Houses Divided: A Model of Intergenerational Transfers, Differential Fertility and Wealth Inequality

Aaron Cooke (), Hyun Lee () and Kai Zhao

No 2017-22, Working papers from University of Connecticut, Department of Economics

Abstract: Rising income and wealth inequality across the developed world has prompted a renewed focus on the mechanisms driving inequality. This paper contributes to the existing literature by studying the impact from life-cycle savings, intergenerational transfers, and fertility differences between the rich and the poor on wealth distribution. We find that bequests increase the level of wealth inequality and that fertility differences between the rich and the poor amplify this relationship. In addition, we find expected bequests crowd out life-cycle savings and this interaction is quantitatively important for understanding wealth inequality in the United States.

Keywords: Intergenerational transfers; differential fertility; wealth inequality; life-cycle savings. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2017-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uct:uconnp:2017-22

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