Comparing the Risk Attitudes of Internationally Mobile and Non-Mobile Germans

Abstract

Moving particularly to a new country is a risky endeavour. People who choose to migrate are often thought to be more adventurous and risk-loving than their nonmobile counterparts. Robust empirical evidence on the risk attitudes of migrants is limited, however, particularly for migrants originating from high-income countries such as Germany. This study examines whether the risk attitudes of internationally mobile Germans (‘movers’) indeed differ significantly from those of their nonmobile counterparts (‘stayers’), and whether significant differences can be observed in the risk attitudes of emigrants and remigrants. We also examine the effect of geographical and cultural distance between Germany and the destination country, predicting that it takes more courage to move to a more distant country. Living and working abroad is becoming an increasingly important feature of individual careers at least in highly developed democratic welfare states (Erlinghagen et al. 2009). International mobility seems to be positively associated with increases in salaries (see Witte and Guedes Auditor 2021) and subjective well-being (see Guedes Auditor and Erlinghagen 2021). Some socio-economic and sociodemographic determinants of international mobility (e.g. education, gender; see Ette and Erlinghagen 2021) are also known to be general determinants of social inequality. If the propensity for international mobility is socially stratified, and if international mobility experiences independently increase individual life chances, international mobility may function as a catalyst for social inequality.