On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources

Jean-Marc Bonnisseau, Alain Chateauneuf and Jean-Pierre Drugeon ()
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Alain Chateauneuf: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Jean-Pierre Drugeon: CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris

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Abstract: This article is interested in future allocations of scarce resources in an environment where upper bounds and lower bounds are fixed on the stream of consumptions or extractions of the scarce resource. It is shown that the optimal planning of consumptions does not depend on the sequence of discounting factors as soon as they are decreasing at a rate smaller than a bound linked to the concavity of the utility function and the choice of the sequences of lower and upper bounds. The optimal solution is unique and exhibits two regimes with a pivotal period in the middle. Therefore, one gets plans satisfying some kind of intergenerational fairness: the upper bounds prevent the first generations from consuming too much of the resource to the detriment of future generations and the lower bounds ensure minimal consumption for these generations. We also consider the role of the horizon and of a potential regret after a revision for the bounds. The argument is then extended to partially renewable resources.

Date: 2025-08
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Published in Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2025, 27 (4), ⟨10.1111/jpet.70053⟩

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Related works:
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
Working Paper: On the (Ir)Relevance of Discount Factors for Future Allocations of Scarce Resources (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-05340624

DOI: 10.1111/jpet.70053

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