Cultural Integration: Experimental Evidence of Changes in Immigrants' Preferences

Lisa Cameron, Nisvan Erkal, Lata Gangadharan () and Marina Zhang
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Marina Zhang: University of Melbourne

No 6467, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Cultural traits play a significant role in the determination of economic outcomes and institutions. This paper presents evidence from laboratory experiments on the cultural integration of individuals of Chinese ethnicity in Australia, focusing on social preferences, preferences for competition, and risk attitudes. We show that the greater the share of education an individual receives in the West, the more they behave like Western subjects and the less they behave according to the norms of their Eastern heritage. Increased exposure to Western education has a strong negative impact on altruism, trust, and trustworthiness. For risk and competitive preferences, our results are gender-specific. These results have important implications for policy making and institution building in multi-cultural societies.

Keywords: acculturation; cultural assimilation; cultural diversity; cultural transmission; cultural integration; immigration; social preferences; preferences for competition; risk aversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 D64 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2012-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-exp and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2015, 111, 38-58.

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