Theory of Prioritarianism

Authors

Matthew D. Adler, Duke Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Chapter of Book

Publication Date

2022

Keywords

prioritarianism, utilitarianism, social welfare function (SWF), Pigou-Dalton, separability, interpersonal comparisons of well-being, generalized-utilitarian SWFs, Atkinson SWFs, Kolm-Pollak SWFs

Abstract

This chapter provides theoretical foundations for the Prioritarianism in Practice volume, by clarifying the features of prioritarian social welfare functions (SWFs). A prioritarian SWF sums up individuals’ well-being numbers plugged into a strictly increasing and strictly increasing transformation function. Prioritarian SWFs, like the utilitarian SWF, fall within the “generalized-utilitarian” class of SWFs.Generalized-utilitarian SWFs are additive and, hence, especially tractable for purposes of policy analysis. The chapter reviews the axiomatic properties of generalized-utilitarian SWFs and, specifically, of prioritarian SWFs. Prioritarianism satisfies the Pigou-Dalton axiom (a pure, gap-diminishing transfer of well-being from a better-off to a worse-off person is an ethical improvement), while utilitarianism does not. Pigou-Dalton is the axiomatic expression of the fact that a prioritarian SWF gives extra weight (priority) to well-being changes affecting worse-off individuals. The chapter also discusses the informational requirements of prioritarian SWFs (as regards interpersonal well-being comparisons). It reviews the various methodologies for applying a prioritarian SWF under uncertainty. And it describes the two main subfamilies of prioritarian SWFs, namely Atkinson and Kolm-Pollak SWFs.

Comments

© Cambridge University Press 2022. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use.

Citation

Matthew D. Adler, Theory of Prioritarianism, in Prioritarianism in Practice 37-127 (Matthew D. Adler & Ole F. Norheim eds., 2022)