A note on redistributive fairness and economic reform |
| |
Authors: | Anna Rubinchik Ruqu Wang |
| |
Institution: | 1. University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Economics, UCB 256, Boulder, CO, 80309, United States;2. Queen''s University, Department of Economics, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 |
| |
Abstract: | To understand reasons for possible failures of ‘good’ economic reforms, we consider an institution which is always successful in making the best public decision from the utilitarian perspective. We show it is bound to introduce inequality if costs of a reform are privately known: the losers can not be always compensated. Thus, if equity is a primary concern, then some reforms with positive aggregate net gain might not be undertaken. If the utilitarian welfare is the only guide for making public decisions, implementing a reform might require the ability to ignore the associated social costs of inequality. |
| |
Keywords: | D78 D61 D63 H21 |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|