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Global lifespan and welfare inequality over the last five decades from a prioritarian perspective

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  • Shaun Costa

    (Paris School of Economics)

Abstract

Recent assessments of global welfare inequality utilise measures that combine country-level outcomes in consumption and life expectancy (or average lifespan). However, this perspective remains blind to the fact that two countries may have the same life expectancy but very different underlying distributions of lifespan. In this paper, I examine global welfare inequality over the last five decades using a preference-based measure, the equivalent consumption, which accounts for these within-country differences. I find that the evolution of inequality over time is very sensitive to the underlying normative choices within the measure. More specifically, downward trends in global welfare inequality are reversed when greater priority is given to to those with the shortest lifespans.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaun Costa, 2025. "Global lifespan and welfare inequality over the last five decades from a prioritarian perspective," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 65(2), pages 487-512, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:65:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s00355-024-01579-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-024-01579-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Da Costa Shaun Mark, 2026. "Beyond GDP and life expectancy: welfare comparisons across the Atlantic," JRC Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2025-05-2, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.

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