Working paper

The Pareto Principle of Optimal Inequality

Antoine Bommier, and Stéphane Zuber

Abstract

The Pareto principle is often viewed as a mild requirement compatible with a variety of value judgements. In particular, it is generally thought that it can accommodate different degress of inequality aversion. We show that this is generally not true in time consistent intertemporal models where some uncertainty prevails.

Keywords

inequality aversion; Pareto principle; uncertainty;

JEL codes

  • D6: Welfare Economics
  • D7: Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
  • D81: Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

Reference

Antoine Bommier, and Stéphane Zuber, The Pareto Principle of Optimal Inequality, TSE Working Paper, n. 09-132, December 2009.

See also

Published in

TSE Working Paper, n. 09-132, December 2009