A concern about low relative income, and the alignment of utilitarianism with egalitarianism

A utilitarian social planner who maximizes social welfare assigns the available income to those who are most efficient in converting income into utility. However, when individuals are concerned about their income falling behind the incomes of others, the optimal income distribution under utilitarianism is equality of incomes.

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Year of publication:	2011
Authors:	Stark, Oded ; Kobus, Martyna ; Jakubek, Marcin
Institutions:	Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
Subject:	utilitarianism \| income equality \| social welfare maximization \| relative income

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Extent:	application/pdf
Series:	University of Tuebingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance.
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Language:	English
Notes:	Number 21
Classification:	H0 - Public Economics. General ; I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare. General ; I30 - Welfare and Poverty. General ; I31 - General Welfare; Basic Needs; Quality of Life
Source:	RePEc - Research Papers in Economics

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009372139