Department
of Economics > Ongoing Research Projects - National Transfer Account
National Transfer Account
Macroeconomic Aspects of Intergenerational Transfers
The project is developing new methods for measuring aggregate intergenerational transfers; constructing historical estimates and projections of intergenerational transfers in varying social, economic, and policy contexts; analyzing the inter-relationships between public policy, familial support systems, and economic conditions; and analyzing the macroeconomic and generational effects of public policy. The new National Transfer Account system represents a significant advance over previous efforts because it measures both familial and public transfers. This new data is used to study the implications of population aging for both familial and public transfers, how changes in familial support systems influence the economic circumstances of different generations, the interaction between public and familial transfer systems, and the macroeconomic and generational effects of changes in public policy with regard to pensions, health care, and education.
Project Team: The study is being conducted by an international team drawn from the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The system of accounts is being estimated for eighteen economies, with sufficient historical depth to analyze long-run changes in public policy, economic conditions, and family support systems. The broad historical and cross-cultural perspective will provide important new insights about alternative strategies for redistributing resources across generations.
For further information, please see the National Transfer Accounts website. Project Working Papers are also available on the website.
The project is supported by the National Institute on Aging, and is a cooperative effort, led by the East-West Center and the Center for the Economics and Demography of Aging, University of California at Berkeley. Country teams consist of senior scholars and graduate students. Ronald Lee and Andrew Mason are co-principal investigators.
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