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Social choice with approximate interpersonal comparison of welfare gains

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  • Marcus Pivato

Abstract

Suppose it is possible to make approximate interpersonal comparisons of welfare gains and losses. Thus, if $$w$$ w , $$x$$ x , $$y$$ y and $$z$$ z are personal states (each encoding all factors which influence the well-being of an individual), then it is sometimes possible to say “The welfare gain of the state change $$w\leadsto x$$ w ⇝ x is greater than the welfare gain of the state change $$y\leadsto z$$ y ⇝ z ”. We can represent this by the formula “ $$(w\leadsto x)\succeq (y\leadsto z)$$ ( w ⇝ x ) ⪰ ( y ⇝ z ) ”, where $$(\succeq )$$ ( ⪰ ) is a difference preorder: an incomplete preorder on the space of all possible personal state changes. A social state change is a bundle of personal state changes. A social difference preorder (SDP) is an incomplete preorder on the space of social state changes, which satisfies Pareto and Anonymity axioms. We characterize a family of SDPs which are roughly utilitarian in nature. We also apply the model to redistributive taxation. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

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  • Marcus Pivato, 2015. "Social choice with approximate interpersonal comparison of welfare gains," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 79(2), pages 181-216, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:theord:v:79:y:2015:i:2:p:181-216
    DOI: 10.1007/s11238-014-9458-8
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    1. Marcus Pivato, 2013. "Risky social choice with incomplete or noisy interpersonal comparisons of well-being," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 40(1), pages 123-139, January.
    2. Pivato, Marcus, 2013. "Multiutility representations for incomplete difference preorders," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 196-220.
    3. Marcus Pivato, 2015. "Social choice with approximate interpersonal comparison of welfare gains," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 79(2), pages 181-216, September.
    4. Pivato, Marcus, 2013. "Social welfare with incomplete ordinal interpersonal comparisons," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(5), pages 405-417.
    5. Sakamoto, Norihito, 2018. "Equity Criteria Based on the Dominance Principle and Individual Preferences: Refinements of the Consensus Approach," RCNE Discussion Paper Series 5, Research Center for Normative Economics, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Interpersonal comparisons; Cardinal utility; Utilitarian; Difference preorder;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General

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