On the long-run fluctuations of inheritance in two-sector OLG models

Florian Pelgrin and Alain Venditti

Journal of Mathematical Economics, 2022, vol. 101, issue C

Abstract: This paper provides a long-run cycle perspective to explain the behavior of the annual flow of inheritance. Based on the low- and medium frequency properties of long time bequests series in Sweden, France, UK, and Germany, we explore the extent to which a two-sector Barro-type OLG model is consistent with such empirical regularities. As long as agents are sufficiently impatient and preferences are non-separable, we show that endogenous fluctuations are likely to occur through two mechanisms, which can generate independently or together either period-2 cycles or Hopf bifurcations. The first mechanism relies on the elasticity of intertemporal substitution or equivalently the sign of the cross-derivative of the utility function whereas the second rests on sectoral technologies through the sign of the capital intensity difference across two sectors. Furthermore, building on the quasi-palindromic nature of the degree-4 characteristic equation, we derive some meaningful sufficient conditions associated to the occurrence of complex roots and a Hopf bifurcation in a two-sector OLG model.

Keywords: Two-sector overlapping generations model; Altruism; Bequest; Endogenous fluctuations; Quasi-palindromic polynomial; Periodic and quasi-periodic cycles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C62 E32 O41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Working Paper: On the long-run fluctuations of inheritance in two-sector OLG models (2022)
Working Paper: On the long-run fluctuations of inheritance in two-sector OLG models (2020)
Working Paper: On the long-run fluctuations of inheritance in two-sector OLG models (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:mateco:v:101:y:2022:i:c:s030440682200026x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmateco.2022.102670

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