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A concern about low relative income, and the alignment of utilitarianism with egalitarianism. (English) Zbl 1241.91048

Summary: A utilitarian social planner who maximizes social welfare assigns the available income to those who are most efficient in converting income into utility. However, when individuals are concerned about their income falling behind the incomes of others, the optimal income distribution under utilitarianism is equality of incomes.

MSC:

91B15 Welfare economics
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