Georg Kanitsar

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

My research interests lie at the intersection of social mobility, stratification, and immigrant integration. Crucially, my work focuses on both sides of the integration process: the structural assimilation of immigrants and their children, as well as the attitudes and discriminatory behaviors of the majority population. I have expertise in analyzing survey and administrative data, as well as conducting lab, field, and online experiments.

My work has been published in sociology and economics journals such as the European Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Ecological Economics, and the Journal of Public Economics. My recent article on ethnic trust discrimination was awarded the best article of the year prize by the European Sociological Review. Before my current appointment, I held several positions at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna.

Contact: georg.kanitsar@ihs.ac.at

Key Publications

Kanitsar, Georg. 2025. The Same Social Elevator? Intergenerational Class Mobility of Second-Generation Immigrants Across Europe. European Sociological Review. 41(1), 1-16 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):

Discomfort in Interethnic Urban Environments: A Visual Vignette Experiment

Using AI-generated visual vignettes, we analyze how changes in urban environments affect discomfort and contact strategies among the native-born population.

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 Social 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 Trust

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

Educational Mismatch and Immigration Concerns

For Austria and Germany, we show that educational mismatch is associated with lower concerns about immigration, suggesting that anti-immigrant sentiment is driven more strongly by symbolic threats to the prestige of securely matched employees than by material job competition.

Austrian Socio-Economic Panel

As part of the scientific coordination of the Austrian Socio-Economic Panel, we work together with Statistics Austria to establish a long-term household survey collecting annual data on the same individuals, enabling research into how societal and personal changes affect people in Austria.

Teaching (Selected):

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