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Direct Evidence on Risk Attitudes and Migration

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Author Info

  • Jaeger, David A.

    () (CUNY Graduate Center)

  • Bonin, Holger

    () (ZEW Mannheim)

  • Dohmen, Thomas

    () (University of Bonn)

  • Falk, Armin

    () (University of Bonn)

  • Huffman, David

    () (Swarthmore College)

  • Sunde, Uwe

    () (University of Munich)

Abstract

Geographic mobility is important for the functioning of labor markets because it brings labor resources to where they can be most efficiently used. It has long been hypothesized that individuals' migration propensities depend on their attitudes towards risk, but the empirical evidence, to the extent that it exists, has been indirect. In this paper, we use newly available data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to measure directly the relationship between migration propensities and attitudes towards risk. We find that individuals who are more willing to take risks are more likely to migrate between labor markets in Germany. This result is robust to stratifying by age, sex, education, national origin, and a variety of other demographic characteristics, as well as to the level of aggregation used to define geographic mobility. The effect is substantial relative to the unconditional migration propensity and compared to the conventional determinants of migration. We also find that being more willing to take risks is more important for the extensive than for the intensive margin of migration.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2655.

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Length: 32 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2007
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Review of Economics and Statistics, 2010, 92(3), 684–689
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2655

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Keywords: migration; risk aversion; Germany;

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References

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  1. Dohmen, Thomas J & Falk, Armin & Huffman, David & Sunde, Uwe, 2008. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Risk and Trust Attitudes," CEPR Discussion Papers 6844, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Axel Heitmueller, 2002. "Unemployment Benefits, Risk Aversion, and Migration Incentives," CERT Discussion Papers 0207, Centre for Economic Reform and Transformation, Heriot Watt University.
  3. Stark, Oded & Levhari, David, 1982. "On Migration and Risk in LDCs," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 191-96, October.
  4. Daveri, Francesco & Faini, Riccardo, 1999. "Where Do Migrants Go?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(4), pages 595-622, October.
  5. repec:feb:framed:0019 is not listed on IDEAS
  6. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 2005. "Individual Risk Attitudes: New Evidence from a Large, Representative, Experimentally-Validated Survey," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 511, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  7. Katz, Eliakim & Stark, Oded, 1986. "Labor Migration and Risk Aversion in Less Developed Countries," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(1), pages 134-49, January.
  8. George J. Borjas, 2001. "Does Immigration Grease the Wheels of the Labor Market?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 32(1), pages 69-134.
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