Unjust intergenerational allocations
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Unjust intergenerational allocations
zbMATH Open document ID: 0733.90007
DOI: 10.1016/0022-0531(91)90127-P
author: Geir B. Asheim
published in: Journal of Economic Theory
publication date: 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
review text: The utilitarian criterion as well as the Rawlsian maximin principle are known to have some unconvincing implications when applied to problems of intergenerational equity. Maximin combined with egoistic preferences may perpetuate poverty while utilitarianism with positive discounting may suggest consumption paths which eventually approach zero although unbounded growth is feasible. The author pleads for restricting social choice to allocations which satisfy an ethical criterion of justice. An allocation is said to be unjust if there exists another feasible allocation with more total consumption and less relative inequality. In technologies for which waiting is productive only efficient and nondecreasing allocations remain after ruling out all unjust allocations. The author then focuses on those just allocations which altruistically minded generations would choose. (Altruism is here equivalent to utilitarianism with positive discounting.) It is shown that the resulting allocations would have equally been chosen if i) maximin were combined with altruism, ii) some condition of time-consistency is respected, and iii) the underlying technologies are productive and of specific types.
reviewed by: Wolfram F. Richter
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 91B14
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 91B62
zbMATH DE Number: 4213700
zbMATH Keywords: utilitarian criterion
zbMATH Keywords: Rawlsian maximin principle
zbMATH Keywords: intergenerational equity
MaRDI profile type: Publication
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description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4213700