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Utilitarianism: Overcoming The Difficulty Of Interpersonal Comparison

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  • YEW-KWANG NG

    (Dept. of Economics, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia)

Abstract

Argenziano and Gilboa (2019) obtain a very important result “that consumer choice data alone are sufficient … [to] provide a microfoundation for a weighted utilitarian social welfare function that reflects common moral intuitions about interpersonal comparisons of utilities†. This paper compares this result with my 1975 Review of Economic Studies paper and examines the sense in which consumer data alone are sufficient. A way to dispense with interpersonal comparisons of utility in specific issues by following efficiency supremacy is also discussed. The suspicion of interpersonal comparison and utilitarianism may be based on misunderstandings.

Suggested Citation

  • Yew-Kwang Ng, 2024. "Utilitarianism: Overcoming The Difficulty Of Interpersonal Comparison," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 69(04), pages 1525-1536, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:serxxx:v:69:y:2024:i:04:n:s0217590824450012
    DOI: 10.1142/S0217590824450012
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