Probability Adjusted Rank-Discounted Utilitarianism

Geir Asheim and Stéphane Zuber

No 4728, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We propose and axiomatize probability adjusted rank-discounted critical-level generalized utilitarianism (PARDCLU). We thus generalize rank-discounted utilitarianism (RDU) (proposed by Zuber and Asheim, 2012) to variable population and risky situations and thereby take important steps towards preparing RDU for practical use, e.g. for evaluation of climate policies and other policy issues with long-run consequences. We illustrate how PARDCLU yields rank-dependent expected utilitarianism - but with additional structure - in a special case, and show how PARDCLU can handle a situation with positive probability of human extinction.

Keywords: social evaluation; population ethics; decision-making under risk; critical-level utilitarianism; social discounting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D71 D81 H43 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4728

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