Exploitation and Efficiency

Elias Khalil ()

The Review of Black Political Economy, 2017, vol. 44, issue 3, 363-377

Abstract: Abstract Let us take any historical or contemporary economic society. Would economic efficiency become better if such society erects and enforces institutions that prohibit its members from the exploitation of excludable groups that can be defined by race, ethnicity, etc.? This question actually makes no sense. One must first identity the boundary of society, i.e., who make up the objective function. Irrespective of how one defines efficiency, one cannot assess the efficiency of institutions without determining who is covered and who is excluded. Efficiency judgments can make sense only when one defines the social boundary.

Keywords: Hicks-Kaldor Welfare Criterion; Injustice; Collective Welfare Function; Altruism; Radical Social Theory; Inter-society Utility Comparison; Externality vs. Pecuniary Externality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 B41 D71 N00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s12114-017-9263-z

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