Measuring the Cultural Difference in Individual Attitude Towards Risk

Evgeniia Tetenova

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Weber, Blais and Bets (2002) found that difference in risk attitudes and behaviour can depend on the context: individuals can change risk attitude across different domains. Among these domains are financial, which consists of investment and gambling, social, recreational, health/safety and ethical. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the differences in risk attitudes between the Czech Republic and Russia. For this purpose data for the empirical analysis was gathered using a questionnaire based on Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) Scale proposed by Weber, Blais and Betz (2002). The collected data were analyzed using linear regression, following Weber, Blais and Betz (2002) and Breuer et al. (2013). The main findings revealed that there is a difference in risk attitude: the participants from Russian sample tend to be more risk-seeking in financial domain, especially in gambling, than the respondents from Czech sample. Also interesting finding is that Russians are more interested in getting profit or any other kind of benefits from the participation in risky activities, while Czechs decide to engage in risky activities by first taking into account their individual perception how risky these activities could be.

Abstract:

Weber, Blais and Bets (2002) found that difference in risk attitudes and behaviour can depend on the context: individuals can change risk attitude across different domains. Among these domains are financial, which consists of investment and gambling, social, recreational, health/safety and ethical. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the differences in risk attitudes between the Czech Republic and Russia. For this purpose data for the empirical analysis was gathered using a questionnaire based on Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) Scale proposed by Weber, Blais and Betz (2002). The collected data were analyzed using linear regression, following Weber, Blais and Betz (2002) and Breuer et al. (2013). The main findings revealed that there is a difference in risk attitude: the participants from Russian sample tend to be more risk-seeking in financial domain, especially in gambling, than the respondents from Czech sample. Also interesting finding is that Russians are more interested in getting profit or any other kind of benefits from the participation in risky activities, while Czechs decide to engage in risky activities by first taking into account their individual perception how risky these activities could be.

Keywords

the Czech Republic, risk attitude, Russia, country comparison, domain specificity, DOSPERT Scale

Keywords

domain specificity, Russia, DOSPERT Scale, country comparison, risk attitude, the Czech Republic

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 11. 3. 2015

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 15. 6. 2015
• Supervisor: Petr Špecián
• Reader: Jaromír Prokop

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Bachelor programme / field:
Ekonomie a hospodářská správa / Economics