Fair Social Ordering, Egalitarianism, and Animal Welfare

Marc Fleurbaey and Martin Van der Linden

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 466-91

Abstract: We study fairness in economies where humans consume one private good and one public good representing the welfare of other species. We show that a social evaluator cannot be egalitarian with respect to humans while always respecting humans' unanimous preferences. One solution is to respect unanimous preferences only when doing so does not lead to a decrease in the welfare of other species. Social preferences satisfying these properties reveal surprising connections between concerns for other species, egalitarianism among humans, and unanimity: the latter two imply a form of dictatorship from humans with the strongest preference for the welfare of other species.

JEL-codes: D11 D63 H41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: Fair Social Ordering, Egalitarianism, and Animal Welfare (2021)
Working Paper: Fair Social Ordering, Egalitarianism, and Animal Welfare (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/mic.20190091

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