Intervivos Transfers and Bequests in Three Oecd Countries

Private monetary transfers from parents to adult children living in a separate household constitute an important share of aggregate net worth in the economies of major economies like the United States or Germany. Evidence from the United States from the middle eighties suggests that parental intervivos transfers gifts given from living parents to adult childrenare the source of at least 11 percent of aggregate net worth. On the other hand, accumulated bequests monetary transfers received after the death of parents amount to 30% of aggregate net worth in the economy of the United States. Comparable estimates for West Germany for the late eighties, suggest that accumulated bequests constitute a 10% share of net worth. Potentially, these flows of resources may affect the distribution of resources in these economies. From a public policy perspective, private monetary gifts between generations can affect the effectiveness of public programs. Firstly, population aging in Europe and the