Unequal uncertainties and uncertain inequalities: an axiomatic approach

Thibault Gajdos () and Eric Maurin

ICER Working Papers - Applied Mathematics Series from ICER - International Centre for Economic Research

Abstract: In this paper, we provide an axiomatic characterization of social welfare functions for uncertain incomes. Our most general result is that a small number of reasonable assumptions regarding welfare orderings under uncertainty rule out pure ex ante as well as pure ex post evaluations. Any social welfare function that satisfies these axioms should lie strictly between the ex ante and the ex post evaluations of income distributions. We also provide an axiomatic characterization of the weighted average of the minimum and the maximum of ex post and the ex ante evaluations.

Keywords: Inequality; Uncertainty; Multiple Priors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2002-09, Revised 2003-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mic
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Unequal uncertainties and uncertain inequalities: an axiomatic approach (2004)
Working Paper: Unequal Uncertainties and Uncertain Inequalities: An Axiomatic Approach (2004)
Working Paper: Unequal Uncertainties and Uncertain Inequalities: An Axiomatic Approach (2004)
Working Paper: Unequal Uncertainties and Uncertain Inequalities: An Axiomatic Approach (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:icr:wpmath:15-2003

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