Georg Kanitsar

I am a quantitative economic sociologist working as a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies.

My current research focuses on educational and social mobility among children of immigrants. This research is embedded into a broader interest in the fields of educational inequality, social stratification, social trust, and immigrant integration. I have expertise in lab, field, and online experiments as well as in survey research. I am also part of the scientific coordination of the Austrian Socio-Economic Panel, a register-based household panel first implemented in 2023.

My work has been published in European Sociological Review, Social Science Research, European Journal of Sociology, Social Indicators Research, Games, Ecological Economics, and Journal of Public Economics. Before my current appointment, I held positions at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Institute for Sociology) and the University of Vienna (Department of Economic Sociology). I hold a Ph.D. in Sociology (Uni Vienna, 2018) and an M.Sc. in Economics (Uni Vienna, 2013).

Contact: georg.kanitsar@wu.ac.at

Main Publications

Kanitsar, Georg. 2024. The Same Social Elevator? Intergenerational Class Mobility of Second-Generation Immigrants Across Europe. European Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcae007

Kanitsar, Georg. 2024. Leaving the Bike Unlocked: Trust Discrimination in Inter-Ethnic Encounters. European Sociological Review. 40(4), 639-651 https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad045

Hoffmann, Roman, Kanitsar Georg, Seifert Marcel. 2024. Behavioral Barriers Impede Pro-Environmental Decision-Making: Experimental Evidence From Incentivized Laboratory and Vignette Studies. Ecological Economics . 225, 108347 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108347

Kanitsar, Georg, Pfaff Katharina. 2024. Is Football Coming Out? Anti-Gay Attitudes, Social Desirability, and Pluralistic Ignorance. Social Science Research. 117, 102947 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102947

Kanitsar, Georg. 2023. Putting Morals into Economics: From Value Neutrality to the Moral Economy and the Economization of Morality. European Journal of Sociology. 64 (1), 31-60. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003975623000012

Kanitsar, Georg. 2022. The Inequality-Trust Nexus Revisited: At What Level of Aggregation Does Income Inequality Matter for Social Trust? Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-02894-w

Kanitsar, Georg. 2021. Self-Governance in Generalized Exchange. A Laboratory Experiment on the Structural Embeddedness of Peer Punishment. Games. 12 (50) https://doi.org/10.3390/g12020050

Kanitsar, Georg. 2019. Solidarity Through Punishment. An Experiment on the Merits of Centralized Enforcement in Generalized Exchange. Social Science Research. 78, 156-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.12.012

Kanitsar, Georg. 2019. Segmented Labor Markets – Segmented Solidarities. The Effect of Labor Market Insecurity on Solidarity Attitudes. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. 45 (2), 179-202.

Kittel, Bernhard, Kanitsar, Georg, Traub, Stefan. 2017. Knowledge, Power and Self-interest. Journal of Public Economics 105, 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.04.004

Kanitsar, Georg, Kittel, Bernhard. 2015. Experimentelle Methoden in der Policy-Forschung. In: Handbuch Policy-Forschung, Hrsg. Georg Wenzelburger, Reimut Zohlnhöfer, 379-409. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Research in Progress (Selected):

Improving Financial Literacy in Lower Secondary Education: Evaluation of a Pilot Project

In this long-term study, we track a large cohort of students over four consecutive years and analyze their economic competencies, interests, attitudes, and aspirations combined with information about students’ socioeconomic backgrounds, class compositions, and school environments.

Falling Behind, Losing Trust: Intergenerational Mobility and Generalized Trust in Europe

In this study, I examine the implications of personal mobility trajectories and structural mobility patterns for generalized trust by analyzing data on intergenerational educational and occupational mobility for 28 European countries.

Out of Work, Out of Trust? How Unemployment Trajectories Shape Generalized, Out-Group, and Institutionalized Trust

I study the effect of unemployment trajectories on different forms of trust using a novel linkage of self-administered behavioral trust games with detailed administrative data on unemployment records and socioeconomic demographics.

Does Educational and Skill Mismatch Decrease Job Satisfaction? Examining the Role of Employment Duration and Job Quality

This study utilizes data from the first wave of the Austrian Socio-Economic Panel to examine if the relationship between mismatch and job satisfaction depends on the stages of career progression and is moderated by several indicators of job quality.

Teaching

Quantitative Empirical Studies: Vienna Univ. of Economics, BA

Economic Sociology: Vienna Univ. of Economics, BA

Empirical Social Research (Experiments Module): Vienna Univ. of Economics, BA

Sustainable Economics and Business II: Vienna Univ. of Economics, BA

Advanced Economic Sociology: Univ. Vienna, MA

Sociology for Economists: Univ. Vienna, BA

Empirical Research Methods: Univ. Vienna, BA/MA

Supervision of Master and Bachelor Theses: 20+

Non-Academic Teaching: Economic Sociology, Behavioural Economics