Constant; Konstantinos Tatsiramos; Klaus F. Zimmermann
Abstract: The paper investigates the role of social norms as a determinant of individual attitudes by analyzing risk proclivity reported by immigrants and natives in a unique representative German survey. We employ factor analysis to construct measures of immigrants? ethnic persistence and assimilation. The estimated effect of these measures on risk proclivity suggests that adaptation to the attitudes of the majority population closes the immigrant-native gap in risk proclivity, while stronger commitment to the home country preserves it. As risk attitudes are behaviorally relevant, and vary by ethnic origin, our results could also help explain differences in economic assimilation of immigrants.
Keywords: assimilation; ethnic persistence; gender; risk attitudes; second generation effects
JEL Codes: D1; D81; F22; J15; J16; J31; J62; J82
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Higher ethnic persistence (J15) | Greater risk aversion (D81) |
| Higher assimilation (F35) | Increased willingness to take risks (G40) |
| Higher ethnic persistence (J15) | Risk proclivity (D81) |
| Higher assimilation (F35) | Risk proclivity (D81) |
| Ethnic persistence and assimilation (J15) | Immigrant-native gap in risk proclivity (J15) |