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The normative gap: mechanism design and ideal theories of justice

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  • Hitzig, Zoë

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between economic theory and theories of justice in the design of public policy. In particular, it focuses on the role of mechanism design in policy contexts beset with issues of social, racial and distributive justice. Economists’ involvement in redesigning Boston’s algorithm for allocating K-12 students to public schools serves as an instructive case study. The paper draws on the distinction between ideal theory and non-ideal theory in political philosophy and the concept of performativity in economic sociology to argue that mechanism design can enact elaborate ideal theories of justice. A normative gap thus emerges between the goals of the policymakers and the objectives of economic designs. As a result, mechanism design may obstruct stakeholders’ avenues for normative criticism of public policies, and serve as a technology of depoliticization.

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  • Hitzig, Zoë, 2020. "The normative gap: mechanism design and ideal theories of justice," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 407-434, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:ecnphi:v:36:y:2020:i:3:p:407-434_6
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    Cited by:

    1. Di Feng & Jacob Coreno, 2024. "Justified Fairness in House Allocation Problems: two Characterizations of Strategy-proof Mechanisms," Papers 2407.14101, arXiv.org.
    2. Kyle Greenberg & Parag A. Pathak & Tayfun Sönmez, 2024. "Redesigning the US Army's Branching Process: A Case Study in Minimalist Market Design," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(4), pages 1070-1106, April.
    3. van Basshuysen, Philippe, 2023. "Markets, market algorithms, and algorithmic bias," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115694, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Tayfun Sönmez & M. Utku Ünver, 2022. "How (not) to reform India's affirmative action policies for its economically weaker segments," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 1054, Boston College Department of Economics.
    5. Tayfun Sonmez, 2023. "Minimalist Market Design: A Framework for Economists with Policy Aspirations," Papers 2401.00307, arXiv.org.
    6. Tayfun Sonmez & Utku Unver, 2022. "Informed Neutrality in Minimalist Market Design: A Case Study on a Constitutional Crisis in India," Papers 2210.10166, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    7. Rilinger, Georg, 2021. "The organizational roots of market design failure structural abstraction, the limits of hierarchy, and the California energy crisis of 2000/01," MPIfG Discussion Paper 21/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

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