Optimal growth path in an OLG economy without time-preference assumptions : main results

The aim is to characterize optimal growth paths in an OLG economy where capital accumulation is achieved through bequests, without using the assumption of time preference theory on a social level, because such an assumption, that leads to use a discounted infinite horizon sum, introduce necessarily inequality between the different generations of the society. I investigated two optimality concepts: Pareto-optimality and consensual optimality. I considered the case without technical change. I found that all steady-state optimal growth paths converge necessarily to a level of capital where the marginal gain from a decrease of bequest is equal to the marginal loss from a similar decrease of heritage. With the use of an intergenerational altruistic utility, I showed that spontaneous equilibrium cannot be an optimal growth path unless generations feel (asymptotically) for their heirs as they feel for themselves.