A Case for Differential Inheritance Taxation

This paper incorporates the case of a variable number of children in a simple model of the distribution of inherited wealth. In particular, the possibility of childless couples, and hence of bequests from relatives other than parents (i.e., "collateral bequests") is considered. Within such a setting, two questions are raised. First, do collateral bequests increase the distributional inequality of wealth? Second, should one adopt inheritance tax rates that depend on the inheritor's blood relationship to the donor? In other words, does there exist an economic justification for differential inheritance taxation such as it is usual in many countries (e.g. France and Germany).