Knowledge that Transforms

This paper presents new empirical evidence in support of the view that a significant fraction of total saving is motivated by the desire to leave bequests. Specifically, the author finds that social security annuity benefits significantly raise life insurance holdings and depress private annuity holdings among elderly individuals. These patterns indicate that the typical household would choose to maintain a positive fraction of its resources in bequeathable forms, even if insurance markets were perfect. Evidence on the relationship between insurance purchases and total resources reinforces this conclusion. Copyright 1991 by University of Chicago Press.

The stationary equilibrium of an overlapping generations economy in which agents trade a single asset is examined. If agents live for only two periods, the selling prices follow an identically and independently distributed process. If agents live for more than two periods, the selling prices follow a Markov process. An implication of the model is that price bubbles can occur in a stationary, rational expectations equilibrium.