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Is the veil of ignorance transparent?

Author

Listed:
  • Gaël Giraud

    (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne)

  • Cécile Renouard

    (ESSEC)

Abstract

Theories of justice in the spirit of Rawls and Harsanyi argue that fair-minded people should aspire to make choices for society as if in the original position, that is, behind a veil of ignorance that prevents them from knowing their own social positions in society. In this paper, we provide a framework showing that preferences in front of the veil of ignorance (i.e., in face of everyday risky situations) are entirely determined by ethical preferences behind the veil. Moreover, by contrast with Kariv & Zame (2008), in many cases of interest, the converse is not true: ethical decisions cannot be deduced from economic ones. This not only rehabilitates distributive theories of justice but even proves that standard decision theory in economic environments cannot be separated from ethical questioning

Suggested Citation

  • Gaël Giraud & Cécile Renouard, 2010. "Is the veil of ignorance transparent?," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 10011, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10011
    DOI: 10.4000/oeconomia.1910
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. İbrahim Erdem SEÇİLMİŞ, 2014. "Seniority: A Blessing or A Curse? The Effect of Economics Training on the Perception of Distributive Justice," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 22(22).

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    JEL classification:

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

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