Estate Taxes, Life Insurance, and Small Business
研究人们是否以及如何利用人寿保险应对遗产税，发现企业主购买更多人寿保险，但其保险购买对遗产税考虑的反应较弱，且更可能缺乏流动资产加保险来支付遗产税。
One criticism of the estate tax is that it prevents the owners of family businesses from passing their enterprises onto their children. The problem is that it may be difficult to pay estate taxes without liquidating the business. A natural question is why individuals with such concerns do not purchase enough life insurance to meet their estate tax liabilities. This paper examines whether and how people use life insurance to deal with the estate tax. We find that, other things being the same, business owners purchase more life insurance than other individuals. However, on the margin, their insurance purchases are less responsive to estate tax considerations and they are less likely to have the wherewithal to meet estate tax liabilities out of liquid assets plus insurance.