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Welfare Economics in Large Worlds: Welfare and Public Policies in an Uncertain Environment

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  • Guilhem Lecouteux

    (Université Côte d'Azur
    GREDEG CNRS)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is first to review the different conceptions of welfare advanced in the literature on behavioural welfare economics. I then argue that Savage’s distinction between small and large worlds offers the adequate framework to conceptualise the problem of inferring a notion of welfare from possibly incoherent individual choices. I distinguish between welfarist, behaviourist, constitutional, and procedural approaches to the reconciliation problem, and show that they offer complementary solutions depending on the nature of the uncertainty of the choice problem, and on the epistemic position of the theoretician with respect to the agent we intend to model.

Suggested Citation

  • Guilhem Lecouteux, 2020. "Welfare Economics in Large Worlds: Welfare and Public Policies in an Uncertain Environment," GREDEG Working Papers 2020-08, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    • Handle: RePEc:gre:wpaper:2020-08
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Guilhem Lecouteux & Ivan Mitrouchev, 2021. "The "View from Manywhere": Normative Economics with Context-Dependent Preferences," GREDEG Working Papers 2021-19, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    2. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2021. "Reconciling Normative and Behavioural Economics: The Problem that Cannot be Solved," GREDEG Working Papers 2021-27, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    3. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2023. "The Homer economicus narrative: from cognitive psychology to individual public policies," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 176-187, April.
    4. Guilhem Lecouteux & Ivan Mitrouchev, 2022. "Preference purification in behavioural welfare economics: an impossibility result," Working Papers hal-03791972, HAL.
    5. Guilhem Lecouteux, 2022. "The Homer economicus narrative: from cognitive psychology to individual public policies," Working Papers hal-03791951, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    reconciliation problem; nudge; boost; large worlds; welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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