Chapter 1. Introduction / Alicia H. Munnell
Part One. The U.S. experience in perspective
Chapter 2. A history of bequests in the United States / J. Bradford Delong
Comments by Peter A. Diamond and Jonathan Skinner
Chapter 3. The role of gift and estate transfers in the United States and in Europe / Pierre Pestieau
Comment by Peter R. Orszag
Part Two. How do people leave bequests?
Chapter 4. Bequests: by accident or by design? / Michael D. Hurd
Comments by Andrew B. Abel and Jonathan Gruber
Chapter 5. Gifts and bequests: family or philanthropic organizations? / Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens
Comments by James Andreoni and Charles Clotfelter
Chapter 6. Private transfers within the family: mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters / Donald Cox
Comments by Theodore Bergstrom and Kathleen McGarry
Part Three. Taxes, pension benefits, and wealth transfers
Chapter 7. Tax consequences on wealth accumulation and transfers of the rich / Wojciech Kopczuk and Joel Slemrod
Comments by Ray D. Madoff and James Poterba
Chapter 8. The impact of defined contribution plans on bequests / Alicia Munnell, Annika Sundén, Mauricio Soto, and Catherine Taylor
Comments by Amy Finkelstein and Olivia S. Mitchell
Part Four. Wealth transfers and the economy
Chapter 9. The impact of gifts and bequests on aggregate saving and capital accumulation / William G. Gale and Samara Potter
Comments by Peter A. Diamond and Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Chapter 10. The impact of gifts and bequests on the distribution of wealth / Edward N. Wolff
Comments by John Laitner and John Karl Scholz.