IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dpr/wpaper/1256.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Intergenerational Transfers on the Distribution of Wealth: An International Comparison

Author

Listed:
  • Charles Yuji Horioka

Abstract

In this paper, I analyze detailed data on intergenerational transfers in 4 countries (China, India, Japan, and the United States) from the “Japan Household Panel Survey on Consumer Preferences and Satisfaction (JHPS-CPS)” which has been conducted by the Institute of Social and Economic Research of Osaka University in these 4 countries since 2003, in order to shed light on the impact of intergenerational transfers on household wealth disparities and on possible reasons for the substantial differences in household wealth disparities among the 4 countries. Almost all of the evidence I present suggests that intergenerational transfers have a disequalizing impact on household wealth disparities and promote the transmission of household wealth disparities from generation to generation in all 4 countries although the magnitude of these effects varies considerably from country to country. Moreover, the evidence I present sheds considerable light on possible reasons for the substantial differences in household wealth disparities among the 4 countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Yuji Horioka, 2024. "The Impact of Intergenerational Transfers on the Distribution of Wealth: An International Comparison," ISER Discussion Paper 1256, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    • Handle: RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.iser.osaka-u.ac.jp/library/dp/2024/DP1256.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Junya Hamaaki & Masahiro Hori & Keiko Murata, 2014. "Intergenerational Transfers and Asset Inequality in Japan: Empirical Evidence from New Survey Data," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 41-62, March.
    2. Bossmann, Martin & Kleiber, Christian & Walde, Klaus, 2007. "Bequests, taxation and the distribution of wealth in a general equilibrium model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(7-8), pages 1247-1271, August.
    3. Simon H. Boserup & Wojciech Kopczuk & Claus T. Kreiner, 2016. "The Role of Bequests in Shaping Wealth Inequality: Evidence from Danish Wealth Records," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 656-661, May.
    4. Audrey Light & Kathleen McGarry, 2004. "Why Parents Play Favorites: Explanations for Unequal Bequests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1669-1681, December.
    5. Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2009. "Do bequests increase or decrease wealth inequalities?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 23-25, April.
    6. Mariacristina De Nardi, 2004. "Wealth Inequality and Intergenerational Links," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(3), pages 743-768.
    7. Elinder, Mikael & Erixson, Oscar & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Inheritance and wealth inequality: Evidence from population registers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 17-30.
    8. Edward N. Wolff, 2002. "Inheritances and Wealth Inequality, 1989–1998," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 260-264, May.
    9. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1979. "An Equilibrium Theory of the Distribution of Income and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(6), pages 1153-1189, December.
    10. Eleni Karagiannaki, 2017. "The Impact of Inheritance on the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from Great Britain," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(2), pages 394-408, June.
    11. Charles Horioka, 2014. "Are Americans and Indians more altruistic than the Japanese and Chinese? Evidence from a new international survey of bequest plans," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 411-437, September.
    12. Yoko Niimi, 2019. "The Effect of the Recent Inheritance Tax Reform on Bequest Behaviour in Japan," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(1), pages 45-70, March.
    13. N. Anders Klevmarken, 2004. "On The Wealth Dynamics Of Swedish Families, 1984–98," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 50(4), pages 469-491, December.
    14. Wolff, Edward N., 2015. "Inheriting Wealth in America: Future Boom or Bust?," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199353958.
    15. Yoko Niimi & Charles Yuji Horioka, 2018. "The impact of intergenerational transfers on wealth inequality in Japan and the United States," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(8), pages 2042-2066, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Elinder, Mikael & Erixson, Oscar & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Inheritance and wealth inequality: Evidence from population registers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 17-30.
    2. Niimi, Yoko & Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2016. "The Impact of Intergenerational Transfers on Household Wealth Inequality in Japan and the United States," AGI Working Paper Series 2016-20, Asian Growth Research Institute.
    3. Ono, Taiki, 2024. "Bequests and wealth inequality in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Davies, James B. & Lluberas, Rodrigo & Waldenström, Daniel, 2024. "Long-Term Trends in the Distribution of Wealth and Inheritance," Working Paper Series 1502, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    5. Caballé, Jordi & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2021. "Do aspirations reduce differences in wealth accumulation?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. von Werder, Marten, 2018. "Intergenerational transfers: How do they shape the German wealth distribution?," Discussion Papers 2018/15, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    7. Oscar Erixson & Henry Ohlsson, 2019. "Estate division: equal sharing, exchange motives, and Cinderella effects," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1437-1480, October.
    8. Berenice Anne Neumann & Niklas Scheuer, 2024. "The Impact of Bequest Taxation on Wealth Inequality - Theory and Evidence," Research Papers in Economics 2024-05, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    9. Brian Nolan & Juan C. Palomino & Philippe Van Kerm & Salvatore Morelli, 2022. "Intergenerational wealth transfers in Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey in comparative perspective," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(2), pages 179-199, June.
    10. Brian Nolan & Juan Palomino & Philippe Van Kerm & Salvatore Morelli, 2020. "Intergenerational Transfers by Size and Wealth Inequality in Rich Countries," CSEF Working Papers 578, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    11. Reichlin, Pietro, 2018. "Socially Optimal Wealth Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 12873, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Eleni Karagiannaki, 2017. "The Impact of Inheritance on the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from Great Britain," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(2), pages 394-408, June.
    13. Mengyuan Zhou, 2022. "Does the Source of Inheritance Matter in Bequest Attitudes? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 867-887, December.
    14. Hongyao Wei & Zhengyi Yang, 2022. "The Impact of Inheritance on the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 234-262, March.
    15. Adrian Adermon & Mikael Lindahl & Daniel Waldenström, 2018. "Intergenerational Wealth Mobility and the Role of Inheritance: Evidence from Multiple Generations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 482-513, July.
    16. Mengyuan Zhou, 2019. "The Effect of the Source of Inheritance on Bequest Attitudes: Evidence from Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2019-018, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    17. Pedro Salas-Rojo & Juan Gabriel Rodríguez, 2022. "Inheritances and wealth inequality: a machine learning approach," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 27-51, March.
    18. Bönke, Timm & Werder, Marten v. & Westermeier, Christian, 2017. "How inheritances shape wealth distributions: An international comparison," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 217-220.
    19. Kudła Janusz & Woźniak Rafał & Walczyk Konrad & Dudek Maciej & Kruszewski Robert, 2023. "Determinants of inheritance and gifts taxation in the European Union," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 59(3), pages 225-242, September.
    20. Bertrand Garbinti & Frédérique Savignac, 2020. "Accounting for Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in France over the 20th Century: Method and Estimations," Working papers 776, Banque de France.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    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:dpr:wpaper:1256. 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: Librarian (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/isosujp.html .

    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.