Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/148207 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
ISER Discussion Paper No. 980
Publisher: 
Osaka University, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Osaka
Abstract: 
To help shed light on the implications of intergenerational transfers for wealth inequality, this paper examines whether or not individuals who receive intergenerational transfers from their parents are more likely to leave bequests to their children than those who do not using data for Japan and the United States. The estimation results show that the receipt of intergenerational transfers from parents and/or parents-in-law increases the likelihood of individuals' leaving bequests to their own children in both Japan and the United States, which in turn is likely to contribute to the persistence or widening of wealth disparities. However, such a tendency is found to be stronger among less better-off households in both countries, and this may help alleviate the disequalizing effect of intergenerational transfers on the distribution of wealth, at least to some extent.
Subjects: 
bequests
education
inheritances
intergenerational transfers
inter vivos transfers
wealth distribution
wealth inequality
JEL: 
D10
D31
D64
E21
I24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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