Altruism and Beyond: An Economic Analysis of Transfers and Exchanges within Families and Groups.

• Author: Wilde, James A.

This slim volume is a compilation, updating and extension of Oded Stark's work in the area of interpersonal interests. Based on Stark's presentations as the Oscar Morgenstern Memorial Lecturer in Vienna, the book explores altruistic behaviors in a variety of circumstances, challenging the reader to consider further extensions in both the developing and developed economies.

The initial lecture presents a father-to-son transfer model in which there is a single good in fixed supply. Since the child is completely passive, the donor's single choice variable is analyzed in terms of its ability to affect intergenerational conflict. However, the potential scope of conflict is severely limited by the model itself since varieties of altruistic interest (utility, income, specific goods, etc.) are precluded and exploitative responses are disallowed.

The second chapter discusses human capital investment as a function of longevity and the timing of inheritance. When the transfer of land from longer-lived parents is delayed, the next generation has a stronger need for education. Thus longevity becomes the cause of the higher standard of living which results from education, rather than the reverse. Altruism plays no role in this model, though an extension to allow for concern for children in the timing of a bequest might yield interesting results.

The third lecture focuses on the role that family norms play in prompting apparent generosity. In what has an investment-type flavor, a middle generation person may share time or other resources with an aging parent in the hope-expectation that his/her own child will follow suit in the future. Since the response to the gift involves elements of direct...