This pioneering volume uses modern statistical and simulation techniques
to explain the process of wealth transmission and the persistent problem
of the unequal distribution of wealth. These papers reflect a shift from
the traditional cross-sectional measurement to an intertemporal focus by
attempting to model mathematically the actual process by which wealth is
acquired and transmitted. There are many questions to be answered: What
are the factors influencing saving? What is the role of mating? What
decides ownership between spouses? How are rare assets distributed by
divorce? What are the patterns of behavior in making gifts and bequests?
And what is the effect of the relative ages of the persons involved?