Bequests and family traditions: the case of nineteenth century France

Luc Arrondel and Cyril Grange ()
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Cyril Grange: CRM - Centre de Recherche Roland Mousnier Histoire et Civilisation - EPHE - École Pratique des Hautes Études - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - UP4 - Université Paris-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: Like father, like son: is the bequest behavior of children "inherited" from that of their parents? Most economic models (altruistic, paternalistic or exchange models) postulate that bequest behavior does not depend per se on parents' behavior. Yet because of data limitations, few empirical studies have analyzed the link between bequests left and inheritances received. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of inheritance relative to lifetime income on the amount that individuals bequeath, in the case of France. This study uses original historical data including wealth genealogies covering the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries for the Loire Inférieure département. Empirical evidence suggests that the propensity to bequeath is much greater for inheritance than for human resources: a deceased having inherited twice the average wealth leaves 35–60 % more to his own heirs that the average for his generation. In nineteenth century France, bequests are explained more by inheritance received than by personal savings per se.

Keywords: Indirect reciprocities; Wealth transmission; Intergenerational transfers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Review of Economics of the Household, 2014, 12 (3), pp.439-459. ⟨10.1007/s11150-013-9216-7⟩

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Journal Article: Bequests and family traditions: the case of nineteenth century France (2014)
Working Paper: Bequests and family traditions: the case of nineteenth century France (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01109018

DOI: 10.1007/s11150-013-9216-7

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