Impartiality and Priority. Part 1: The Veil of Ignorance

Juan Moreno-Ternero and John Roemer

No 1477A, Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers from Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University

Abstract: The veil of ignorance has been used often as a tool for recommending what justice requires with respect to the distribution of wealth. We complete Harsanyi’s model of the veil of ignorance by appending information permitting interpersonal comparability of welfare. We show that the veil-of-ignorance conception of John Harsanyi, so completed, and Ronald Dworkin’s, when modeled formally, recommend wealth allocations in conflict with the prominently espoused view that priority should be given to the worse off with respect to wealth allocation.

Keywords: Impartiality; Priority; Veil of ignorance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 D71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2004-08, Revised 2005-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Economics and Philosophy (2008), 24(2): 233-257

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