The Axiomatic Approach to the Ranking of Infinite Streams

Luc Lauwers

A chapter in The Economics of the Global Environment, 2016, pp 231-255 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The history of the axiomatic approach to the ranking of infinite streams starts with Koopmans (1960) characterization of the discounted utilitarian rule. This rule, however, meets Chichilnisky’s axiom of dictatorship of the present and puts future generations offside. Recently, Lauwers (2010a) and Zame (2007) have uncovered the impossibility to combine in a constructible way the requirements of equal treatment, sensitivity, and completeness. This contribution presents and discusses different axioms proposed to guide the ranking of infinite streams and the criteria they imply. The literature covered in this overview definitely points towards a set of meaningful alternatives to discounted utilitarianism.

Keywords: D71; D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
Working Paper: The axiomatic approach to the ranking of infinite streams (2014)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:steccp:978-3-319-31943-8_12

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319319438

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-31943-8_12

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Studies in Economic Theory from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().