This article presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between expected wealth transfers (inheritances and gifts) and consumption, explicitly considering the distribution of consumption and wealth. While there are many empirical analyses of unexpected wealth transfers, it is unusual to analyze consumption with respect to expected wealth transfers because of the lack of information on expected inheritances or gifts. Using microdata for 17 European countries from the 2014 wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey, we find that households expecting a wealth transfer consume as if they were in a higher wealth decile. This increase in consumption differs in size depending on household wealth. We verify that this result is not related to risk preferences or liquidity constraints. These results provide support for consumption smoothing as predicted by the life-cycle model, although the extent of the smoothing depends on the position of the household in the wealth distribution.
Expected wealth transfers and consumption across the wealth distribution in Europe
Dario Sciulli
2023-01-01
Abstract
This article presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between expected wealth transfers (inheritances and gifts) and consumption, explicitly considering the distribution of consumption and wealth. While there are many empirical analyses of unexpected wealth transfers, it is unusual to analyze consumption with respect to expected wealth transfers because of the lack of information on expected inheritances or gifts. Using microdata for 17 European countries from the 2014 wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey, we find that households expecting a wealth transfer consume as if they were in a higher wealth decile. This increase in consumption differs in size depending on household wealth. We verify that this result is not related to risk preferences or liquidity constraints. These results provide support for consumption smoothing as predicted by the life-cycle model, although the extent of the smoothing depends on the position of the household in the wealth distribution.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
EMOD_2023.pdf
accesso aperto
Tipologia:
PDF editoriale
Dimensione
1.37 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
1.37 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.