The limit of discounted utilitarianism

This paper presents an infinite-horizon version of intergenerational utilitarianism. By studying discounted utilitarianism as the discount factor tends to one, we obtain a welfare criterion --- limit-discounted utilitarianism (LDU) --- that is analytically tractable, respects the Pareto order, and satisfies the equal treatment of generations. In particular, we show that LDU provides (i) a link between preferences over infinite-horizon streams and large, finite-horizon truncations, and (ii) a new perspective on time-preference in the context of postponements of infinite streams. An axiomatic foundation for limit-discounted utilitarianism is presented.