Positively gamma discounting: combining the opinions of experts on the social discount rate

Mark C. Freeman and Ben Groom

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The aggregated term structure of social discount rates that results from Weitz-man's (2001) survey of expert opinion is shown to be highly sensitive to the nature of the responses. If variation re.ects irreducible differences in ethical judgements, the term structure can decline rapidly. If variation occurred because respondents were forecasting future rates under uncertainty, the term structure is much flatter because additional experts provide new information. The former approach triples the social cost of carbon when compared to the latter. The distinction between heterogeneity and uncertainty illustrates the need for a nuanced treatment of survey data in intergenerational policy making.

JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 10 pages
Date: 2015-06-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

Published in The Economic Journal, 1, June, 2015, 125(585), pp. 1015 - 1024. ISSN: 0013-0133

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Related works:
Journal Article: Positively Gamma Discounting: Combining the Opinions of Experts on the Social Discount Rate (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:57158

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