What do bequests in married couples with a surviving spouse tell us about bequest motives?

IF 4.8 1区 经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS
Sean Fahle
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This paper studies the bequests that arise in married couples after the death of the first spouse. It provides the first systematic examination of these bequests using representative data from the United States on the actual (not intended or expected) bequests made to each of the couple’s children. I find that these bequests are divided among children very similarly to the bequests left by single individuals, which have been the near-exclusive focus of the literature. In both cases, I observe strong support for theories of bequests based on exchange and evolutionary psychology and no evidence for altruistic or dynastic models. Also novel to this paper, I document that different types of assets—residences, estates, and life insurance—exhibit different bequest patterns. While estates are typically equally divided, parents often divide life insurance and especially housing assets unequally, often leaving these assets to caregiving children. Selective disinheritance of certain children, particularly stepchildren, is common.
本文研究了已婚夫妇在第一任配偶去世后产生的遗赠。本文首次利用美国具有代表性的数据,对这些遗赠进行了系统性研究,这些数据涉及夫妇留给每个子女的实际(而非预期)遗赠。我发现,这些遗赠在子女间的分配情况与单身人士的遗赠非常相似,而单身人士的遗赠几乎是文献研究的唯一重点。在这两种情况下,我观察到基于交换和进化心理学的遗赠理论得到了强有力的支持,而利他主义或王朝模式则没有证据。本文的新颖之处还在于,我发现不同类型的资产--住宅、遗产和人寿保险--表现出不同的遗赠模式。虽然遗产通常是平均分配的,但父母对人寿保险尤其是住房资产的分配往往是不平等的,他们通常会将这些资产留给需要照顾的子女。有选择地剥夺某些子女(尤其是继子女)的继承权也很常见。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
14.10
自引率
2.00%
发文量
139
审稿时长
70 days
期刊介绍: The Journal of Public Economics aims to promote original scientific research in the field of public economics, focusing on the utilization of contemporary economic theory and quantitative analysis methodologies. It serves as a platform for the international scholarly community to engage in discussions on public policy matters.
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