Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/322373 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
NBB Working Paper No. 476
Publisher: 
National Bank of Belgium, Brussels
Abstract: 
Drawing on two data sources from across Europe, we show that both bequest motives of parents and children's gender composition shape unequal divisions of bequests. First, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe reveals that observed bequests are divided unequally when children differ in sex, caregiving, or income, with bequest motives strongest among mixed-sex children. Second, in a vignette experiment featuring alternative bequest motive scenarios and randomised gender compositions for two fictitious children, hypothetical bequests are most unequally divided under the exchange motive while children's gender composition matters more under the altruistic motive. Fictitious parents favour daughters regardless of deservingness, granting the highest bequest share to a deserving daughter with a brother. In return, these patterns reinforce traditional gender norms.
Subjects: 
Bequest
Intergenerational transfers
Gender
Vignette Experiment
Deservingness
Altruism
Exchange
Europe
HFCS
SHARE
JEL: 
H24
D31
D63
E62
H53
E25
J23
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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