We use new population-wide register data on inheritances and wealth in Sweden to estimate the causal impact of inheritances on wealth inequality. We find that inheritances reduce relative wealth inequality (e.g., the Gini coefficient falls by 5-10 percent) but that absolute dispersion increases....

Trotz der erheblichen Effekte der Vermögensvererbung für die Fortschreibung von sozialer Ungleichheit zwischen den Generationen spricht sich sowohl in Deutschland als auch in Österreich eine Mehrheit der Bevölkerung gegen die Erbschaftssteuer aus. In diesem Papier untersuchen wir, wie Gegner...

Several countries have recently abolished or significantly reduced their taxes on bequests. Bequest taxes, on the other hand, were among the first to be introduced when modern systems of taxation were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. We propose an explanation for these facts which...