Saving, Inheriting, Divorcing: essays on wealth and living standards inequalities in France.

Summary The first chapter of this thesis addresses the question of the relationship between the savings rate and current and permanent income. Using several measures of permanent income, we show that, regardless of the definition of income used, the better-off save more. The second chapter focuses on the impact of intergenerational transfers on the purchase of the principal residence and on business creation. We show that households having received a gift or an inheritance buy their primary residence more frequently. For business creation, the effect of the donation remains significant while that of the inheritance is no longer significant. The third chapter extends this analysis by studying the link between inheritance and retirement. By focusing our analysis on individuals aged 55 to 65 who received an inheritance, we show that the probability of retirement increases significantly the year of receipt of the inheritance, compared to a later receipt. We also show the importance of risk aversion in the role played by inheritance on retirement. The fourth chapter studies the economic consequences of divorce and PACS breakup. Our results suggest that, contrary to popular belief, it is not the number of children that has the most important effect on these variations, but rather the differences in income between spouses before separation. Government transfers play an important role, as do the massive returns to the labor market of ex-spouses who were unemployed one year before the divorce (mainly women).