To Leave or Not to Leave: The Distribution of Bequest Motives
研究老年人遗赠动机的异质性，发现约四分之三的单身老人有遗赠动机，有遗赠动机的家庭消费支出平均减少25%，约五分之四的净财富将被遗赠，其中约一半源于遗赠动机。
We examine the effect of observed and unobserved heterogeneity in the desire to die with positive net worth. Using a structural life-cycle model nested in a switching regression with unknown sample separation, we find that roughly three-fourths of the elderly single population has abequest motive. Both the presence and the magnitude of the bequest motive are statistically and economically significant. On average, households with a bequest motive spend about 25% less on consumption expenditures. We conclude that, among the elderly single households in our sample, about four-fifths of their net wealth will be bequeathed and approximately half of this is due to a bequest motive. Copyright 2007, Wiley-Blackwell.