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Welfare Comparisons of Income Distributions

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Author Info
Marc Fleurbaey () (CNRS-CERSES, University Paris 5, and IDEP)
Abstract

This paper analyzes social situations in the context of risk. A new argument is proposed in order to defend the ex-post approach against DiamondÕs (1967) famous critique of HarsanyiÕs (1955) utilitarian theorem. It leads to a characterization of the criterion consisting in computing the expected value of the “equal-equivalent”. Characterizations of the ex-post maximin and leximin criteria, as well as a variant of Harsanyi’s theorem, are also obtained. It is examined how to take account of concerns for ex-ante fairness within this ex-post approach. Related issues are also addressed, such as the rescue problem or preference for catastrophe avoidance.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institut d'economie publique (IDEP), Marseille, France in its series IDEP Working Papers with number 0703.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2007
Date of revision: Jan 2007
Handle: RePEc:iep:wpidep:0703

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Related research
Keywords: Risk; Social Welfare; ex ante; ex post; Fairness; Harsanyi Theorem.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Hammond, Peter J, 1981. "Ex-ante and Ex-post Welfare Optimality under Uncertainty," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 48(191), pages 235-50, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Antoine Bommier & Stéphane Zuber, 2008. "Can preferences for catastrophe avoidance reconcile social discounting with intergenerational equity?," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 415-434, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Epstein, Larry G & Segal, Uzi, 1992. "Quadratic Social Welfare Functions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 691-712, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Thibault Gajdos & Eric Maurin, 2002. "Unequal uncertainties and uncertain inequalities: an axiomatic approach," ICER Working Papers - Applied Mathematics Series 15-2003, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research, revised Mar 2003. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Broome, John, 1984. "Uncertainty and Fairness," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(375), pages 624-32, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. John C. Harsanyi, 1955. "Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics, and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63, pages 309. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Hammond, Peter J, 1976. "Equity, Arrow's Conditions, and Rawls' Difference Principle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 793-804, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Meyer, Margaret A & Mookherjee, Dilip, 1987. "Incentives, Compensation, and Social Welfare," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(2), pages 209-26, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Pratt, John W & Zeckhauser, Richard J, 1996. "Willingness to Pay and the Distribution of Risk and Wealth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 747-63, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Alon Harel, 2005. "Ex-Post Egalitarianism and Legal Justice," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 57-75, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Hammond, P.J. & , ., 1987. "Consequentialist foundations for expected utility," CORE Discussion Papers 1987016, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  12. Kolm, Serge-Christophe, 1998. "Chance and justice: Social policies and the Harsanyi-Vickrey-Rawls problem," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1393-1416, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ben-Porath, Elchanan & Gilboa, Itzhak & Schmeidler, David, 1997. "On the Measurement of Inequality under Uncertainty," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 194-204, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Alon Harel & Zvi Safra & Uzi Segal, 2003. "Ex-Post Egalitarianism," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 563, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Myerson, Roger B, 1981. "Utilitarianism, Egalitarianism, and the Timing Effect in Social Choice Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 883-97, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Hammond, Peter J, 1989. "Consistent Plans, Consequentialism, and Expected Utility," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1445-49, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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