Planned and Unplanned Bequests

Daniel Hamermesh and Paul Menchik

Economic Inquiry, 1987, vol. 25, issue 1, 55-66

Abstract: The authors distinguish between bequests that are planned as part of a life time optimization process and those that are the unplanned result of errors in forecasting the date of death. Given the initial endowment, a positive relation b etween the bequest and the planning horizon, and a negative relation between unexpectedly long life and the bequest is expected. A unique data set on wealthy de cedents and their parents provides measures of expected horizons based on parents' longevity. Both predictions are confirmed, and there is an especially large and significant positive relation between the bequest and the length of the planning horizon. Copyright 1987 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 1987
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Working Paper: Planned and Unplanned Bequests (1984)
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