James R. Hines Jr.

Professor Hines’ research focuses on the analysis of the donative behavior of Americans, and how it affects the intergenerational and interpersonal transmission of economic well-being. To what extent do parents leave property to their children and others, and how is this behavior affected by legal institutions, taxes, social norms, and other considerations? While there are no comprehensive sources of data on wills, trusts, lifetime gifts, and other forms of property transmission, there is ample available information from legal documents that with the help of natural language processing can hopefully be coded and analyzed in a systematic way.

Accomplishments and Awards

• Nation’s Top Economists Are Short-Term Happy, Long-Term Glum