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Donald Cox

Boston College, USA

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor of Economics, Boston College, USA (1995–present)

Research interest

Intergenerational transfers, biology and economics, economic development, and labor economics

Website

https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/mcas/departments/economics/people/faculty-directory/donald-cox.html

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Consultant, The World Bank, 1986–present; Social Sciences and Population Study Section, National Institutes of Health, 1997–2004

Past positions

Associate Professor, Boston College, USA (1987–1994); Assistant Professor, Washington University, USA (1981–1987); National Fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford University, USA (1984–1985)

Qualifications

PhD Economics, Brown University, 1980

Selected publications

  • “Intergenerational transfers.” In: Hughes, M. E., A. Pienta, and R. Crosnoe (eds). Encyclopedia of Life Course and Human Development. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2009.

  • Bequests, Inheritances, and Family Traditions. CRR WP 2005-09, August 2005 (with O. Stark).

  • “How responsive are private transfers to income? Evidence from a laissez-faire economy.” Journal of Public Economics 88:9–10 (2004): 2193–2219 (with B. Hansen and E. Jimenez).

  • “Private interhousehold transfers in Vietnam in the early and late 1990s.” In: Glewwe, P., and D. Dollar (eds). Economic Growth and Household Welfare: Policy Lessons for Vietnam. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2004.

  • “Private transfers within the family: Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.” In: Munnell, A., and A. Sunden (eds). Death and Dollars: The Role of Gifts and Bequests in America. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

article(s)

  • Inheritance, bequests, and labor supply

    Inheritance-related work disincentives can be strong, but labor supply could increase if bequests facilitate entrepreneurship

    Donald Cox, September 2014
    Inheriting money can be a problem since the new wealth might sap the beneficiaries’ incentive to work. Or it could do the opposite, by facilitating entrepreneurship among those whose ambition to start a business had been stymied by a lack of cash. Recent evidence suggests inheritance-related work disincentives can be strong—unexpected inheritances can matter a lot for early retirement, for example. But where inheritances facilitate self-employment, as some evidence suggests, the labor supply might increase.
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