Equality of Resources Implies Equality of Welfare

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 1986
Volume: 101
Issue: 4
Pages: 751-784

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

If one is an egalitarian, should one try to equalize resources available to agents, or to equalize their welfares? With a suitably general conception of what resources are, these two conceptions cannot be distinguished. An allocation mechanism is defined on a space of economies, and is required to satisfy various axioms that are necessary conditions for "equalizing resources" among a population. The unique mechanism satisfying these axioms on a large domain of economies is the one that allocates commodities so as to equalize utilities of the agents. Methodologically, the theorem is a generalization of bargaining theory because the mechanisms are defined on commodity space.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:101:y:1986:i:4:p:751-784.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29