Economic Preferences and the Self-selection of Immigrants

Abstract

Classical theories hypothesize individual economic preferences, including risk appetite, altruism, patience, and trust, as determinants for migration intention. In this paper, we combine data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, European Social Survey, and World Values Survey to investigate how immigrants to Germany are self-selected from the origin population based on their preferences. We find a higher migration propensity among more altruistic, patient, and trusting individuals. Conversely, we show that individuals are positively selected on risk appetite from low-risk countries but are adversely selected from high-risk countries. The degree of selectivity depends on demographics and origin-country characteristics.

Keywords: self-selection, economic preferences, refugees, reasons for migration, origin country

JEL Classification: F22, J15, J6, O15, Z1