Intergenerational Transfers in the Health and Retirement Study Data
Many economic analyses of public policy issues are based upon the life-cycle model of household behavior. The usual formulation omits private intergenerational transfers. This paper considers the possibility of a more sophisticated formulation that includes the latter. We examine 1992-2008 HRS data on inheritances and inter vivos gifts. We uncover an underreporting problem in the data: a household’s financial respondent often seems to understate transfers from his/her in-laws. Nevertheless, other aspects of the data seem very useful. About 30-40 percent of households eventually inherit. Inheritances seem to reflect a mixture of intentional and accidental bequests, with the latter twice as prevalent.
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| Length: | 37 pages |
| Date of creation: | Nov 2010 |
| Handle: | RePEc:mrr:papers:wp238 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Phone: (734) 615-0422 Fax: (734) 647-4575 Web page: http://www.mrrc.isr.umich.edu/publications/papers/ Email: More information through EDIRC
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References listed on IDEAS
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- William G. Gale & John Karl Scholz, 1994.
"Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth,"
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
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