Justifying social discounting the rank-discounted utilitarian approach

The discounted utilitarian criterion for infinite horizon social choice has been criticized for treating generations unequally. We propose an extended rank-discounted utilitarian (ERDU) criterion instead. The criterion amounts to discounted utilitarianism on non-decreasing streams, but it treats all...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Zuber, Stéphane (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Asheim, Geir B. (VerfasserIn)
Format: UnknownFormat
Sprache:eng
Veröffentlicht: Munich CESifo 2010
Schriftenreihe:CESifo working papers 3192 : Category 2, Public choice
Schlagworte:
Online Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The discounted utilitarian criterion for infinite horizon social choice has been criticized for treating generations unequally. We propose an extended rank-discounted utilitarian (ERDU) criterion instead. The criterion amounts to discounted utilitarianism on non-decreasing streams, but it treats all generations impartially: discounting becomes the mere expression of intergenerational inequality aversion. We show that more inequality averse ERDU societies have higher social discount rates when future generations are better-off. We apply the ERDU approach in two benchmark economic growth models and prove that it promotes sustainable policies that maximize discounted utilitarian welfare.
Beschreibung:Literaturangaben. - Zusätzliches Online-Angebot unter www.SSRN.com, www.RePEc.org und www.CESifo-group.org/wp
Beschreibung:35 S.
21 cm