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Aggregating Infinite Utility Streams with Inter-generational Equity: The Impossibility of Being Paretian

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Basu, Kaushik (Cornell U)
Mitra, Tapan (Cornell U)

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Abstract

It has been known that, in aggregating infinite utility streams, there does not exist any social welfare function, which satisfies the axioms of Pareto, inter-generational equity and continuity. We show that the impossibility result persists even without imposing the continuity axiom, and in frameworks allowing for more general domains of utilities than those used in the existing literature.

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Paper provided by Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics in its series Working Papers with number 03-03.

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Date of creation: Feb 2003
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Handle: RePEc:ecl:corcae:03-03

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D00 - Microeconomics - - General - - - General
D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
D90 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - General

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  1. Sen, Amartya K, 1977. "On Weights and Measures: Informational Constraints in Social Welfare Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(7), pages 1539-72, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Svensson, Lars-Gunnar, 1980. "Equity among Generations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(5), pages 1251-56, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Stuart Burness, H., 1973. "Impatience and the preference for advancement in the timing of satisfactions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 6(5), pages 495-507, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Tjalling C. Koopmans, 1959. "Stationary Ordinal Utility and Impatience," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 81, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Basu Kaushik, 1994. "Group Rationality, Utilitarianism, and Escher's Waterfall," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. dÕASPREMONT, Claude, 2005. "Formal welfarism and intergenerational equity," CORE Discussion Papers 2005075, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Alcantud, José C. R. & García-Sanz, María D., 2007. "Paretian evaluation of infinite utility streams: an egalitarian criterion," MPRA Paper 6288, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  3. Vincent Martinet, 2009. "Defining sustainability objectives," EconomiX Working Papers 2009-7, University of Paris West - Nanterre la Défense, EconomiX. [Downloadable!]
  4. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Ngo Van Long, 2007. "A Mixed Bentham-Rawls Criterion For Intergenerational Equity: Theory And Implications," Departmental Working Papers 2007-03, McGill University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Dutta, Bhaskar, 2007. "Some Remarks on the Ranking of Infinite Utility Streams," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 819, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Juan Crespo & Carmelo Nuñez & Juan Rincón-Zapatero, 2009. "On the impossibility of representing infinite utility streams," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 47-56, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Asheim, Geir B. & Bossert, Walter & Sprumont, Yves & Suzumura, Kotaro, 2006. "Infinite-horizon choice functions," Memorandum 17/2006, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. BOSSERT, Walter & SPRUMONT, Yves & SUZUMURA, Kotaro, 2004. "The Possibility of Ordering Infinite Utility Streams," Cahiers de recherche 2004-09, Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Basu, Kaushik & Mitra, Tapan, 2005. "Possibility Theorems for Aggregating Infinite Utility Streams Equitably," Working Papers 05-05, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
  10. Geir B. Asheim & Tapan Mitra, 2009. "Sustainability and Discounted Utilitarianism in Models of Economic Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
  11. Asheim, Geir B. & Mitra, Tapan & Tungodden, Bertil, 2006. "Sustainable recursive social welfare functions," Memorandum 18/2006, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Chambers, Christopher P., 2005. "Quantiles and medians," Working Papers 1222, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences. [Downloadable!]
  13. Basu, Kaushik & Mitra, Tapan, 2005. "On the Existence of Paretian Social Welfare Relations for Infinite Utility Streams with Extended Anonymity," Working Papers 05-06, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
  14. Geir B. Asheim, 2005. "Intergenerational Ethics under Resource Constraints," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 141(III), pages 313-330, September. [Downloadable!]
  15. Banerjee, Kuntal & Mitra, Tapan, 2004. "On the Continuity of Ethical Social Welfare Orders," Working Papers 04-16, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Basu, Kaushik & Mitra, Tapan, 2003. "Utilitarianism for Infinite Utility Streams: A New Welfare Criterion and Its Axiomatic Characterization," Working Papers 03-05, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Mitra, Tapan, 2004. "Intergenerational Equity and the Forest Management Problem," Working Papers 04-17, Cornell University, Center for Analytic Economics. [Downloadable!]
  18. Y. Hossein Farzin & Ken-Ichi Akao, 2006. "When is it Optimal to Exhaust a Resource in a Finite Time?," Working Papers 2006.23, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
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