Conflict between Notions of Fairness and the Pareto Principle
نویسندگان
چکیده
Most legal academics and policymakers believe that weight should be accorded to conceptions of fairness in evaluating legal policies. We explain, however, that adherence to any notion of fairness will sometimes lead to a conflict with the Pareto principle. That is, to endorse a notion of fairness is to endorse the view that it can be desirable to adopt a legal rule that will reduce the well-being of every person in society. JEL Classes K00, D63, H43 Harvard Law School and National Bureau of Economic Research. We thank Ari Zweiman for comments and the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business at Harvard Law School for financial support.
منابع مشابه
The Conflict between Notions of Fairness and the Pareto Principle
Most legal academics and policy makers believe that notions of fairness should be accorded positive weight in evaluating legal policies. We explain, however, that ascribing importance to any notion of fairness (other than one concerned solely with the distribution of income) will sometimes lead to a conflict with the Pareto principle. That is, to endorse a notion of fairness is to endorse the v...
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