TY - JOUR
T1 - Cultural integration: Experimental evidence of convergence in immigrants' preferences
AU - Cameron, Lisa Ann
AU - Erkal, Nisvan
AU - Gangadharan, Lata
AU - Zhang, Marina
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - 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, risk attitudes, and preferences for competition. We find that greater exposure to Western culture is in general associated with a convergence to Western norms of behaviour. Specifically, the share of education an individual receives in the West has a strong negative impact on altruism, trust towards individuals of Chinese ethnicity, and trustworthiness, while it has a significant and positive impact on trust towards Australians. For risk and competitive preferences, our results are gender-specific. These findings have important implications for policy making and institution building in multi-cultural societies.
AB - 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, risk attitudes, and preferences for competition. We find that greater exposure to Western culture is in general associated with a convergence to Western norms of behaviour. Specifically, the share of education an individual receives in the West has a strong negative impact on altruism, trust towards individuals of Chinese ethnicity, and trustworthiness, while it has a significant and positive impact on trust towards Australians. For risk and competitive preferences, our results are gender-specific. These findings have important implications for policy making and institution building in multi-cultural societies.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.11.012
DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.11.012
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-2681
VL - 111
SP - 38
EP - 58
JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
ER -