Inheritances and the Distribution of Wealth or Whatever Happened to the Great Inheritance Boom?

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AuthorEdward N Wolff
PublisherBibliogov
PublishedSep 17 2012
Book FormatPaperback
ISBN-139781249418030
Dimensions9.69 X 7.44 X 0.09 inches
Weight 0.21 pounds
BISAC
CategoriesPolitical Science > General
LanguageEnglish

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Book Description

We found that on average over the period from 1989 to 2007, 21 percent of American households at a given point of time received a wealth transfer and these accounted for 23 percent of their net worth. Over the lifetime, about 30 percent of households could expect to receive a wealth transfer and these would account for close to 40 percent of their net worth near time of death. However, there is little evidence of an inheritance boom. In fact, from 1989 to 2007, the share of households reporting a wealth transfer fell by 2.5 percentage points. The average value of inheritances received among all households did increase but at a slow pace, by 10 percent, and wealth transfers as a proportion of current net worth fell sharply over this period from 29 to 19 percent or by 10 percentage points. We also found, somewhat surprisingly, that inheritances and other wealth transfers tend to be equalizing in terms of the distribution of household wealth. Indeed, the addition of wealth transfers to other sources of household wealth has had a sizeable effect on reducing the inequality of wealth.

Author Bio

Edward N. Wolff is a professor of economics at New York University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He works within the Levy Institute’s distribution of income and wealth program, and was involved in the development of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being.

His principal research areas are the distribution of income and wealth, and productivity growth. Wolff is the author of numerous books, including:

Inheriting Wealth in America: Future Boom or Bust? (Oxford University Press, 2015);
Productivity Convergence: Theory and Evidence, Cambridge Surveys of Economic Literature Series (Cambridge University Press, 2014);
Productivity Growth: Industries, Spillovers and Economic Performance (with T. ten Raa; Edward Elgar Publishers, 2012);
The Transformation of the American Pension System: Was It Beneficial for Workers? (W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2011);
Does Education Really Help? Skill, Work, and Inequality (Oxford University Press, 2006);
Retirement Income: The Crucial Role of Social Security (with C. Weller; Economic Policy Institute, 2005);
Downsizing in America: Reality, Causes, and Consequences (with W. J. Baumol and A. S. Blinder; Russell Sage Foundation, 2003);
Retirement Insecurity: The Income Shortfalls Awaiting the Soon-to-Retire (Economic Policy Institute, 2002);
Top Heavy: A Study of the Increasing Inequality of Wealth in America (Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1995);
Competitiveness, Convergence, and International Specialization (with D. Dollar; The MIT Press, 1993);
Productivity and American Leadership: The Long View (with W. J. Baumol and S. B. Blackman; The MIT Press, 1989); and
Growth, Accumulation, and Unproductive Activity: An Analysis of the Postwar US Economy (Cambridge University Press, 1987).

He is a past managing editor of the Review of Income and Wealth.

Research Interests

Distribution of Income and Wealth

Education