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Private intergenerational contact in France and the demonstration effect

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  • Francois-Charles Wolff

Abstract

This study analyses motives for intergenerational contact from adult children to their middle-aged parents. If these transfers may be explained either by altruism or by exchange, we mainly focus on the demonstration effect where households take care of their own parents in order to elicit a future support from their children. We test the model using a cross-sectional survey from 1992 about private transfers in France. According to the data, the presence of children increases the amount of visits that respondents provide to their parents and the econometric results still hold after controlling for unobserved familial heterogeneity using fixed effects. Although this empirical evidence is consistent with the demonstration effect, we suggest an alternative interpretation for the positive correlation based on the care of grandchildren.

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  • Francois-Charles Wolff, 2001. "Private intergenerational contact in France and the demonstration effect," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 143-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:33:y:2001:i:2:p:143-153
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840122181
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    1. Joseph G. Altonji & Fumio Hayashi & Laurence Kotlikoff, "undated". "The Effects of Income and Wealth on Time and MOney Transfers Between Parents and Children," IPR working papers 96-5, Institute for Policy Resarch at Northwestern University.
    2. Martin Browning, 2000. "The Saving Behaviour of a Two‐person Household," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(2), pages 235-251, June.
    3. Donald Cox & Oded Stark, 1993. "Intergenerational Transfers And Demonstration Effect," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 244, Boston College Department of Economics.
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    1. Jellal, Mohamed, 2009. "Family Institution and Filial Attention Contract," MPRA Paper 17713, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Wolff, Francois-Charles & Laferrere, Anne, 2006. "Microeconomic models of family transfers," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 13, pages 889-969, Elsevier.
    3. Jellal, Mohamed & Wolff, Francois-Charles, 2002. "Cultural evolutionary altruism: theory and evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 241-262, June.
    4. Jen Shang & Rachel Croson, 2009. "A Field Experiment in Charitable Contribution: The Impact of Social Information on the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(540), pages 1422-1439, October.
    5. Leonardo Becchetti & Maurizio Fiaschetti & Francesco Salustri, 2017. "The Impact of Cash Mobs in the Vote with the Wallet Game: Experimental Results," CEIS Research Paper 401, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 18 Apr 2017.
    6. José Giménez-Nadal & Miriam Marcén & Raquel Ortega, 2012. "Substitution and Presence Effects of Children on Mothers’ Adult Care Time," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 2-10, March.
    7. Arrondel, Luc & Masson, Andre, 2006. "Altruism, exchange or indirect reciprocity: what do the data on family transfers show?," Handbook on the Economics of Giving, Reciprocity and Altruism, in: S. Kolm & Jean Mercier Ythier (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Giving, Altruism and Reciprocity, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 971-1053, Elsevier.
    8. Ken Yamada, 2006. "Intra-family transfers in Japan: intergenerational co-residence, distance, and contact," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(16), pages 1839-1861.
    9. Jellal, Mohamed, 2014. "Family attention care and transfers," MPRA Paper 57897, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Jellal, Mohamed & Wolff, Francois-Charles, 2000. "Shaping intergenerational relationships: the demonstration effect," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 255-261, September.
    11. Mohamed Jellal & François-Charles Wolff, 2005. "Dynamique des transferts intergénérationnels et effet de démonstration," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 77, pages 81-107.
    12. Donald Cox & Oded Stark, 2007. "On the Demand for Grandchildren: Tied Transfers and the Demonstration Effect," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Pier Luigi Porta (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Happiness, chapter 18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Marta Melguizo Garde, 2007. "La motivación de las transmisiones lucrativas entre generaciones de una familia: modelos teóricos y evidencia empírica," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 181(2), pages 81-118, June.
    14. Meliyanni Johar & Shiko Maruyama & Sayaka Nakamura, 2015. "Reciprocity in the Formation of Intergenerational Coresidence," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 192-209, June.
    15. Mohamed Jellal & François-Charles Wolff, 2003. "Solidarités familiales par la démonstration," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 54(4), pages 785-810.
    16. Emanuele Ciani & Claudio Deiana, 2018. "No free lunch, buddy: past housing transfers and informal care later in life," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 971-1001, December.
    17. Wolff, François-Charles, 2006. "Les transferts ascendants au Bangladesh, une décision familiale?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 82(1), pages 271-316, mars-juin.
    18. Mitrut, Andreea & Wolff, François-Charles, 2009. "A causal test of the demonstration effect theory," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 52-54, April.

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