IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v35y2017icp37-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Legacies of homeownership: Housing wealth and bequests

Author

Listed:
  • Begley, Jaclene

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of housing price shocks during the recent housing boom and bust on the bequest behavior of older homeowners. Prior studies find that illiquid assets have a strong expected influence on bequests, which suggests volatile housing markets will alter household bequest expectations, particularly since housing is generally the largest share of household wealth. I calculate shocks to housing wealth as the deviation in values from their growth trend over the last three years, and I exploit the geographic variation in housing market volatility to explore the relationship between housing value shocks and bequest expectations over the housing boom and bust. I find that housing price shocks, and especially negative shocks, have a consistent influence on bequest expectations for homeowners, particularly for older homeowners, and for those without stocks. A complementary analysis of elasticities also reveals a larger influence of housing values on bequests than other forms of wealth.

Suggested Citation

  • Begley, Jaclene, 2017. "Legacies of homeownership: Housing wealth and bequests," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 37-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:35:y:2017:i:c:p:37-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2016.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137715300103
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2016.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Case Karl E. & Quigley John M. & Shiller Robert J., 2005. "Comparing Wealth Effects: The Stock Market versus the Housing Market," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-34, May.
    2. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas & Joulfaian, David & Rosen, Harvey S, 1994. "Sticking It Out: Entrepreneurial Survival and Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(1), pages 53-75, February.
    3. Engelhardt, Gary V. & Mayer, Christopher J., 1998. "Intergenerational Transfers, Borrowing Constraints, and Saving Behavior: Evidence from the Housing Market," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 135-157, July.
    4. Jonathan D. Fisher & David S. Johnson & Joseph T. Marchand & Timothy M. Smeeding & Barbara Boyle Torrey, 2007. "No Place Like Home: Older Adults and Their Housing," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(2), pages 120-128.
    5. Helmut Rainer & Ian Smith, 2010. "Staying together for the sake of the home?: house price shocks and partnership dissolution in the UK," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(3), pages 557-574, July.
    6. Goodman, John Jr. & Ittner, John B., 1992. "The accuracy of home owners' estimates of house value," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 339-357, December.
    7. Case, Karl E. & Quigley, John M. & Shiller, Robert J., 2013. "Wealth Effects Revisited 1975-2012," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 2(1), pages 101-128, July.
    8. Bostic, Raphael & Gabriel, Stuart & Painter, Gary, 2009. "Housing wealth, financial wealth, and consumption: New evidence from micro data," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 79-89, January.
    9. Edward N. Wolff & Maury Gittleman, 2011. "Inheritances and the Distribution of Wealth or Whatever Happened to the Great Inheritance Boom? Results from the SCF and PSID," NBER Working Papers 16840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Painter, Gary & Lee, KwanOk, 2009. "Housing tenure transitions of older households: Life cycle, demographic, and familial factors," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 749-760, November.
    11. Elwin Tobing, 2012. "How do housing wealth effects vary with age?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(7), pages 649-652, May.
    12. Edward Wolff & Maury Gittleman, 2014. "Inheritances and the distribution of wealth or whatever happened to the great inheritance boom?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(4), pages 439-468, December.
    13. Michael Hurd & James P. Smith, 2002. "Expected Bequests and Their Distribution," NBER Working Papers 9142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Eun Kim & Sherman Hanna & Swarn Chatterjee & Suzanne Lindamood, 2012. "Who Among the Elderly Owns Stocks? The Role of Cognitive Ability and Bequest Motive," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 338-352, September.
    15. Engelhardt, Gary V., 1996. "House prices and home owner saving behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3-4), pages 313-336, June.
    16. Juster, F. Thomas & Smith, James P. & Stafford, Frank, 1999. "The measurement and structure of household wealth," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 253-275, June.
    17. James M. Poterba & Andrew A. Samwick, 1995. "Stock Ownership Patterns, Stock Market Fluctuations, and Consumption," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(2), pages 295-372.
    18. Todd Sinai, 2012. "House Price Moments in Boom-Bust Cycles," NBER Chapters, in: Housing and the Financial Crisis, pages 19-68, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Seymour Spilerman & Francois-Charles Wolff, 2012. "Parental wealth and resource transfers: How they matter in France for home ownership and living standards," Post-Print hal-03914532, HAL.
    20. Jeffrey R. Brown & Courtney C. Coile & Scott J. Weisbenner, 2010. "The Effect of Inheritance Receipt on Retirement," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 425-434, May.
    21. Signe-Mary McKernan & Caroline Ratcliffe & Margaret Simms & Sisi Zhang, 2014. "Do Racial Disparities in Private Transfers Help Explain the Racial Wealth Gap? New Evidence From Longitudinal Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 949-974, June.
    22. Skinner, Jonathan, 1989. "Housing wealth and aggregate saving," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 305-324, May.
    23. Michael F. Lovenheim, 2011. "The Effect of Liquid Housing Wealth on College Enrollment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(4), pages 741-771.
    24. Michael F. Lovenheim & Kevin J. Mumford, 2013. "Do Family Wealth Shocks Affect Fertility Choices? Evidence from the Housing Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 464-475, May.
