The apple doesn't fall far from the tree: Intergenerational wealth mobility in Taiwan

Abstract

We estimate intergenerational wealth mobility using administrative records from Taiwan and find strong intergenerational rank correlations in household gross wealth, around 0.40 for sons and 0.30 for daughters. The wealth rank correlations are similar for single and married children, even though married children have greater household wealth and relatively strong assortative mating. The intergenerational wealth correlation is nonlinear and particularly strong for families in the top 10 % of household wealth. Different family sizes and gender compositions do not significantly affect intergenerational wealth mobility, regardless of the children's gender or marital status. Since our sample includes only parents who are still alive, these correlations are not driven by bequests. However, inter vivos transfers appear to play a significant role.