Review of Economics and Statistics
 2003
DOI: 10.1162/003465303765299783
|Get access via publisher |Summarize |Cite
|
Sign up to set email alerts

Dying to Save Taxes: Evidence from Estate-Tax Returns on the Death Elasticity

Wojciech Kopczuk
1
,
Joel Slemrod
2

Abstract: Abstract-This paper examines data from U.S. federal tax returns to shed light on whether the timing of death is responsive to its tax consequences. We investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate-tax system periods when living longer, or dying sooner, could significanlly affect estate-tax liability. We find some evidence that there is a small death elasticity, although we cannot rule out that what we have uncovered is ex post doctoring of the reported date of death.

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...
60
1
0
0

Citation Types

0
4
0
0

Year Published

2002
2002
2025
2025

Publication Types

Select...
46
12
2
1

Relationship

2
59

Authors

Journals

citations

Cited by 61 publications

(4 citation statements)
references

References 18 publications

0
4
0
0
Order By: Relevance
“…Slemrod and Kopczuk (2003) investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate tax system and uncover some evidence that there is a small death elasticity.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.
show abstract
“…Slemrod and Kopczuk (2003) investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate tax system and uncover some evidence that there is a small death elasticity.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.
show abstract
“…27 Interestingly, the tax laws seem to affect the timing of reported deaths. 28 Perhaps the Calment family suffered from taxation after the death of Maria Felix (widow of the founder of the store, Jacques Calment) and especially after the death of Jeanne's father Nicolas Calment, the owner of land and real estate in the surrounding villages 14,21 in 1931. The inheritance tax for the farm in Saint Martin de Crau could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in modern money.…”
Section: Possible Motivesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Throughout the 20th century, these high top rates were only applied to small segments of the population and assets.” 27 Interestingly, the tax laws seem to affect the timing of reported deaths. 28…”
Section: Evaluation Of the Plausibility Of Jeanne Calment's Life Spanmentioning
confidence: 99%
Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.
show abstract
“…The seminal study of the responsiveness of death rates to inheritance tax changes is Kopczuk and Slemrod (2003), who analyse a series of changes to the US estate tax. Their results are not consistent across all tax changes, but overall, they find a small positive death elasticity.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.
show abstract
scite logo

Scite is an AI-powered platform that helps researchers discover and evaluate scientific literature through Smart Citations, showing whether studies support or contradict a claim. Now part of Research Solutions, Scite has indexed 1.6B+ citations, partners with 30+ publishers, and serves 2M users worldwide.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Status

Copyright © 2026 Scite LLC. All rights reserved.

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Research Solutions Logo