Estates, bequests, and inheritances in Sweden - A look into the Belinda databases

The objective of this paper is to describe two new administrative Swedish databases, referred to as the Belinda databases. Together, these databases contain the most detailed individual-level data on estates, bequests, and inheritances currently available. We present descriptive statistics for the key variables in the databases to give a picture of the size of estates, the content of the bequests, and who the recipients of the inheritances are. The statistics may serve as a point of reference for other scholars, but also as an illustration of the various research possibilities that the databases provide and how the data can be matched with other administrative registers. We also, briefly, describe the institutional context regarding intergenerational transfers in Sweden, including the inheritance law and the inheritance tax.