American Economic Review Vol. 77 No. 3 1987
Savings of the Elderly and Desired Bequests
Abstract
Cross-section data often show that the wealth of the elderly increases with age, suggesting that the life cycle hypothesis of consumption should include a bequest motive for saving. I propose a model of bequests, and a test for a bequest motive. Empirical findings are that in a ten-year panel data set, the elderly dissaved, in contradiction to most cross-section results. The test offers no support for a bequest motive.
- Volume
- 77
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 298-312
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib