This paper uses SOEP data to study the distributional effect of intergenerational transfers on the wealth distribution of German households. Similar to most other central European countries, Germany is likely to face a period of increasing aggregate bequest flows. At the same time, there is an ongoi...

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Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Werder, Marten von (Author)
Format:	Electronic eBook
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin Freie Universität Berlin October 8, 2018
Series:	Discussion paper / Freie Universität Berlin, School of Business & Economics Economics 2018, 15
Subjects:	Wohlfahrtsmessung Vermögensverteilung Haushalt Intergenerationentransfer Erbschaft Deutschland
Online Access:	Volltext
Summary:	This paper uses SOEP data to study the distributional effect of intergenerational transfers on the wealth distribution of German households. Similar to most other central European countries, Germany is likely to face a period of increasing aggregate bequest flows. At the same time, there is an ongoing debate on the distributional implications of such wealth shocks. This study adds to the discussion by providing causal estimates for the effect of transfer receipt on the savings behavior of households. The model allows for dynamic adjustment and variations in the savings behavior over the wealth distribution. I use the estimates to decompose the overall effect of transfers on wealth inequality in the effect of the aggregated transfer volume, the transfer incidence over the wealth distribution and the effect of the savings behavior. The results are very much in line with the literature, indicating that transfers tend to equalize wealth inequality, despite minor variations in the savings behavior over the wealth distribution and despite a strong relationship between initial household wealth and transfer accrual
Physical Description:	1 Online-Ressource (53 Seiten) Diagramme