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Shared Destinies and the Measurement and of Social Risk Equity

Author

Listed:
  • Thibault Gajdos

    (CNRS-Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Universit� Paris 1)

  • John A. Weymark

    (Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University)

  • Claudio Zoli

    (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Universit� degli Studi di Verona)

Abstract

The evaluation of social risk equity for alternative probability distributions over the potential sets of fatalities is analyzed axiomatically. Fishburn and Straffin [Equity considerations in public risks valuation, Operations Research 37 (1999), 229--239] have identified a necessary and sufficient condition for two social risk distributions to be judged to be socially indifferent whenever their associated distributions of risk of death for individuals and for the number of fatalities are the same. It is argued that this approach does not permit society to exhibit any concern for the number of people an individual perishes with. A weakening of the Fishburn-Straffin condition that is compatible with a concern for shared destinies is proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:van:wpaper:0821
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter C. Fishburn & Rakesh K. Sarin, 1991. "Dispersive Equity and Social Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(7), pages 751-769, July.
    2. Ralph L. Keeney & Robert L. Winkler, 1985. "Evaluating Decision Strategies for Equity of Public Risks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 955-970, October.
    3. Peter C. Fishburn, 1984. "Equity Axioms for Public Risks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 901-908, August.
    4. Antoine Bommier & Stéphane Zuber, 2008. "Can preferences for catastrophe avoidance reconcile social discounting with intergenerational equity?," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 31(3), pages 415-434, October.
    5. Peter C. Fishburn & Philip D. Straffin, 1989. "Equity Considerations in Public Risks Evaluation," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 37(2), pages 229-239, April.
    6. Ralph L. Keeney, 1980. "Utility Functions for Equity and Public Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 345-353, April.
    7. Wen‐Qiang Bian & L. Robin Keller, 1999. "Chinese and Americans Agree on What Is Fair, but Disagree on What Is Best in Societal Decisions Affecting Health and Safety Risks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 439-452, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social risk evaluation; social risk equity; public risk; shared destinies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate

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