Compensatory inter vivos gifts

Stefan Hochguertel () and Henry Ohlsson ()

No 31, Working Papers in Economics from Göteborg University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Empirical studies of intergenerational transfers usually find that bequests are equally divided among heirs while inter vivos gifts tend to be compensatory. Using the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we find that only 4% of parents who give, divide their gifts equally among their children. Estimating probit models, using family panels, we find that gifts are compensatory in the sense that a child is more likely to receive a gift if she works fewer hours and has lower income than than her brothers and sisters. These results carry over to the amounts given. Fixed effects Tobit estimations show that the fewer hours a child works and the lower her income is, the more the parents give. Gifts are compensatory. The empirical results are, therefore, consistent with the predictions of the altruistic model of intergenerational transfers.

Keywords: inter vivos gifts; altruism; compensatory transfers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 D64 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-10-31
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Related works:
Working Paper: Compensatory Inter Vivos Gifts (2007)
Working Paper: Compensatory Inter Vivos Gifts (2001)
Working Paper: Compensatory inter vivos gifts (2000)
Journal Article: Compensatory inter vivos gifts (2009)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0031

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