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A Soul's View of the Optimal Population Problem
de la Croix, David; Doepke, Matthias - 2023
A long-standing challenge for welfare economics is to develop welfare criteria that can be applied to allocations with different population levels. Such a criterion is essential to resolve the optimal population problem, i.e., the tradeoff between population size and the welfare of each person...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014263967
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Utilitarianism and Horizontal Equity : The Case for Random Taxation
Stiglitz, Joseph E. - 2021
This paper establishes that, far from being able to derive the principle of horizontal equity from utilitarianism, the … principle is actually in- consistent with utilitarianism in a variety of circumstances. We derive conditions under which (a) it … imposed on a set of otherwise identical individuals (ex ante randomization). The implications for optimal tax theory are …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013313351
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Spreading the Wealth Around : Reflections Inspired by Joe the Plumber
Mankiw, N. Gregory - 2010
individuals' moral intuitions. The essay then explores an alternative normative framework, dubbed the Just Deserts Theory …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013146265
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A Fundamental Objection to Tax Equity Norms : A Call for Utilitarianism
Kaplow, Louis - 2021
believe utilitarianism to be insufficiently egalitarian. Second, utilitarianism does not give independent weight to other …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013218523
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People, Places and Public Policy : Some Simple Welfare Economics of Local Economic Development Programs
Kline, Patrick - 2014
Most countries exhibit large and persistent geographical differences in wages, income and unemployment rates. A growing class of "place based" policies attempt to address these differences through public investments and subsidies that target disadvantaged neighborhoods, cities or regions. Place...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013062079
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A Welfare Criterion for Models with Distorted Beliefs
Brunnermeier, Markus K. - 2014
This paper proposes a welfare criterion for economies in which agents have heterogeneously distorted beliefs. Instead of taking a stand on whose belief is correct, our criterion asserts that an allocation is belief-neutral efficient (inefficient) if it is efficient (inefficient) under any convex...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013043623
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Who Chooses Commitment? Evidence and Welfare Implications
Carrera, Mariana - 2019
This paper develops an approach for estimating people's perceived and actual self-control problems in the field, and for investigating whether offers of commitment contracts are well-targeted tools for addressing self-control problems. In an experiment on gym attendance (N=1,248), we estimate a...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012864478
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The Welfare Effects of Social Media
Allcott, Hunt - 2019
The rise of social media has provoked both optimism about potential societal benefits and concern about harms such as addiction, depression, and political polarization. In a randomized experiment, we find that deactivating Facebook for the four weeks before the 2018 US midterm election (i)...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012893528
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Beyond Revealed Preference : Choice Theoretic Foundations for Behavioral Welfare Economics
Bernheim, B. Douglas - 2010
We propose a broad generalization of standard choice-theoretic welfare economics that encompasses a wide variety of non-standard behavioral models. Our approach exploits the coherent aspects of choice which those positive models typically attempt to capture. It replaces the standard revealed...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012759605
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Intertemporal Distortions in the Second Best
Albanesi, Stefania - 2010
This paper studies the long run properties of intertemporal distortions in a broad class of second best economies. Our unified framework encompasses and extends many well known models, such as variants of the Ramsey taxation model with aggregate or idiosyncratic risk, and economies with...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012759663