Bequests as Signals: An Explanation for the Equal Division Puzzle
美国多数多子女家庭将遗产均分给子女，而生前赠与常不均等。本文提出遗赠分配是父母利他偏好的信号，解释这一谜题，并说明其他社会的独子继承制。
In the United States, more than two-thirds of decedents with multichild families divide their estates exactly equally among their children. In contrast, gifts given before death are usually unequal. These findings challenge the validity of existing theories regarding the determination of intergenerational transfers. In this paper, we develop a theory that accounts for this puzzle based on the notion that the division of bequests provides a signal about a parent's altruistic preferences. The theory can also explain the norm of unigeniture, which prevails in other societies.