IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mod/depeco/0138.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Graziella Bertocchi
  • Marianna Brunetti
  • Anzelika Zaiceva

Abstract

Using rich Italian data for the period 2006-2014, we document sizeable gaps between native and immigrant households with respect to wealth holdings and financial decisions. Immigrant household heads hold less net wealth than native, but only above the median of the wealth distribution, with housing as the main driver. Immigrant status reduces the likelihood of holding risky assets, housing, mortgages, businesses, and valuables, while it increases the likelihood of financial fragility. Years since migration, countries of origin, and the pattern of intermarriage also matter. The Great Recession has worsened the condition of immigrants in terms of wealth holdings, home ownership, and financial fragility

Suggested Citation

  • Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2018. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Department of Economics 0138, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    • Handle: RePEc:mod:depeco:0138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://155.185.68.2/wpdemb/0138.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Vincent A. Hildebrand, 2009. "The Asset Portfolios of Native‐born and Foreign‐born Australian Households," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(268), pages 46-59, March.
    2. Nicola Fuchs‐Schündeln & Paolo Masella & Hannah Paule‐Paludkiewicz, 2020. "Cultural Determinants of Household Saving Behavior," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(5), pages 1035-1070, August.
    3. Irene Ferrari, 2020. "The nativity wealth gap in Europe: a matching approach," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 33-77, January.
    4. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli, 2006. "Fertility: The Role of Culture and Family Experience," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(2-3), pages 552-561, 04-05.
    5. Stefanie J. Huber & Tobias Schmidt, 2016. "Cross-Country Differences in Homeownership: A Cultural Phenomenon?," ERES eres2016_47, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    6. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "The savings behavior of temporary and permanent migrants in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 421-449, April.
    7. Sinning, Mathias, 2007. "Wealth and Asset Holdings of Immigrants in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Una Okonkwo Osili & Anna Paulson, 2008. "What Can We Learn about Financial Access from U.S. Immigrants? The Role of Country of Origin Institutions and Immigrant Beliefs," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 22(3), pages 431-455, November.
    9. Una Okonkwo Osili & Anna L. Paulson, 2006. "What can we learn about financial access from U.S. immigrants?," Working Paper Series WP-06-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    10. Marianna Brunetti & Elena Giarda & Costanza Torricelli, 2016. "Is Financial Fragility a Matter of Illiquidity? An Appraisal for Italian Households," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(4), pages 628-649, December.
    11. David A. Jaeger & Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde & Holger Bonin, 2010. "Direct Evidence on Risk Attitudes and Migration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(3), pages 684-689, August.
    12. Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K.F., 2016. "Migration and the Demographic Shift," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 119-177, Elsevier.
    13. Paola Giuliano, 2007. "Living Arrangements in Western Europe: Does Cultural Origin Matter?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(5), pages 927-952, September.
    14. Bertocchi, Graziella & Brunetti, Marianna & Torricelli, Costanza, 2011. "Marriage and other risky assets: A portfolio approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2902-2915, November.
    15. Osili, Una Okonkwo & Paulson, Anna, 2014. "Crises and confidence: Systemic banking crises and depositor behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 646-660.
    16. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2015. "The impact of the recession on the wealth of older immigrant and native households in the United States," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Mathias Sinning, 2011. "Determinants of savings and remittances: empirical evidence from immigrants to Germany," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 45-67, March.
    18. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    19. Borjas, George J., 2002. "Homeownership in the immigrant population," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 448-476, November.
    20. Carroll, Christopher D & Rhee, Byung-Kun & Rhee, Changyong, 1999. "Does Cultural Origin Affect Saving Behavior? Evidence from Immigrants," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(1), pages 33-50, October.
    21. Swarnankur Chatterjee & Velma Zahirovic-Herbert, 2014. "A road to assimilation: immigrants and financial markets," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(2), pages 345-358, April.
    22. Holger Bonin & Amelie Constant & Konstantinos Tatsiramos & Klaus Zimmermann, 2009. "Native-migrant differences in risk attitudes," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(15), pages 1581-1586.
