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Aggregation of Time Preferences and Comparability of Intergenerational Utilities

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  • Wei Ma

Abstract

Experimental evidence reveals that, in aggregating time preferences, a decision maker exhibits mild aversion to inequality across individuals' evaluations of a stream. Neither the utilitarian nor the maxmin aggregation rule can account for this finding. Building on principles concerning the comparability of intergenerational utilities and intergenerational fairness, this paper axiomatizes a family of aggregation rules that allow the decision maker to display varying degrees of inequality aversion. These rules fit well with experimental data.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Ma, 2026. "Aggregation of Time Preferences and Comparability of Intergenerational Utilities," Papers 2609.36744, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2609.36744
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    File URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.36744
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