Bequest Motives: A Comparison of Sweden and the United States

John Laitner and Henry Ohlsson ()
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John Laitner: University of Michigan, Postal: Department of Economics, Lorch Hall, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220, USA, ,

No 1998:16, Working Paper Series from Uppsala University, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper reviews four well--known theoretical models of private bequest behavior, notes their differing implications for public policy, and discusses a way of empirically discriminating among them. Then it implements the test with micro data from Sweden (LLS) and the U.S. (PSID). The so-called altruistic (or dynastic) model, which, among the four models, has perhaps the most wide-ranging implications for policy, receives some, though limited, support in the LLS, but not the PSID. The inter-country difference is statistically significant. There is evidence of a potential complication due to a dependence of children's education on parents financial status in the case of the U.S.

Keywords: accidental model; altruistic model; egoistic model; exchange model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D64 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mic and nep-pbe
Date: Written

Published in Journal of Public Economics, 2001, pages 205-236.

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Related works:
Working Paper: Bequest Motives: a Comparison of Sweden and the United States (1998)
Journal Article: Bequest motives: a comparison of Sweden and the United States (2001)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:uunewp:1998_016

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