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

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.