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Dispersive Equity and Social Risk

Author

Listed:
  • Peter C. Fishburn

    (AT&T Bell Laboratories, 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974)

  • Rakesh K. Sarin

    (Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90024)

Abstract

Dispersive equity is concerned with the impact of life-threatening risks from alternative policy decisions on homogeneous groups in a population. It is not addressed to the disutility of various numbers of fatalities that might occur, but rather to how fatalities are distributed over the groups. Although dispersive equity has long been recognized as an important component of some policy decisions, it has received little formal treatment within the matrix of salient factors for such decisions. Our purpose is to advance its formal development. This is done within a formulation based on probability distributions over potential fatality sets. The formulation gives rise to four distinct but not independent equity concepts: individual risk equity, group risk equity, dispersive equity, and social outcome equity. Each of these is analyzed, but special attention is given to dispersive equity. The paper also comments on relationships between total equity and its four components, and between total equity and the disutility of various numbers of fatalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter C. Fishburn & Rakesh K. Sarin, 1991. "Dispersive Equity and Social Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(7), pages 751-769, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:37:y:1991:i:7:p:751-769
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.37.7.751
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Carole Bernard & Christoph M. Rheinberger & Nicolas Treich, 2018. "Catastrophe Aversion and Risk Equity in an Interdependent World," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(10), pages 4490-4504, October.
    2. Thibault Gajdos & John Weymark & Claudio Zoli, 2010. "Shared destinies and the measurement of social risk equity," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 409-424, April.
    3. Ingrid T. Rohde & Kirsten M. Rohde, 2015. "Managing social risks – tradeoffs between risks and inequalities," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 103-124, October.
    4. Attema, Arthur E. & L'Haridon, Olivier & van de Kuilen, Gijs, 2023. "Decomposing social risk preferences for health and wealth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    5. Cooper, W. W. & Hemphill, H. & Huang, Z. & Li, S. & Lelas, V. & Sullivan, D. W., 1997. "Survey of mathematical programming models in air pollution management," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 1-35, January.
    6. Ehsan Taheri & Chen Wang, 2018. "Eliciting Public Risk Preferences in Emergency Situations," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 223-241, December.
    7. L. Robin Keller & Rakesh K. Sarin, 1995. "Fair Processes for Societal Decisions Involving Distributional Inequalities," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 49-59, February.
    8. Christoph M. Rheinberger & Nicolas Treich, 2017. "Attitudes Toward Catastrophe," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 609-636, July.
    9. Thibault Gajdos & John A. Weymark & Claudio Zoli, 2008. "Shared Destinies and the Measurement and of Social Risk Equity," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0821, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    10. James E. Smith & Detlof von Winterfeldt, 2004. "Anniversary Article: Decision Analysis in Management Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(5), pages 561-574, May.

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