Using direct information on the origin of real estate holdings of Italian households, we compute the share of wealth inherited or received as an inter-vivos (donationis causa) transfer. On average, two out of five households in the sample acquired ownership through intergenerational transfers. The share of intergenerational transfers in the value of real estate ranges from 35 to 49 per cent, depending on whether the return on bequests is capitalized or not.
This paper - presented at the Workshop on "Savings in Italy: Past and Future Trends, Household and Government Behaviour", held in Rome on 16-17 January 1992 - is part of a research project undertaken at the Bank of Italy.
