A characterization and an impossibility of finite length anonymity for infinite generations

Toyotaka Sakai

Journal of Mathematical Economics, 2010, vol. 46, issue 5, 877-883

Abstract: In the context of ranking infinite utility streams, the impartiality axiom of finite length anonymity requires the equal ranking of any two utility streams that are equal up to a finite length permutation (Fleurbaey and Michel, 2003). We first characterize any finite length permutation as a composition of a fixed step permutation and an "almost" fixed step permutation. We then show that if a binary relation satisfies finite length anonymity, then it violates all the distributional axioms that are based on a segment-wise comparison. Examples of those axioms include the weak Pareto principle and the weak Pigou-Dalton principle.

Keywords: Intergenerational; equity; Finite; length; anonymity; Infinite; dimension; Diamond'; s; impossibility; theorem; Social; choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:mateco:v:46:y:2010:i:5:p:877-883

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