Under conditions of risk it makes a difference whether the discount rate is determined as an expected present or as an expected future value. This difference which is dubbed as the Weitzman-Gollier puzzle has stimulated an intensive discussion which, however, is somewhat confusing. In this paper...

Based on the Ramsey equation and an ethically motivated rejection of pure utility time discount, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change concentrates on the use of the elasticity of marginal utility ç in the intergenerational social welfare function. We support this position by...

We show within three technological environments that any efficient and non-decreasing allocation can be the unique optimum according to undiscounted utilitarianism for some choice of utility function. – Utilitarianism ; Intergenerational justice

Undiscounted utilitarianism as a criterion of intergeneration justice has been questioned for different reasons: it has been argued (1) that any complete ordering of allocations with an infinite number of generations guaranteeing an optimal allocation must involve discounting, and (2) that...