The (Un)Importance of Inheritance

Sandra Black, Paul Devereux, Fanny Landaud () and Kjell G Salvanes
Additional contact information
Fanny Landaud: CNRS

No 15034, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Transfers from parents-either in the form of gifts or inheritances-have received much attention as a source of inequality. This paper uses administrative data for the population of Norway to examine the share of the Total Inflows (defined as the capitalized sum of net labor income, government transfers, and gifts and inheritances received over the period) accounted for by capitalized gifts and inheritances. We find that gifts and inheritances represent a small share of Total Inflows; this is true across the distribution of Total Inflows, as well as at all levels of net wealth. Gifts and inheritances are only an important source of income flows among those who have very wealthy parents. Additionally, gifts and inheritances have very little effect on the distribution of Total Inflows, suggesting that inheritance taxes may do little to mitigate wealth inequality.

Keywords: inheritances and gifts; intergenerational transmission; wealth inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G51 J01 J1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2022-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published - published online in: Journal of the European Economic Association , jvae056, 23 December 2024

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https://docs.iza.org/dp15034.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The (UN)Importance of Inheritance (2024)
Working Paper: The (Un)Importance of Inheritance (2022)
Working Paper: The (Un)Importance of Inheritance (2022)
Working Paper: The (Un)Importance of Inheritance (2022)
Working Paper: The (Un)Importance of Inheritance (2022)
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