In Familienunternehmen können Gewinne nicht einfach entnommen und Gesellschaftsanteile nicht so leicht veräußert werden. Bei der Bewertung zum Beispiel im Steuerrecht wird das aber nicht berücksichtigt. Um das zu beheben, müsste sich nicht einmal ein Gesetz ändern. Die bisherige...

We study the optimal tax system in a dynamic model where differences in wages induce differences in inheritances, and the transition from parent ability to child ability is described by a Markov chain. We characterize expected inheritances in the steady state and show that the Atkinson-Stiglitz...

We examine how long-term life insurance contracts can be designed to incorporate uncertain future bequest needs. An individual who buys a life insurance contract early in life is often uncertain about the future financial needs of his or her family, in the event of an untimely death. Ideally,...

Four decades ago, Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan made the argument that the black family was not strong enough to create those extended clans that elsewhere were most helpful for businessmen and professionals. Using data from the confidential and restricted access Characteristics of...

This paper surveys intergenerational altruism in neoclassical growth models. It first examines Barro's approach to intergenerational altruism, whereby successive generations are linked by recursive altruistic preferences. Individuals have an altruistic concern only for their children, who in...

The purpose of this paper is to survey the theoretical literature on wealth transfer taxation. The focus is normative: we are looking at the design of an optimal tax structure from the standpoint of both equity and efficiency. The gist of this survey is that the optimal design closely depends on...

In the expected-utility theory of the monetary value of a statistical life, the so-called "dead-anyway" effect discovered by Pratt and Zeckhauser(1996) asserts that an individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for small reductions in mortality risk increases with the initial level of risk. Their...

Consider a public project which produces a consumption good and which benefits future generations. Let a conventional cost-benefit analysis find that it gives higher benefits than projects it would displace in the private sector. Voters may nevertheless oppose the public project: the combination...