    25. Katherine A. Kiel & Jeffrey E. Zabel, 1999. "The Accuracy of Owner‐Provided House Values: The 1978–1991 American Housing Survey," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 27(2), pages 263-298, June.
    26. Edward C Hoang, 2016. "House Prices and Bequests," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 415-427, June.
    27. McGarry, Kathleen, 1999. "Inter vivos transfers and intended bequests," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 321-351, September.
    28. Alicia H. Munnell & Anthony Webb & Zhenya Karamcheva & Andrew Eschtruth, 2011. "How Important Are Intergenerational Transfers for Baby Boomers?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2011-2, Center for Retirement Research, revised Jan 2011.
    29. Benjamin M. Friedman & Mark J. Warshawsky, 1990. "The Cost of Annuities: Implications for Saving Behavior and Bequests," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(1), pages 135-154.
    30. John Ameriks & Andrew Caplin & Steven Laufer & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2011. "The Joy of Giving or Assisted Living? Using Strategic Surveys to Separate Public Care Aversion from Bequest Motives," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 519-561, April.
    31. Engelhardt, Gary V., 2003. "Nominal loss aversion, housing equity constraints, and household mobility: evidence from the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 171-195, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daepp, Madeleine I.G. & Bunten, Devin Michelle & Hsu, Joanne W., 2023. "The Effect of Racial Composition on Neighborhood Housing Prices: Evidence from Hurricane Katrina-Induced Migration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    2. Atalay, Kadir & Edwards, Rebecca, 2022. "House prices, housing wealth and financial well-being," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. James Conklin & Kristopher Gerardi & Lauren Lambie-Hanson, 2022. "Can Everyone Tap Into the Housing Piggy Bank? Racial Disparities in Access to Home Equity," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2022-17, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    4. Jermaine Toney & Darrick Hamilton, 2022. "Economic insecurity in the family tree and the racial wealth gap," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 539-574, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shinichiro Iwata & Michio Naoi, 2017. "The asymmetric housing wealth effect on childbirth," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1373-1397, December.
    2. Lingxiao Zhao & Gregory Burge, 2017. "Housing Wealth, Property Taxes, and Labor Supply among the Elderly," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 227-263.
    3. Fu, Shihe & Liao, Yu & Zhang, Junfu, 2016. "The effect of housing wealth on labor force participation: Evidence from China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-69.
    4. Sheng Guo & William G. Hardin, 2017. "Financial and Housing Wealth, Expenditures and the Dividend to Ownership," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 58-96, January.
    5. Bhatia, Kul & Mitchell, Chris, 2016. "Household-specific housing capital gains and consumption: Evidence from Canadian microdata," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 19-33.
    6. Begley, Jaclene & Chan, Sewin, 2018. "The effect of housing wealth shocks on work and retirement decisions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 180-195.
    7. Atalay, Kadir & Edwards, Rebecca, 2022. "House prices, housing wealth and financial well-being," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    8. Benítez-Silva, Hugo & Eren, Selçuk & Heiland, Frank & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi, 2015. "How well do individuals predict the selling prices of their homes?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 12-25.
    9. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2012. "Taxation of Intergenerational Transfers and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 18584, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Robert F. Martin, 2003. "Consumption, durable goods, and transaction costs," International Finance Discussion Papers 756, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    11. Khalifa, Sherif & Seck, Ousmane & Tobing, Elwin, 2013. "Housing wealth effect: Evidence from threshold estimation," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 25-35.
    12. Case Karl E. & Quigley John M. & Shiller Robert J., 2005. "Comparing Wealth Effects: The Stock Market versus the Housing Market," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-34, May.
    13. Esra Alp Coskun & Nicholas Apergis & Yener Coskun, 2022. "Threshold effects of housing affordability and financial development on the house price‐consumption nexus," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 1785-1806, April.
    14. Yener Coskun & Burak Sencer Atasoy & Giacomo Morri & Esra Alp, 2018. "Wealth Effects on Household Final Consumption: Stock and Housing Market Channels," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-32, June.
    15. Mairead Roiste & Apostolos Fasianos & Robert Kirkby & Fang Yao, 2021. "Are Housing Wealth Effects Asymmetric in Booms and Busts?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 578-628, May.
    16. Chuanyong Zhang & Guoliang Feng, 2018. "More wealth, less leisure? Effect of housing wealth on tourism expenditure in China," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(5), pages 526-540, August.
    17. Bostic, Raphael & Gabriel, Stuart & Painter, Gary, 2009. "Housing wealth, financial wealth, and consumption: New evidence from micro data," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 79-89, January.
    18. Suari-Andreu, Eduard, 2021. "Housing and household consumption: An investigation of the wealth and collateral effects," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    19. Yener Coskun & Christos Bouras & Rangan Gupta & Mark E. Wohar, 2021. "Multi-Horizon Financial and Housing Wealth Effects across the U.S. States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Stijn Dreesen & Sven Damen, 2023. "The accuracy of homeowners’ valuations in the twenty-first century," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 513-566, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing markets; Homeownership; Wealth; Bequests; Older adults;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • R20 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - General
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:35:y:2017:i:c:p:37-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622881 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.