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Impartiality and relative utilitarianism

Author

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  • Edi Karni

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • John A. Weymark

    (Vanderbilt University)

Abstract

A novel axiomatization of relative utilitarianism is provided using the single-profile setting used in Harsanyi’s Social Aggregation Theorem. Harsanyi’s axioms are supplemented with an impartiality axiom that requires social alternative lotteries p and q to be socially indifferent when (i) two individuals have conflicting preferences for them and everybody else is indifferent and (ii) the concerned individuals’ strengths of preference for p over q have the same magnitude. This axiomatization shows that equality of the social weights can be obtained in a single-profile setting and that no interprofile condition is needed to obtain profile-independent weights in a multi-profile setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Edi Karni & John A. Weymark, 2024. "Impartiality and relative utilitarianism," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 63(1), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sochwe:v:63:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s00355-024-01518-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s00355-024-01518-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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