Intergenerational Transfers of Time and Money in Scandinavian Welfare States

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to study the incidence and size of financial and time transfers across generations in Scandinavia and look for any common determinants of transfer patterns. The study is based on two different theoretical models studying slightly different views on intergenerational transfer behaviour. By using cross-sectional data from the 2nd wave of the SHARE database (2006/2007) binary and linear regression models are performed with the amount or binary outcome of financial or time transfer used as a dependent variable. The empirical results show that for both financial and time transfers the explanatory variables linked to the monetary status of the donor (and the recipient in the financial transfer model) are significant determinants of both the probability and the amount of money or time transferred. Furthermore, the results indicate that slightly different explanations for both financial and time transfers are significant depending on whether you look at the propensity to transfer or at the amount transferred.