TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bernheim,B. Douglas
TI  - How Strong are Bequest Motives?  Evidence Based on Estimates of the     Demand for Life Insurance and Annuities
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 2942
PY  - 1992
Y2  - March 1992
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2942
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w2942.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
B. Douglas Bernheim
Department of Economics
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6072
Tel: 650/725-8732
Fax: 650/725-5702
E-Mail: bernheim@stanford.edu
M2  - featured in NBER digest on 1988-10-01
AB  - This paper presents new empirical evidence in support of the view that a significant fraction of total saving is motivated solely by the desire to leave bequests. Specifically, I find that Social Security annuity benefits significantly raise life insurance holdings and depress private annuity holdings among elderly individuals. These patterns indicate that the typical household would choose to maintain a positive fraction of its resources in bequeathable forms, even if insurance markets were perfect. Evidence on the relationship between insurance purchases and total resources reinforces this conclusion.
ER  -