Inheritance flows in Switzerland, 1911–2011

We estimate the size of inheritance flows in Switzerland as a share of total wealth and of national income over a long span of data, in close analogy to the study for France by Piketty (2011). We find that the relative importance of inheritance had been falling slightly up until the 1970s, but has been increasing strongly since. According to our central estimates, the annual flow of inheritance amounted to 2.7% of the stock of private wealth and to 13.1% of national income in 2011. These values are higher than our corresponding (though more approximate) estimates of a century ago. JEL Classification: D31, H24, N34