Utilitarianism plays a central role in economics, but there is a gap between theory, where utilitarianism is dominant, and applications, where monetary criteria are often used. For applications, a key difficulty is to define how utilities should be measured and compared. Drawing on Harsanyi’s (1955) approach, we introduce a new normalization of utilities ensuring that: (i) a transfer from a rich population to a poor population is welfare enhancing, and (ii) populations with more risk-averse people have lower welfare. We study some implications of this “fair utilitarianism” for risk sharing, collective risk aversion, and the design of health policy. (JEL D63, D81)

中文翻译：

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公平功利主义

功利主义在经济学中起着核心作用，但在功利主义占主导地位的理论与经常使用货币标准的应用之间存在差距。对于应用程序，一个关键的困难是定义应如何测量和比较实用程序。借鉴 Harsanyi (1955) 的方法，我们引入了一种新的公用事业正常化方法，以确保：(i) 从富人到穷人的转移提高了福利，(ii) 风险厌恶程度更高的人口福利更低。我们研究了这种“公平功利主义”对风险分担、集体风险规避和卫生政策设计的一些影响。(JEL D63, D81)