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Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness
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Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness

Author

Listed:
  • Marc Fleurbaey
  • Marie‐Louise Leroux
  • Pierre Pestieau
  • Gregory Ponthiere
  • Stephane Zuber

Abstract

While there is little agreement regarding the taxation of bequests in general, there is a widely held view that accidental bequests should be subjected to a confiscatory tax. We re‐examine the optimal taxation of accidental bequests by introducing a concern for compensating individuals for a premature death. Assuming that individuals care about what they leave to their children, we show that, whereas the 100 percent tax view holds under the utilitarian criterion, the ex post egalitarian criterion (giving priority to the worst‐off ex post) implies subsidizing accidental bequests so as to compensate the short‐lived. In a second‐best setting, compensating the short‐lived justifies taxing total bequests at a rate increasing with the age of the deceased. Finally, when the model is extended to an intergenerational setting, accidental bequests can no longer be used as a redistributive tool, so that ex post egalitarianism rejoins the 100 percent tax view.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Fleurbaey & Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere & Stephane Zuber, 2022. "Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 709-743, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:124:y:2022:i:3:p:709-743
    DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12478
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau, 2022. "Age‐related taxation of bequests in the presence of a dependency risk," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(1), pages 92-119, February.
    2. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere, 2024. "The optimal design of assisted reproductive technologies policies," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1454-1479, July.
    3. Leroux, Marie-Louise & Pestieau, Pierre, 2021. "Age and health related inheritance taxation," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021002, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    4. Harun Onder & Pierre Pestieau & Grégory Ponthière, 2019. "Equivalent income versus equivalent lifetime: does the metric matter?," PSE Working Papers halshs-02187803, HAL.
    5. Johanna Etner & Natacha Raffin & Thomas Seegmuller, 2018. "Male Reproductive Health, Fairness and Optimal Policies," Working Papers halshs-01798983, HAL.
    6. Philipp Krug & Dominika Langenmayr, 2024. "Taxing Transitions: Inheritance Tax and Family Firm Succession," Working Papers 233, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    7. Juan D. Moreno-Ternero & Lars Peter Østerdal, 2023. "Entitlements to continued life and the evaluation of population health," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 27(3), pages 561-579, September.
    8. Decerf,Benoit Marie A & Maniquet,François, 2021. "Fair Inheritance Taxation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9804, The World Bank.
    9. Berenice Anne Neumann & Niklas Scheuer, 2024. "The Impact of Bequest Taxation on Wealth Inequality - Theory and Evidence," Research Papers in Economics 2024-05, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    10. Ponthiere, Gregory, 2023. "Social Insurance against a Short Life: Ante-Mortem versus Post-Mortem Policies," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1342, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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