Mortality Risk and Bequests

Michael D Hurd

Econometrica, 1989, vol. 57, issue 4, 779-813

Abstract: A lifetime utility model, in which the date of death is uncertain and in which bequests give utility, is analyzed and estimated. The parameter estimates imply that most bequests are accidental, the result of mortality risk, and that the shape of the desired consumption path is sensitive to variations in mortality rates. On average, the elderly in the sample dissave, which is consistent with a life-cycle model in which utility does not depend on bequests. Copyright 1989 by The Econometric Society.

Date: 1989
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (412)

Downloads: (external link)
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0012-9682%2819890 ... O%3B2-3&origin=repec full text (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecm:emetrp:v:57:y:1989:i:4:p:779-813

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.economet ... ordering-back-issues

Access Statistics for this article

Econometrica is currently edited by Guido Imbens

More articles in Econometrica from Econometric Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().