Inter Vivos Transfers in Twenty European Countries (2004-2017)

Hexel, Ole

doi:https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-c1kn-mw40

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Inter Vivos Transfers in Twenty European Countries (2004-2017)

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This thesis studies inter vivos transfers in twenty European countries during the years 2004 to 2017. Inter vivos transfers are transfers made during the lifetime of the donor and the donee. They participate in the intergenerational transmission of inequality and they are an expression of familial values of solidarity and support. Based on a longitudinal survey that is nationally representative of individuals aged $50$ years and above (SHARE), I describe the incidence of inter vivos transfers across countries. In chapter 1, I argue against the relevance of the ``three worlds of welfare state capitalism'' framework. The highest country rate of transfers is eight times higher than the lowest country rate of transfers, while, within countries, the ratio of the 75th to the 25th percentile reaches 6/1 for income and 3/1 for wealth. In chapter 2, I assess the importance of donee and donor characteristics with the help of mixed-effects logistic and negative binomial regressions. Gender stands out as an important factor. I find a slight daughter advantage in the probability of receiving a transfer. It is, however, largely mediated by the fact that daughters are more likely to provide social support to parents and that social support is generally correlated with inter vivos transfers. In chapter 3, I survey two existing theories of inter vivos transfers -- altruism and exchange -- and I add the reciprocity principle from Maussian gift-exchange framework as an explanation. Using random-effects logistic regression and sequence analysis, I show that the evidence favors altruism over exchange and reciprocity. While the majority of potential donor-donee dyads never engage in transfer, among those who do, unilateral transfers, either from parent to adult child or vice versa, are the majority.

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