IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ris/etheco/0021.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Desert and Distributive Efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Dekker , Teun J.

    (University College Maastricht)

Abstract

It is highly desirable for an allocation of goods to be efficient. However, one might also deem it important that an allocation gives individuals what they deserve. This paper investigates whether it is possible for an allocation to be both efficient and give people what they deserve. It will first of all consider comparative desert, and conclude that it is possible to satisfy both desiderata. It will then consider absolute desert by integrating Shelly Kagan’s work on desert and economic theory. The conclusion will be that there are potential conflicts between absolute desert and efficiency. The paper will then examine how to select the best compromise between the two values, considering several different conceptions of absolute desert.

Suggested Citation

  • Dekker , Teun J., 2008. "Desert and Distributive Efficiency," Ethics and Economics, CREUM, Université de Montréal, vol. 5(2), pages 1-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:etheco:0021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ethique-economique.net
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Distributive Justice; Desert; Pareto Efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:etheco:0021. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: David Robichaud (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.creum.umontreal.ca/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.