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Inter vivos transfers and bequests in three OECD countries
[‘Precautionary savings and accidental bequests’]

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  • Ernesto Villanueva

Abstract

Reforms reducing the generosity of pensions have distributional effects on future generations if individuals care about their descendants’ welfare, but only affect elderly individuals if bequests are the unintentional result of precautionary savings. And safety-net programmes such as unemployment insurance may displace sources of private help, such as that provided by living parents to their children in need. This paper provides comparable measures of how expected bequests and transfers vary with cumulated parental earnings in the United States, West Germany and the United Kingdom. The strength of bequest motives is empirically very weak in the available data. Private inter vivos transfers, which appear to depend on the recipients’ economic situation, are partly crowded out by public unemployment insurance programmes. Together, involuntary bequests and intentional inter vivos transfers appear to be an important channel of intergenerational inequality transmission, and strengthen substantially the relationship between an individual's and his parents’ economic status.— Ernesto Villanueva

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto Villanueva, 2005. "Inter vivos transfers and bequests in three OECD countries [‘Precautionary savings and accidental bequests’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 20(43), pages 506-565.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ecpoli:v:20:y:2005:i:43:p:506-565.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1468-0327.2005.00145.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Lex Borghans & Angela Lee Duckworth & James J. Heckman & Bas ter Weel, 2008. "The Economics and Psychology of Personality Traits," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(4).
    2. Caballé, Jordi & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2021. "Do aspirations reduce differences in wealth accumulation?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    3. James R. Hines & Niklas Potrafke & Marina Riem & Christoph Schinke, 2019. "Inter vivos transfers of ownership in family firms," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(2), pages 225-256, April.
    4. Edwin S. Wong, 2013. "Gender preference and transfers from parents to children: an inter-regional comparison," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 61-80, January.
    5. Costa-Font, Joan & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Do Public Caregiving Subsidies and Supports affect the Provision of Care and Transfers?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Emanuele Ciani & Claudio Deiana, 2016. "No Free Lunch, Buddy: Housing Transfers and Informal Care Later in Life," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0134, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    7. Juan Mora & Ana Moro-Egido, 2012. "Analyzing motives for money-transfers within families: the role of transfers for education," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 357-378, August.
    8. Mariacristina De Nardi & Giulio Fella & Gonzalo Paz Pardo, 2016. "The Implications of Richer Earnings Dynamics for Consumption and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 21917, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bonsang, Eric & Costa-Font, Joan, 2020. "Behavioral regularities in old age planning," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 297-300.
    10. Emanuele Ciani & Claudio Deiana, 2018. "No free lunch, buddy: past housing transfers and informal care later in life," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 971-1001, December.
    11. Fernandes Ana & Becker Sascha O & Bentolila Samuel & Ichino Andrea, 2008. "Income Insecurity and Youth Emancipation: A Theoretical Approach," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-42, July.
    12. Vivien Burrows & Chris Lennartz, 2021. "The timing of intergenerational transfers and household wealth: too little, too late?," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2021-11, Department of Economics, University of Reading.

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