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  4. Spring 1988
  5. The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth

Journal of Economic Perspectives

ISSN 0895-3309 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7965 (Online)

The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth

  • Franco Modigliani
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 2, no. 2, Spring 1988
(pp. 15–40)
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to review what economists know at present about the following question: How large a portion of the existing wealth is the result of a bequest motive, that is, of accumulation for the specific purpose of leaving bequests? But first I will clarify why an answer to this question is of interest.

Citation

Modigliani, Franco. 1988. "The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth." Journal of Economic Perspectives 2 (2): 15–40. DOI: 10.1257/jep.2.2.15

JEL Classification

  • D15 Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
  • D64 Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
  • E12 General Aggregative Models: Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
  • E21 Macroeconomics: Consumption; Saving; Wealth
  • G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth