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How inheritances shape wealth distributions: An international comparison

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  • Bönke, Timm
  • Werder, Marten v.
  • Westermeier, Christian

Abstract

We use data from the European Household Finance and Consumption Survey in order to examine the distributional effect of intergenerational wealth transfers on the net worth distribution in 8 European countries and compare it to recent findings for the US. To do so, we resort to the decomposition of the coefficient of variation as suggested and applied by Wolff (1987, 2002, 2015) and Wolff and Gittleman (2014). The results seem to imply that inheritances and gifts have a vastly equalizing effect on inequality in household wealth in all 8 countries.

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  • Bönke, Timm & Werder, Marten v. & Westermeier, Christian, 2017. "How inheritances shape wealth distributions: An international comparison," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 217-220.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:159:y:2017:i:c:p:217-220
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.08.007
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    1. Piketty, Thomas & Postel-Vinay, Gilles & Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent, 2014. "Inherited vs self-made wealth: Theory & evidence from a rentier society (Paris 1872–1927)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 21-40.
    2. Edward Wolff & Maury Gittleman, 2014. "Inheritances and the distribution of wealth or whatever happened to the great inheritance boom?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(4), pages 439-468, December.
    3. Corneo Giacomo & Bönke Timm & Westermeier Christian, 2016. "Erbschaft und Eigenleistung im Vermögen der Deutschen: Eine Verteilungsanalyse," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 35-53, April.
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    6. Elinder, Mikael & Erixson, Oscar & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Inheritance and wealth inequality: Evidence from population registers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 17-30.
    7. Mathias Moser & Stefan Humer & Matthias Schnetzer, 2016. "Bequests and the accumulation of wealth in the Eurozone," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 149, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
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    9. Tiefensee, Anita & Grabka, Markus M., 2016. "Comparing Wealth - Data Quality of the HFCS," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 119-142.
    10. Pirmin Fessler & Martin Schürz, 2018. "Private Wealth Across European Countries: The Role of Income, Inheritance and the Welfare State," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 521-549, October.
    11. Kotlikoff, Laurence J & Summers, Lawrence H, 1981. "The Role of Intergenerational Transfers in Aggregate Capital Accumulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 706-732, August.
    12. Edward N. Wolff, 2002. "Inheritances and Wealth Inequality, 1989–1998," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 260-264, May.
    13. Philip Vermeulen, 2018. "How Fat is the Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 357-387, June.
    14. Anita Tiefensee & Christian Westermeier, 2016. "Intergenerational Transfers and Wealth in the Euro-Area: The Relevance of Inheritances and Gifts in Absolute and Relative Terms," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1556, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Elinder, Mikael & Erixson, Oscar & Waldenström, Daniel, 2018. "Inheritance and wealth inequality: Evidence from population registers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 17-30.
    2. Martin Beznoska & Tobias Hentze & Maximilian Stockhausen, 2020. "The inheritance and gift tax in Germany: Reform potentials for tax revenue, efficiency and distribution," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 44(3), pages 385-417.
    3. Sommer, Eric, 2017. "Wealth Transfers and Tax Planning: Evidence for the German Bequest Tax," IZA Discussion Papers 11120, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Lawless, Martina & Lynch, Donal, 2017. "Gifts and inheritances in Ireland," Papers WP579, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    5. Charlotte Bartels & Carsten Schroeder, 2020. "The role of rental income, real estate and rents for inequality in Germany," Working Papers 7, Forum New Economy.
    6. von Werder, Marten, 2018. "Intergenerational transfers: How do they shape the German wealth distribution?," Discussion Papers 2018/15, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    7. Stefan Jestl, 2021. "Inheritance tax regimes: a comparison," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 45(3), pages 363-385.
    8. Nolan, Brian & Palomino, Juan C. & Van Kerm, Philippe & Morelli, Salvatore, 2021. "Intergenerational wealth transfers and wealth inequality in rich countries: What do we learn from Gini decomposition?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    9. Stefan Jestl, 2018. "Inheritance tax regimes," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 176, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    10. Bavaro, Michele & Boscolo, Stefano & Tedeschi, Simone, 2024. "Simulating Long-Run Wealth Distribution and Transmission: The Role of Intergenerational Transfers," INET Oxford Working Papers 2024-01, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inheritance; Household wealth; Inequality; Decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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