|
EconStor >
ifo Institut – Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München >
CESifo Working Papers, CESifo Group Munich >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19068
|
| | |
| Title: | | How important is discount rate heterogeneity for wealth inequality?  |
| Authors: | | Hendricks, Lutz |
| Issue Date: | | 2005 |
| Series/Report no.: | | CESifo working papers 1604 |
| Abstract: | | This paper investigates the role of discount rate heterogeneity for wealth inequality. The key idea is to infer the distribution of preference parameters from the observed age profile of wealth inequality. The contribution of preference heterogeneity to wealth inequality can then be measured using a quantitative life-cycle model. I find that discount rate heterogeneity increases the Gini coefficient of wealth by 0.06 to 0.11. The share of wealth held by the richest 1% of households rises by 0.03 to 0.13. The larger changes occur when altruistic bequests are large and when preferences are strongly persistent across generations. Discount rate heterogeneity also helps account for the large wealth inequality observed among households with similar lifetime earnings. |
| Subjects: | | wealth inequality preference heterogeneity |
| JEL: | | E2 |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | CESifo Working Papers, CESifo Group Munich
|
| |
| | |
Download bibliographical data as:
BibTeX
|
| |
Share on:http://hdl.handle.net/10419/19068
|
Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
|