Justifying Sustainability

Geir Asheim, Wolfgang Buchholz () and Bertil Tungodden

Working Papers from Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration-

Abstract: In the framework of ethical social choice theory, sustainability is justified by Efficiency and Equity as ethical axioms. These axioms correspond to the Suppes-Sen Grading principle. In technologies that are productive in a certain sense, the set of Suppes-Sen maximal utility paths is shown to equal the set of non-decreasing and efficient paths. Since any such path is sustainable, Efficiency and Equity can thus be used to deem any unsustainable path as ethically unacceptable. This finding is contrasted with results that seem to indicate that an infinite number of generations cannot be treated equally.

Keywords: SOCIAL WELFARE; ENVIRONMENT; EFFICIENCY (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 Q32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 1999
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Justifying Sustainability (2001)
Working Paper: Justifying sustainability (1999)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fth:norgee:5/99

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