On the Equivalence between Welfarism and Equality of Opportunity

Francois Maniquet

No 22, Economics Working Papers from Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science

Abstract: A welfarist way of allocating resources consists in 1) equipping individuals with comparable indices of their well-being and 2) applying a unique aggregation rule to individual well-being levels. An equality of opportunity way of allocating resources consists in 1) making the distinction between personal characteristics which are under and beyond individuals’ control, and 2) decreasing inequalities due to differences in characteristics beyond individuals’ control. We show that under the proviso that indifferent individuals should not influence social judgements, welfarist and equal opportunity judgements on resource allocation are equivalent.

Keywords: Welfare; Opportunity; Equality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2002-05
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Social Choice and Welfare 23(1) August 2004, 127-147

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Journal Article: On the equivalence between welfarism and equality of opportunity (2004)
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