The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth

The purpose of this paper is to review what economists know at present about the following question: How large a portion of the existing wealth is the result of a bequest motive, that is, of accumulation for the specific purpose of leaving bequests? But first I will clarify why an answer to this que...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Journal of economic perspectives Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 15 - 40
Main Author:	Modigliani, Franco
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Nashville, Tenn The American Economic Association 01-04-1988 American Economic Association
Subjects:	Age Bequests Consumer economics Consumption Economic motivation Economic theory Estimation methods Hypotheses Income transfer Life cycle hypothesis Life cycle savings Life cycles Retirement Savings Symposia: Explaining Savings Taxation Wealth
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	The purpose of this paper is to review what economists know at present about the following question: How large a portion of the existing wealth is the result of a bequest motive, that is, of accumulation for the specific purpose of leaving bequests? But first I will clarify why an answer to this question is of interest.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23
ISSN:	0895-3309 1944-7965
DOI:	10.1257/jep.2.2.15