The intergenerational transmission of generosity

Abstract

This paper estimates the correlation between the generosity of parents and the generosity of their adult children using regression models of adult children’s charitable giving. New charitable giving data are collected in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and used to estimate the regression models. The regression models are estimated using a wide variety of techniques and specification tests, and the strength of the intergenerational giving correlations are compared with intergenerational correlations in income, wealth, and consumption expenditure from the same sample using the same set of controls. We find the religious giving of parents and children to be strongly correlated, as strongly correlated as are their income and wealth. The correlation in the secular giving (e.g., giving to the United Way, educational institutions, for poverty relief) of parents and children is smaller, similar in magnitude to the intergenerational correlation in consumption. Parents’ religious giving is positively associated with children’s secular giving, but in a more limited sense. Overall, the results are consistent with generosity emerging at least in part from the influence of parental charitable behavior. In contrast to intergenerational models in which parental generosity towards their children can undo government transfer policy (Ricardian equivalence), these results suggest that parental generosity towards charitable organizations might reinforce government policies, such as tax incentives aimed at encouraging voluntary transfers.

Modelling charitable donations to an unexpected natural disaster: Evidence from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics

“…Consequently, the sample potentially suffers from sample selection bias given that itemizing charitable contributions leads to a lower price of making a donation (see footnote 8 below). Wilhelm et al (2008) …”

“…Accordingly, this model is estimated as a univariate tobit model with censoring (from below) at zero (Maddala, 1983 Wilhelm et al (2008), averaging family income over the recent past (using up to eight years depending on whether the household was in the panel over the period). We also include a control for the variance in permanent income over the period.…”

Is There a Caring Class? Intergenerational Transmission of Care Work

“…Although most of these intervening mechanisms are not directly captured in our regression analyses, our models of intergenerational transmission of care work are followed by models exploring whether respondents' values relevant to care are influenced by parental care work. Mothers and fathers can have enduring effects on their children's attitudes and orientations through ongoing role-modeling, application of sanctions and rewards, or transfers of knowledge and resources (Marini and Brinton 1984;Glass, Bengston, and Dunham 1986;Jodl et al 2001;Hitlin 2006;Wilhelm et al 2008). If care-working parents transmit more altruistic values, these values may in turn motivate pursuit of care work by their children.…”

On Intergenerational Transmission of Reading Habits in Italy: Is a Good Example the Best Sermon?

“…In 1976 Robert Pollak discussed how preferences, especially in the short run, are influenced by other people's past consumption behaviours: individuals' preferences are such that they want to consume a given good when they observe other people around them already consuming that good. Waldkirch et al (2004) analyse the transmission of consumption preferences and behaviours, Booth and Kee (2006) consider the intergenerational cultural transmission of norms regarding fertility, Jackson et al (1997) and Louriero et al (2006) look at smoking habits, Lindbeck and Nyberg (2006) at the intergenerational transmission of norms related to work hard, while Wilhelm et al (2008) study the intergenerational transmission of generosity and Dohmen et al (2011) discuss the transmission of risk and trust attitudes. All these works, that aim at understanding how habits are transmitted and therefore which policies may be put into action to promote "good" habits and attitudes and to reduce "bad" ones, find that parents' influence their children preferences with their parental role, educational choices and behaviours.…”