Justifying social discounting: The rank-discounted utilitarian approach

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• 作者：Sté ; phane Zuber^a ; ^b ; ^{stephane.zuber@parisdescartes.fr} ; Geir B. Asheim^c ; ^{g.b.asheim@econ.uio.no}
• 关键词：D63 ; H43 ; Q56
• 刊名：Journal of Economic Theory
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：70_00220531
• 类别：eco
• 出版时间：July, 2012
• 卷：147
• 期：4
• 页码：1572-1601
• 文件大小：300 K

摘要

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.