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Welfare and the Private Provision of Public Goods When Altruism Increases

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  • Dennis A. Kaufman

    (University of Wisconsin-Parkside)

Abstract

The desirability of an exogenously induced change in the preferences of individuals is investigated in the case of the voluntary private provision of a charitable public good. Because a change in individual preferences implies a change in the means used to evaluate equilibrium allocations, the welfare criterion of "social supenority," an extension of the conventional Pareto criterion, is used to compare economic states based on different preferences. This article establishes necessary and sufficient conditions under which the adoption of nonidentical altruistic (externality internalizing) preferences by heterogenous individuals increases the private provision of the public good and produces an altruistic state that is socially superior to the initial state.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis A. Kaufman, 1994. "Welfare and the Private Provision of Public Goods When Altruism Increases," Public Finance Review, , vol. 22(2), pages 239-257, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:22:y:1994:i:2:p:239-257
    DOI: 10.1177/109114219402200205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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