This study examines whether public sector workers are more risk averse than those in the private sector and, if so, whether risk-averse individuals self-select themselves into the public sector or public employees become more risk averse during their career. Drawing on portfolio theory that individuals assemble their asset portfolio that maximizes expected return within an acceptable level of risk, this study analyzes 6276 South Korean employees' portfolio selection behaviors from 2000 to 2017. Findings show that public employees are likely to hold safer assets while those in the private sector tend to own riskier assets. Such behavioral heterogeneity is witnessed at the time of their first entrance into each sector and remains constant over their career. These results indicate that public employees' risk aversion is primarily a consequence of their self-selection, but their sector affiliation also plays a role in sustaining their risk aversion.

中文翻译：

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风险规避与公共部门就业

这项研究探讨了公共部门工作人员是否比私营部门工作人员更厌恶风险，如果是的话，厌恶风险的个人是否会自我选择进入公共部门，或者公共部门雇员在其职业生涯中是否会变得更加厌恶风险。本研究利用投资组合理论，即个人在可接受的风险水平内组合资产组合，以实现预期回报最大化，分析了 2000 年至 2017 年间 6276 名韩国雇员的投资组合选择行为。研究结果表明，公职人员可能持有更安全的资产，而其他人则可能持有更安全的资产。私营部门往往拥有风险较高的资产。这种行为的异质性在他们第一次进入每个行业时就已经可见，并且在他们的职业生涯中一直保持不变。这些结果表明，公职人员的风险厌恶主要是他们自我选择的结果，但他们的部门隶属关系也在维持他们的风险厌恶方面发挥了作用。