The Prodigal Son: Does the Younger Brother Always Care for His Parents in Old Age?

No 9732, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Studies have shown that the older sibling often chooses to live away from his elderly parents intending to free ride on the care provided by the younger child. In the presented model, we incorporate income effects and depict a different pattern frequently observed in Eastern countries; that is, the older sibling lives near his or her parents and takes care of them in old age. By generalizing the existing model, we show three cases of elderly parents being looked after by (1) the older sibling, (2) the younger sibling, and (3) both siblings, depending on the relative magnitude of the income effect and the strategic incentive for one sibling to free ride on the other. Our study also investigates the effect of changes in relative income on the level of total care received by parents.

Keywords: sibling; income effect; location choice; elderly care arrangement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 J17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2016-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-dem
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Forthcoming - published in: Applied Economics, 2017, 49(22), 2153-2165.

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Related works:
Journal Article: The prodigal son: does the younger brother always care for his parentsin old age? (2017)
Working Paper: The Prodigal Son: Does the younger brother always care for his parents in old age? (2015)
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