Investigate the role of Certain Explanatory Variables on Risk Aversion and Sorting among Employees in Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract

`Understanding the significance of the risk attitude on sorting between public and private workers helps policymakers in introducing reforms in the labor market regulations that prevent oversized public sector jobs and encourage selection into private sector jobs. The current study attempts to assess the role of certain factors such as gender, type of employment and work training on risk aversion among employees in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Given that public sector jobs provide higher job security than private sector jobs, workers’ risk attitudes can be an important determinant of sector choice. The data of the study was collected from a sample of 300 fourth-stage evenings shift college students from the universities of Sulaimani, Charmo University and Sulaimani Polytechnic University who have already been employed in either the public or private sector. The results of the study indicated that the models containing Gender, Employment type and Work Training as predictors were significant for some of the risk aversion and sorting, particularly 20% and 10% of risk aversion. One-third of risk aversion was found to be related to gender, suggesting that males had reported the aforementioned risk more than females. However, no statistically significant associations were found between 50% of risk aversion and all the independent variables.