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

Alan de Bromhead and Karol Borowiecki

European Review of Economic History, 2016, vol. 20, issue 2, 147-175

Abstract: This article 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 13 percentage points lower than that of native-born Canadians, with the effect varying by province of settlement. We interpret these findings as evidence suggesting a greater appetite for risk among self-selecting immigrants relative to native-born Canadians. We also uncover evidence of a slow assimilation of immigrants in terms of life insurance holdings, slower indeed than the process of assimilation in terms of earnings.

Date: 2016
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Working Paper: Immigration and the demand for life insurance: Evidence from Canada, 1911 (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:20:y:2016:i:2:p:147-175.

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