Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/20351 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 1116
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The paper aims to ascertain whether voluntary money transfers may be explained by the existence of self-enforcing family constitutions. We identify a circumstance in which an agent will behave differently if she is optimizing subject to a family constitution, than if she is moved by either altruistic or exchange motivations. The circumstance is the presence of a binding credit ration, which may raise the probability of making a money transfer (and the amount of money transferred) if a family constitution exists, but will have the opposite effect if the transfer is either a gift, or payments for services rendered. Allowing for possible endogeneity, we find that rationing has a positive effect on the probability of giving money, and on the amount given, if the potential giver is under the age of retirement and has children, but no significant effect if the person has no children, or is over the retirement age. This rejects the hypothesis that money transfers are motivated by either altruistic or straight exchange motives, but not the one that these transfers are governed by family constitutions.
Subjects: 
family constitution
altruism
exchange
private transfers
personal services
JEL: 
J14
J13
D13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
388.37 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.