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Immigration and the demand for life insurance: Evidence from Canada, 1911

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Author Info

  • Alan de BROMHEAD

    () (Mansfield College, Oxford University)

  • Karol Jan BOROWIECKI

    () (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

This paper analyses the determinants of the demand for life insurance using sample data from the 1911 Census of Canada. We find that immigrants’ demand for life insurance was on average around seven percent lower than that of native born Canadians and varied depending on the time that elapsed since immigration. The results imply substantially lower risk aversion of immigrants and possibly indicate the importance of personal networks for informal risk sharing that could evolve over time. We also find that the value of life insurance held by immigrants increases with time elapsing since immigration and converge towards the value of individuals born in Canada.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics in its series Trinity Economics Papers with number tep1511.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1511

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Keywords: Insurance; welfare; migration; Canada;

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References

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  1. David A. Jaeger & Holger Bonin & Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2007. "Direct Evidence on Risk Attitudes and Migration," Working Papers 50, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
  2. Lewis, Frank D, 1989. "Dependents and the Demand for Life Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 452-67, June.
  3. David Stead, 2004. "Risk and risk management in English agriculture, c. 1750-1850," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 57(2), pages 334-361, 05.
  4. Karol Jan BOROWIECKI, 2011. "Geographic Clustering and Productivity: An Instrumental Variable Approach for Classical Composers," Trinity Economics Papers tep0611, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
  5. Campbell, Ritchie A, 1980. " The Demand for Life Insurance: An Application of the Economics of Uncertainty," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 35(5), pages 1155-72, December.
  6. Kantor, Shawn Everett & Fishback, Price V, 1996. "Precautionary Saving, Insurance, and the Origins of Workers' Compensation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 419-42, April.
  7. Di Matteo, Livio & Herbert Emery, J. C., 2002. "Wealth and the demand for life insurance: evidence from Ontario, 1892," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 446-469, October.
  8. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2002. "Precautionary Saving by Young Immigrants and Young Natives," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 48-71, July.
  9. Carter, Susan B. & Sutch, Richard, 1996. "Myth of the Industrial Scrap Heap: A Revisionist View of Turn-of-the-Century American Retirement," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(01), pages 5-38, March.
  10. MR Rosenzweig, 2001. "Savings behaviour in low-income countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 40-54, Spring.
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