I am a quantitative economic sociologist working as a researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies and as a post doc/ assistant professor at the Institute for Sociology at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. 

My research spans three substantial areas: social mobility, social trust, and migration. I use lab, field, and online experiments as well as survey research to study the questions I am interested in. 

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, and Journal of Public Economics. 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. 2023. Leaving the Bike Unlocked: Trust Discrimination in Inter-Ethnic Encounters. European Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad045

Kanitsar, Georg, Pfaff Katharina. 2023. Is Football Coming Out? Anti-Gay Attitudes, Social Desirability, and Pluralistic Ignorance. Social Science Research. 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

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.    


Behavioral Barriers Impede Pro-Environmental Decision-Making: Experimental Evidence from Incentivized Lab and Vignette Studies 

In this paper, we explore determinants of the environmental value-action gap focusing on the role of three behavioral barriers using incentivized online laboratory and vignette experiments.

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+