Bequests and the Accumulation of Wealth in the Eurozone

Humer, Stefan and Moser, Mathias and Schnetzer, Matthias (2016) Bequests and the Accumulation of Wealth in the Eurozone. INEQ Working Paper Series, 1. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna.

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Abstract

This paper empirically compares the contribution of the two major wealth accumulation factors - earned income and inheritances - to the net wealth position of households in the Eurozone. The elasticities of both wealth sources differ considerably across countries and are overly non-linear. Depending on the position in the wealth distribution, an increase of one percentile in the income distribution corresponds to 0.1-0.6 percentiles in the net wealth distribution. We find substantially stronger effects for inheritances vis-á-vis income. In Greece, Portugal, and Austria, households have to climb around three percentiles in the income distribution to compensate a one percentile increase in the inheritance distribution. The findings clearly suggest that bequests play a stronger role in wealth accumulation than earned income.

Item Type:	Paper
Keywords:	wealth distribution / household structure
Classification Codes:	JEL C21, D31
Divisions:	Forschungsinstitute > Verteilungsfragen
Depositing User:	ePub Administrator
Date Deposited:	10 Feb 2016 08:55
Last Modified:	22 Oct 2019 00:41
FIDES Link:	https://bach.wu.ac.at/d/research/results/76255/
URI:	https://epub.wu.ac.at/id/eprint/4841

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