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On the Equivalence between Welfarism and Equality of Opportunity

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  • Francois Maniquet

    (Catholic University of Louvain)

Abstract

A welfarist way of allocating resources consists in 1) equipping individuals with comparable indices of their well-being and 2) applying a unique aggregation rule to individual well-being levels. An equality of opportunity way of allocating resources consists in 1) making the distinction between personal characteristics which are under and beyond individuals’ control, and 2) decreasing inequalities due to differences in characteristics beyond individuals’ control. We show that under the proviso that indifferent individuals should not influence social judgements, welfarist and equal opportunity judgements on resource allocation are equivalent.

Suggested Citation

  • Francois Maniquet, 2002. "On the Equivalence between Welfarism and Equality of Opportunity," Economics Working Papers 0022, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:ads:wpaper:0022
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    Cited by:

    1. Kappius, Robert, 2011. "Equal opportunity in educational contexts: Comparing the feasibility of divergent conceptualizations," The Constitutional Economics Network Working Papers 02-2011, University of Freiburg, Department of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory.
    2. Erwin Ooghe & Erik Schokkaert & Dirk gaer, 2007. "Equality of Opportunity versus Equality of Opportunity Sets," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 28(2), pages 209-230, February.
    3. Giacomo, VALETTA, 2007. "A fair solution to the compensation problem," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2007038, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.

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    Keywords

    Welfare; Opportunity; Equality;
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