Climate policy with Bentham-Rawls preferences

Richard S.J. Tol

doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2012.12.006

Climate policy with Bentham-Rawls preferences

Richard S.J. Tol^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

A Bentham-Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham-Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham-Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham-Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	424-428
Number of pages	5
Journal	Economics Letters
Volume	118
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2012.12.006
Publication status	Published - Mar 2013

Keywords

Bentham-Rawls criterion
Climate policy
Social cost of carbon

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.econlet.2012.12.006

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abstract = "A Bentham-Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham-Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham-Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham-Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.",

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AB - A Bentham-Rawls welfare function is the weighted sum of the net present welfare (Bentham) and the welfare of the worst-off generation (Rawls). If utility is non-decreasing over time, optimal climate policy is more stringent in the near-term under the Bentham criterion than under the Bentham-Rawls criterion. If utility is decreasing, Bentham-Rawls abatement is higher. If there is a chance of decreasing utility, Bentham-Rawls optimal climate policy is probably less stringent than Bentham policy.

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KW - Climate policy

KW - Social cost of carbon

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ER -

Climate policy with Bentham-Rawls preferences

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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