    23. Zhang, Xuelin, 2003. "The Wealth Position of Immigrant Families in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2003197e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    24. Asadul Islam & Jaai Parasnis & Dietrich Fausten, 2013. "Do Immigrants Save Less than Natives? Immigrant and Native Saving Behaviour in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 89(284), pages 52-71, March.
    25. Christopher D. Carroll & Byung-Kun Rhee & Changyong Rhee, 1994. "Are There Cultural Effects on Saving? Some Cross-Sectional Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 685-699.
    26. Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), 2016. "Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    27. Sayako Seto & Vicki L. Bogan, 2013. "Immigrant Household Investment Behavior And Country Of Origin: A Study Of Immigrants To The United States," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 128-158, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Syed Hasan & Nazmun Ratna & Shamim Shakur, 2019. "Exchange rate, remittances and expenditure of foreign-bornhouseholds: evidence from Australia," Discussion Papers 1901, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    2. Fleck, Johannes & Monninger, Adrian, 2020. "Culture and portfolios: trust, precautionary savings and home ownership," Working Paper Series 2457, European Central Bank.
    3. Hasan, Syed & Shakur, Shamim & Breunig, Robert, 2021. "Exchange rates and expenditure of households with foreign-born members: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 977-997.
    4. Giulia Bettin, 2019. "Il valore economico dell?immigrazione," PRISMA Economia - Societ? - Lavoro, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(2), pages 12-30.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2023. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 117-174, March.
    2. Nicola Fuchs‐Schündeln & Paolo Masella & Hannah Paule‐Paludkiewicz, 2020. "Cultural Determinants of Household Saving Behavior," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(5), pages 1035-1070, August.
    3. Davoli, Maddalena & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2020. "Culture and adult financial literacy: Evidence from the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Lu, Weijie & Niu, Geng & Zhou, Yang, 2021. "Individualism and financial inclusion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 268-288.
    5. Michael Haliassos & Thomas Jansson & Yigitcan Karabulut, 2017. "Incompatible European Partners? Cultural Predispositions and Household Financial Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3780-3808, November.
    6. Huber, Stefanie J. & Schmidt, Tobias, 2022. "Nevertheless, they persist: Cross-country differences in homeownership behavior," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    7. Núria Rodríguez‐Planas, 2018. "Mortgage finance and culture," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 786-821, September.
    8. Osili, Una Okonkwo & Paulson, Anna, 2014. "Crises and confidence: Systemic banking crises and depositor behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 646-660.
    9. Marcén, Miriam, 2013. "The effect of culture on self-employment," MPRA Paper 47338, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Mathä, Thomas Y. & Porpiglia, Alessandro & Sierminska, Eva, 2011. "The immigrant/native wealth gap in Germany, Italy and Luxembourg," Working Paper Series 1302, European Central Bank.
    11. Marcén, Miriam, 2014. "The role of culture on self-employment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 44(S1), pages 20-32.
    12. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2015. "The impact of the recession on the wealth of older immigrant and native households in the United States," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    13. Swarnankur Chatterjee & Velma Zahirovic-Herbert, 2014. "A road to assimilation: immigrants and financial markets," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(2), pages 345-358, April.
    14. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hildebrand, Vincent A., 2008. "The Asset Portfolios of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Households," IZA Discussion Papers 3304, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Nonna Kushnirovich, 2016. "Immigrant investors in financial markets: modes of financial behavior," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 992-1006, November.
    16. Hasan, Syed & Shakur, Shamim & Breunig, Robert, 2021. "Exchange rates and expenditure of households with foreign-born members: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 977-997.
    17. Asadul Islam & Steven Stillman & Christopher Worswick, 2018. "Can immigrants insure against shocks as well as the native-born?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(49), pages 5302-5315, October.
    18. Stefanie J. Huber & Tobias Schmidt, 2016. "Cross-Country Differences in Homeownership: A Cultural Phenomenon?," ERES eres2016_47, European Real Estate Society (ERES).
    19. Kountouris, Yiannis & Remoundou, Kyriaki, 2013. "Is there a cultural component in tax morale? Evidence from immigrants in Europe," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 104-119.
    20. Ihle Dorothee & Siebert-Meyerhoff Andrea, 2019. "The Evolution of Immigrants’ Homeownership in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 155-201, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrants; household finance; wealth; financial portfolios; Great Recession.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mod:depeco:0138. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sara Colombini (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/demodit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.