TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hamermesh,Daniel S.
AU  - Menchik,Paul L.
TI  - Planned and Unplanned Bequests
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 1496
PY  - 1987
Y2  - March 1987
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1496
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1496.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Daniel S. Hamermesh
Department of Economics
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712-1173
Tel: 512/475-8526
Fax: 512/471-3510
E-Mail: hamermes@eco.utexas.edu

Paul Menchik
Department of Economics
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI   48824
Tel: 517-355-4553
E-Mail: menchik@msu.edu
AB  - We make the distinction between bequests that are planned as part of some lifetime optimization stemming from a bequest motive, and those that are unplanned and result when the date of death differs from what the consumer might forecast. Lifetime optimization should lead to a negative effect or no effect of the expected horizon on the size of the bequest, and to a negative relation between unexpectedly long life and the bequest. Using data on wealthy decedents and their parents, we form measures of the expected horizon based on parents'  longevity. There is no relation between unexpectedly early or late death and the bequest, but a significant positive relation between the bequest and the length of the horizon. Several explanations for this unforeseen result are offered, including the inference that uncertainty about length of life is important in studying bequest behavior.
ER  -