Allais-anonymity as an alternative to the discounted-sum criterion in the calculus of optimal growth I: Consensual optimality

The objective of this work is to try to define and calculate the optimal growth path, in the presence of exogenous technical change, without resorting to the discounted-sum criterion. The solution suggested is to consider an optimality criterion expressing an Allais-anonymous intergenerational consensus. The partial characterization of consensual optimality was made possible thanks to the decomposition of the dual of the space of sub-geometric sequences of reason p. The main finding is a relation between the marginal rate of substitution between bequest and heritage, and the growth rate, relation which is a necessary condition for consensual optimality. The necessary study of the Pareto-optimality of the consensual optimum is the subject of a forthcoming paper "Allais-anonymity as an alternative to the discounted-sum criterion in the calculus of optimal growth II: Pareto optimality and some economic interpretations".