Private Intergenerational Transfers and Population Aging The German Case [Paperback]

In the forthcoming decades the industrialized countries will experience a demographic transition that is unprecedented in history. While the transition's impact on public pension schemes has extensively been examined, its implication for private intergenerational transfers has gone almost unnoticed by the literature. This study attempts to make up for that gap in the literature. It gives a comprehensive overview of private transfer patterns in Germany, extends the methodology of generational accounting to include private intergenerational transfers, and presents a computable general equilibrium model that for the first time allows to analyze various bequest motives in a unified framework.In the forthcoming decades the industrialized countries will experience a demographic transition that is unprecedented in history. While the transition's impact on public pension schemes has extensively been examined, its implication for private intergenerational transfers has gone almost unnoticed by the literature. This study attempts to make up for that gap in the literature. It gives a comprehensive overview of private transfer patterns in Germany, extends the methodology of generational accounting to include private intergenerational transfers, and presents a computable general equilibrium model that for the first time allows to analyze various bequest motives in a unified framework.1. Introduction.- 2 Motives for Private Intergenerational Transfers.- 2.1 Altruistic Transfers.- 2.2 Accidental Bequests.- 2.3 Transfers as Exchange.- 2.4 Transfers for Joy-of-Giving.- 2.5 Empirical Evidence.- 3. Empirical Facts About Transfers in Germany.- 3.1 The Income and Expenditure Survey 1993.- 3.2 The Socio-Economic Panel.- 3.2.1 Transfers Inter Vivos.- 3.2.2 Bequests Between 1960 and 1988.- 3.2.3 Particulars about Wealth Holdings.- 4. Private versus Public Transfers During a Demographic Transition.- 4.1 The Demographic Transition.- 4.2 What Demographics Reveal About Public and Private Transl3œ