Primogeniture, Equal Sharing, and the U.S. Distribution of Wealth
利用美国遗产税数据，分析子女间遗产分配模式，发现均分继承是主流，这一结果对Becker和Tomes的利他主义遗产模型提出质疑。
Bequest patterns to children are important in intergenerational models of the distribution of income and wealth. Economies that feature primogeniture will have a greater degree of inequality than those featuring equal division. This paper presents evidence on estate division among children by sex, birth order, family size, estate size, and asset composition. The results presented here are preference-generated not tax-induced due to the tax characteristics within the sampling region. It is shown that equal sharing among children is the rule, a result that casts doubt upon the "altruist" model of inheritance as advanced by Becker and Tomes.