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

Author

Listed:
  • 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan de BROMHEAD & Karol Jan BOROWIECKI, 2011. "Immigration and the demand for life insurance: Evidence from Canada, 1911," Trinity Economics Papers tep1511, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1511
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gillian C. Hamilton & Ian Keay & Frank D. Lewis, 2017. "Contributions to Canadian economic history: The last 30 years," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1632-1657, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Insurance; welfare; migration; Canada;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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