Definition:
Risk transfer is the shifting of financial, legal, emotional, or material risk from institutions or systems onto individuals or less powerful parties.
Usage Context:
Seen in labour markets, platform economies, insurance models, welfare systems, subscription services, and contractual arrangements.
Critical Note:
Risk transfer is often framed as flexibility, choice, or efficiency. In practice, it concentrates security upward while dispersing uncertainty downward, leaving individuals to absorb shocks created by decisions they did not control.
Related Terms:
Asymmetric Risk, Precarious Labour, Power Imbalance, Responsibility Laundering, Institutional Self-Alignment