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Discounting For Public Policy: A Survey

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  • Greaves, Hilary

Abstract

This article surveys the debate over the social discount rate. The focus is on the economics rather than the philosophy literature, but the survey emphasizes foundations in ethical theory rather than highly technical details. I begin by locating the standard approach to discounting within the overall landscape of ethical theory. The article then covers the Ramsey equation and its relationship to observed interest rates, arguments for and against a positive rate of pure time preference, the consumption elasticity of utility, and the effect of various sorts of uncertainty on the discount rate. Climate change is discussed as an application.

Suggested Citation

  • Greaves, Hilary, 2017. "Discounting For Public Policy: A Survey," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 391-439, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:ecnphi:v:33:y:2017:i:03:p:391-439_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Phoebe Koundouri & Georgios I. Papayiannis & Athanasios Yannacopoulos, 2022. "Optimal Control Approaches to Sustainability under Uncertainty," DEOS Working Papers 2215, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    2. Maya Eden, 2023. "The Cross‐Sectional Implications of the Social Discount Rate," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(6), pages 2065-2088, November.
    3. Szekeres, Szabolcs, 2022. "Answering the social discount rate question," MPRA Paper 115848, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Ramiro de Ávila Peres, 2024. "Social Discounting and the Tragedy of the Horizon: from the Stern-Nordhaus debate to target-consistent prices," Working Papers Series 593, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    5. Szekeres, Szabolcs, 2023. "The simple answer to the Social Discount Rate question," MPRA Paper 117843, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Márta Somogyvári, 2018. "Ethical Aspects of Intertemporal Discounting and the Social Discount Rate," Financial and Economic Review, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 17(3), pages 109-132.
    7. Andreas T. Schmidt & Daan Juijn, 2024. "Economic inequality and the long-term future," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(1), pages 67-99, February.
    8. Laura Donkers, 2022. "Revitalising embodied community knowledges as leverage for climate change engagement," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 1-22, March.
    9. Ricardo Martín & Víctor Yepes, 2022. "Economic Valuation of Landscape in Marinas: Application to a Marina in Spanish Southern Mediterranean Coast (Granada, Spain)," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Frikk Nesje & Moritz A. Drupp & Mark C. Freeman & Ben Groom, 2022. "Philosophers and Economists Can Agree on the Intergenerational Discount Rate and Climate Policy Paths," CESifo Working Paper Series 9930, CESifo.
    11. Szekeres, Szabolcs, 2024. "Resolving the Discounting Dilemma," MPRA Paper 120014, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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