Non-parametric well-being comparisons

We study the problem of making interpersonal well-being comparisons when individuals have heterogeneous preferences. We present a robust criterion for interpersonal well-being comparisons that states that one individual is better off than another one if the intersection between the extended upper contour set of the better off individual and the extended lower contour set of the worse off individual is empty. We implement the criterion in the consumption-health space using an online survey with 2,260 respondents in the United States to investigate how complete the resulting interpersonal well-being comparison is. To chart the contour sets of the respondents, we propose a new “adaptive bisectional dichotomous choice” (ABDC) procedure that is based on a limited number of dichotomous choices and some mild non-parametric assumptions on the preferences. We find that between one fifth and half of all pairs of respondents can be ranked with the criterion.