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Funeral Costs, Saving Behaviour and HIV/AIDS

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Author Info
Sandra Freire () (TEAM)
Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to highlight that funeral costs matter in households' decisions. In particular they do matter in the understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS on households' wealth in developing countries. Nevertheless the magnitude of the implications on households through the channel of funerals depends deeply on funeral social norms and on individual characteristics. Four funeral motives household models are drawn in order to understand the complex relationship between households' wellbeing, funerals and HIV/AIDS. They differ in the existence of funeral social norms and in two specific funeral motives, joy of proper funeral or altruistic funeral motive. A preliminary analysis of the Centre for Health Systems Research & Development survey on socioeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS in South Africa illustrates first that funeral costs alter the long term behaviour of households. Then it suggests that HIV/AIDS changes the funeral behaviour in particular by lowering life expectancies. A relative funeral social norm rather than an absolute on influences the magnitude of funeral expenses. Finally, households appear to behave according to the joy of proper funeral motive rather than the altruistic funeral motive.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1) in its series Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques with number bla04092.

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Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mse:wpsorb:bla04092

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Related research
Keywords: HIV/AIDS; saving behaviour; household; decision theory; optimal control; funerals.;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  4. Abel, Andrew B & Warshawsky, Mark, 1988. "Specification of the Joy of Giving: Insights from Altruism," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(1), pages 145-49, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
  6. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1984. "Consumption During Retirement: The Missing Link in the Life Cycle," NBER Working Papers 0930, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. William G. Gale & John Karl Scholz, 1991. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth," UCLA Economics Working Papers 624, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Gersovitz, Mark, 1988. "Saving and development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery† & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 381-424 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Levhari, David & Mirman, Leonard J, 1977. "Savings and Consumption with an Uncertain Horizon," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(2), pages 265-81, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Musgrove, Philip, 1979. "Permanent Household Income and Consumption in Urban South America," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(3), pages 355-68, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Flavin, Marjorie A, 1981. "The Adjustment of Consumption to Changing Expectations about Future Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 974-1009, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Shorrocks, Anthony F, 1979. "On the Structure of Inter-generational Transfers between Families," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 46(184), pages 415-25, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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