Utilitarism, Equivalence Scales and Logarithmic Utility

It is shown that if social welfare is the sum of logaritmic utility function, the optimal income distribution and the welfare effect of any income redistribution is independet of the equivalence scales. In optimum all households have the same per capita income. Based on this observation it is discussed to what extent traditional welfare theory can be said to be concerned about fair income distribution.

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Year of publication:	1994
Authors:	Brekke, Kjell Arne
Publisher:	Oslo : Statistics Norway, Research Department
Subject:	Equivalence scales \| income distribution \| logarthmic utility.

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Series:	Discussion Papers ; 118
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Type of publication (narrower categories):	Working Paper
Language:	English
Other identifiers:	hdl:10419/192102 [Handle] RePEc:ssb:dispap:118 [RePEc]
Classification:	D10 - Household Behavior and Family Economics. General ; D31 - Personal Income, Wealth and Their Distributions ; D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
Source:	EconStor

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011967890