Heterogeneous bequests and social inequalities

Kirill Borissov, Stefano Bosi, Thai Ha-Huy and Mikhail Pakhnin

Macroeconomic Dynamics, 2025, vol. 29, -

Abstract: We study a growth model with two types of agents who are heterogeneous in their degree of family altruism. We prove that every equilibrium path of consumption, bequests, and capital converges to a unique steady state and study the effect of altruism on the properties of steady-state equilibrium. We show that aggregate income is positively related to both level of altruism and altruism heterogeneity. When altruism heterogeneity is low or moderate, income inequality follows an inverse U-shaped pattern relative to the level of altruism. These observations are consistent with the cross-country Kuznets curve linking different steady-state levels of income to steady-state levels of inequality. When altruism heterogeneity is high, income inequality decreases with the level of altruism. Our results suggest that heterogeneous altruism is a possible mechanism linking economic growth and income inequality.

Date: 2025
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Related works:
Working Paper: Heterogeneous Bequests and Social Inequalities (2023)
Working Paper: Heterogeneous bequests and social inequalities (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:macdyn:v:29:y:2025:i::p:-_67

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