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Charitable bequests and wealth at death

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony Atkinson

    (Nuffield College, Oxford and London School of Economics.)

  • Peter Backus

    (Universitat de Barcelona and l'Institut d'Economica de Barcelona)

  • John Micklewright

    (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London. 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UK.)

Abstract
Charitable bequests are a major source of income for charities but surprisingly little is known about them. The aim of this paper is to propose a multi-stage framework for analysing the bequest decision and to examine the evidence for Great Britain provided by new data on estates. The novelty of the framework is that it distinguishes between the different steps that lead to a charitable bequest. Our new data for Britain have the advantage of covering the whole population, in contrast to much of the US literature based on the small fraction of the population covered by estate tax returns. We focus on the relationship with wealth at death, on the form of the bequest, and on the different causes to which people bequeath.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Atkinson & Peter Backus & John Micklewright, 2012. "Charitable bequests and wealth at death," DoQSS Working Papers 12-08, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1208
    as

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    File URL: https://repec.ucl.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1208.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joulfaian, David, 2000. "Estate Taxes and Charitable Bequests by the Wealthy," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(3), pages 743-764, September.
    2. Boskin, Michael J., 1976. "Estate taxation and charitable bequests," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1-2), pages 27-56.
    3. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2007. "Bequest and Tax Planning: Evidence from Estate Tax Returns," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1801-1854.
    4. Anthony B. Atkinson & Peter G. Backus & John Micklewright, 2017. "Charitable Bequests and Wealth At Death," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 1-23, October.
    5. Harry Watson, 1984. "A Note on the Effects of Taxation on Charitable Giving Over the Life Cycle and Beyond," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 99(3), pages 639-647.
    6. Joulfaian, David, 1991. "Charitable Bequests and Estate Taxes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 44(2), pages 169-180, June.
    7. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Stanley Fischer, 1989. "Lectures on Macroeconomics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262022834, April.
    8. C. Lowell Harriss, 1949. "Federal Estate Taxes and Philanthropic Bequests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 337-337.
    9. Joulfaian, David, 1991. "Charitable Bequests and Estate Taxes," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 44(2), pages 169-80, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Charitable Bequests and Wealth at Death
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2012-12-16 23:58:21

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cummins, Neil, 2024. "Ethnic Wealth Inequality in England and Wales, 1858-2018," CEPR Discussion Papers 19398, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Anthony B. Atkinson, 2018. "Wealth and inheritance in Britain from 1896 to the present," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(2), pages 137-169, June.
    3. Cummins, Neil & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2022. "The Irish in England," Economic History Working Papers 115497, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    4. Hyeon Park, 2023. "Giving and volunteering over a lifecycle," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 335-369, March.
    5. Anthony B. Atkinson & Peter G. Backus & John Micklewright, 2017. "Charitable Bequests and Wealth At Death," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 1-23, October.
    6. repec:cep:sticas:/178 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    charitable donations; bequests; wealth; death; estate tax; NGOs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship

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