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The possibility of Paretian anonymous decision-making with an infinite population

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  • Susumu Cato

    (University of Tokyo)

Abstract

This paper considers the trade-off between unanimity and anonymity in collective decision-making with an infinite population. This efficiency-equity trade-off is afundamental difficulty in making a normative judgment in a conflict betweengenerations. In particular, it is known that this trade-off is quite sensitive in the formulation of unanimity axioms. In this study, we consider the trade-off in a preference-aggregation framework instead of the standard utility-aggregationframework. We show that there exists a social welfare function that satisfies I-strong Pareto, independence of irrelevant alternatives, and finite anonymity. This contrasts with an impossibility result in the standard utility-aggregation framework, and this means that the trade-off is also sensitive for background frameworks of aggregations.

Suggested Citation

  • Susumu Cato, 2019. "The possibility of Paretian anonymous decision-making with an infinite population," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 53(4), pages 587-601, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:53:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s00355-019-01199-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-019-01199-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Susumu Cato, 2022. "Stable preference aggregation with infinite population," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 59(2), pages 287-304, August.
    2. Adrian Miroiu, 2020. "Coalitions of concerned voters: a characterization of the majority rule," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(4), pages 2717-2722.
    3. Cato, Susumu, 2023. "When is weak Pareto equivalent to strong Pareto?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social choice; Intergenerational equity; Possibility theorem; Unanimity; Anonymity; Ultrafilter;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations

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