Why Parents Play Favorites: Explanations for Unequal Bequests
32 Pages Posted: 9 Jun 2003 Last revised: 19 Aug 2022
Date Written: June 2003
Abstract
Economists have invested a great deal of effort in trying to understand the motivation for family transfers, yet recent empirical work testing the seemingly appealing models of altruism and exchange has led to decidedly mixed results. A major stumbling block has been the lack of adequate data. We take a fresh look at the issue using responses to an innovative survey question that directly asks mother about the planned division of their estates. We find that both altruism and exchange are frequently offered as explanations of behavior and are of nearly equal importance. Furthermore, the explanations are consistent with observable characteristics of the mother, lending support to the validity of the question. We also find that among step or adopted families, genetic ties play an important role. Because motivating factors appear to differ across families the lack of a consensus among previous researchers about motives ought not to be surprising.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
The Predictive Validity of Subjective Probabilities of Survival
-
Longevity Expectations and Death: Can People Predict Their Own Demise?
By V. Kerry Smith, Donald H. Taylor, ...
-
The Timing of Retirement: a Comparison of Expectations and Realizations
-
Individual Subjective Survival Curves
By Li Gan, Michael D. Hurd, ...
-
Anticipated and Actual Bequests
By Michael D. Hurd and James P. Smith