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Rotten spouses, family transfers and public goods

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  • Cremer, Helmuth
  • Roeder, Kerstin

Abstract

We show that once interfamily exchanges are considered, Becker?s rotten kids mechan- ism has some remarkable implications that have gone hitherto unnoticed. Specifically, we establish that Cornes and Silva's (1999) result of e¢fficiency in the contribution game amongst siblings extends to a setting where the contributors (spouses) belong to different families. More strikingly still, the mechanism does not just have consequences for efficiency but it may have dramatic redistributive implications. In particular, we show that the rotten kids mechanism combined with a contribution game to a house- hold public good may lead to an astonishing equalization of consumptions between the spouses and their parents, even when their parents'wealth levels differ. We consider two families, each consisting of a parent and an adult child, who are "linked"by the young spouses. Children contribute part of their time to a household (couple) public good and provide attention to their respective parents"in exchange"for a bequest. Spouses behave towards their respective parents like Becker's rotten kids; they are purely selfish and anticipate that their altruistic parents will leave them a bequest. The most striking results obtain when wages are equal and when parents'initial wealth levels are not too different. For very large wealth differences the mechanism must be supplemented by a (mandatory) transfer that brings them back into the relevant range. When wages differ but are similar the outcome will be near efficient (and near egalitarian).

Suggested Citation

  • Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2014. "Rotten spouses, family transfers and public goods," IDEI Working Papers 822, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
  • Handle: RePEc:ide:wpaper:27916
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    Cited by:

    1. Chien-Hao Fu, 2019. "Living arrangement and caregiving expectation: the effect of residential proximity on inter vivos transfer," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 247-275, January.
    2. Cigno, A., 2016. "Conflict and Cooperation Within the Family, and Between the State and the Family, in the Provision of Old-Age Security," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-660, Elsevier.
    3. João Ricardo Faria & Emilson Caputo Delfino Silva, 2020. "Leadership delegation in rotten kid families," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 441-460, April.
    4. Alessandro Cigno & Mizuki Komura & Annalisa Luporini, 2017. "Self-enforcing family rules, marriage and the (non)neutrality of public intervention," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 805-834, July.
    5. Oscar Erixson & Henry Ohlsson, 2019. "Estate division: equal sharing, exchange motives, and Cinderella effects," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1437-1480, October.
    6. João Ricardo Faria & Emilson C.D. Silva, 2017. "Optimal Timing in Rotten Kid Families," CESifo Working Paper Series 6333, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    rotten kids; altruism; private provision of public good; subgame perfect equilibrium; family aid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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