Do Mauritians Have Altruistic Bequest Motives?

Abstract

In this article, the author empirically tests for the presence of altruistic bequest motives in a small liquidity-constrained economy, Mauritius, by taking into account simultaneity and exogeneity issues. The results emanating from the econometric exercise reveal that Mauritians do transfer bequests to their heirs out of altruism implying that the policy implications of the “generational accounting” framework are not valid. The Error Correction Model further reveals that any short-run policy intended to increase bequests has to aim at increasing current real GDP to a value higher than last period real GDP.