Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/125166 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 202
Publisher: 
University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn
Abstract: 
We present and test the idea that bequest planning is linked with the experience of inheriting. We consider "a family tradition of bequeathing" as a channel through which the intention to bequeath is molded by and is positively correlated with the experience of inheriting. We use data from the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to test whether, other things held constant, inheriting has a positive influence on the intention to bequeath. We find that the experience of inheriting enhances the intension to bequeath as redicted by the family tradition model, independently of the positive impact of wealth. We also find that the expectation of inheriting has a positive impact on the intention to bequeath, controlling for the expected increase in wealth on account of future inheritances. Apparently, it is not the financial means that inheritance provides which account for its impact on the intention to bequeath; it is rather the family tradition of bequeathing instilled through inheriting.
Subjects: 
intergenerational transfers
bequest behavior
experience of inheriting
expectation of inheriting
Intention to bequeath
family tradition
JEL: 
D02
D03
D19
D64
H31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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