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Welfare economics, risk and uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Marc Fleurbaey

Abstract

Social decisions in risky contexts raise a number of difficult questions, such as: (1) Should social decisions be more or less risk averse than the average person? (2) Should we try to avoid large catastrophes more than frequent but limited harms with similar expected impact? (3) Should social decisions be ambiguity averse or stick to the expected utility canon? This paper reviews the welfare economics of risk and uncertainty and examines possible answers to these questions, based on the pros and cons of utilitarianism, ex ante egalitarianism and ex post egalitarianism.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Fleurbaey, 2018. "Welfare economics, risk and uncertainty," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(1), pages 5-40, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:51:y:2018:i:1:p:5-40
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12314
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    Cited by:

    1. Thijs De Coninck & Frederik Van De Putte, 2023. "Original position arguments and social choice under ignorance," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 275-298, February.
    2. Johannes Emmerling, 2018. "Sharing Of Climate Risks Across World Regions," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(03), pages 1-19, August.
    3. McCarthy, David & Mikkola, Kalle & Thomas, Teruji, 2016. "Utilitarianism with and without expected utility," MPRA Paper 72578, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Dean Spears & Stéphane Zuber, 2023. "Foundations of utilitarianism under risk and variable population," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 61(1), pages 101-129, July.
    5. Attema, Arthur E. & L'Haridon, Olivier & van de Kuilen, Gijs, 2023. "Decomposing social risk preferences for health and wealth," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Weijia Wang, 2025. "Preference aggregation with heterogeneous beliefs and catastrophe risk," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 146(2), pages 263-279, October.
    7. Philippe Mongin & Marcus Pivato, 2021. "Rawls’s difference principle and maximin rule of allocation: a new analysis," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(4), pages 1499-1525, June.
    8. Li, Zheng & Hensher, David A. & Zeng, Jingjing, 2022. "Travel choice behaviour under uncertainty in real-market settings: A source-dependent utility approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    9. Philippe Mongin & Marcus Pivato, 2020. "Social preference under twofold uncertainty," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 70(3), pages 633-663, October.
    10. Simon Fan & Yu Pang & Pierre Pestieau, 2022. "Investment in children, social security, and intragenerational risk sharing," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 286-315, April.
    11. Sunday Stephen AJEMUNIGBOHUN & Sulaiman Ademola Oreshile, 2019. "Risk Aversion And Motor Insurance Demand: Empirical Evidence From Nigeria," Annals of University of Craiova - Economic Sciences Series, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 2(47), pages 211-222, December.
    12. Pivato, Marcus, 2022. "Bayesian social aggregation with accumulating evidence," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    13. Fillon, Romain & Guivarch, Céline & Taconet, Nicolas, 2023. "Optimal climate policy under tipping risk and temporal risk aversion," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    14. Marcus Pivato & Élise Flore Tchouante, 2024. "Bayesian social aggregation with non-Archimedean utilities and probabilities," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 77(3), pages 561-595, May.
    15. Casey Rothschild, 2024. "Welfare analysis in insurance markets," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 49(1), pages 36-58, March.
    16. Liran Einav & Amy Finkelstein, 2023. "Empirical analyses of selection and welfare in insurance markets: a self-indulgent survey," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 48(2), pages 167-191, September.
    17. McCarthy, David & Mikkola, Kalle & Thomas, Teruji, 2020. "Utilitarianism with and without expected utility," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 77-113.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

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

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