The distribution of bequests in Japan

In this paper we show a transition in bequest inequality for the period of 1986 to 1994. We use only two types of data: the bequest tax data for wealthy deceased and the bequest estimated by Shimono and Ishikawa [Estimating the Size of Bequests in Japan: 1986–1994, International Economic Journal 16 (2002) 1–21] for all deceased. We compute bequest distribution, assuming lognormal or Pareto distribution. These two distributions give us rather similar results, although the Gini coefficients calculated from lognormal distribution are more appropriate for Japan. The reasonable Gini coefficients are between 0.61 and 0.68, and fluctuate with land and share prices. J. Japanese Int. Economies20 (1) (2006) 77–86.